Entering the Zone of Proximal Development
Conceptualised by Lev Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) identifies the area in which a child is able to perform tasks with guidance. This assistance is rendered by someone more knowledgeable in the field, typically a teacher.
Graphical representation of ZPD. Learners are in the ZPD when the difficulty of the task assigned is almost equivalent to the the learner's competency.
In the comfort zone (point R), a student who has a good grasp of the material is presented with questions that are too simple. If easy questions are administered repeatedly, the student experiences boredom. His understanding of a topic does not deepen and is stagnated.
In the panic zone (point P), a student who has little prior knowledge of a subject is given a challenging question. Even with assistance from the teacher, the student is unable to answer. Stress and anxiety grows in a child when the material given far exceeds his capabilities. The child feels discouraged and would give up on the subject.
The ZPD bridges the comfort zone and the panic zone of the learner. It is in the ZPD (point Q) that an individual is best able to advance his learning. It is thus believed by Vygotsky that educators ought to provide learning experiences which fall within the ZPDs of students.
With this premise, it is beneficial to expose advanced learners to more in-depth concepts. This is pertinent in scientific education. In exploring natural phenomena and every day applications, critical and inquisitive students are unlikely to take in concepts at face value. They would pose questions that demand answers beyond the syllabus. Why then, should these questions be ignored in favour of just teaching to the test, when learning encapsulates so much more?
Students investigating how light travels with the use of a laser pointer and mirrors.
Thus, this column would concern itself with:
How gifted children learn
Obstacles to learning and strategies to overcome them
Interesting scientific experiments and their underlying concepts
We invite you on board in shaping an environment to one that is most conducive to every child's learning. Let every child enter their ZPD.