ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT 1

Zone of Proximal Development

Stella Galik

ECE 155: Literacy and the Young Child

Wendy Adams M Ed.

December 12, 2021

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One of the first things children learn in their first years of school is how to read and write.

There are many ways teachers can teach and implement this, but two very important tools used

are guided reading and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. These two theories go hand

in hand in the early childhood education field. They both work together to assist and guide

children to understand how to read on their own, comprehend content, and recognize literacy

strategies.

In guided reading, the explicit goal is to enable children to develop and to use efficient

literacy strategies, independently and creatively (Antonacci, 2000). Guided reading promotes a

well-balanced literacy program within the classroom. There are a few essential procedures to

ensure that the guided reading is being effectively accomplished. The first step is a book

introduction. This is when the teacher gives the students a “walk-through” of the book before

reading the story. This gives the students the opportunity to make predictions about the story and

get an idea of what the story might be about. The next step is children’s reading of the whole text

by themselves. After the teacher gives the students a walk-through of the story, the students will

read the book by themselves. The teacher will supervise the students and be available to answer

any questions or help anyone in need. During this time, the teacher also assesses the children’s

use of reading strategies as well as their performance. The following procedure of guided reading

is the selection and use of appropriate leveled reads. This is simply understanding what books are

appropriate to students’ specific literacy needs. The teacher will choose a book within the child’s

range and pose a few questions to test the learned literacy strategies. The final component is

dynamic grouping procedures. This is the understanding that children’s development is an

ongoing process. There is no specified rate of learning, and each child learns at their own pace.
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One literacy concept may take longer for a child to understand than another. Teachers need to

understand this and support each child in their own rate of development.

The other literacy tool mentioned earlier is Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

(ZPD). The Zone of Proximal Development is defined as the space between what a learner can

do without assistance and what a learner can do with adult guidance or in collaboration with

more capable peers (Billings and Walqui, 2017). For the teacher, this means knowing the

children's level of development and shaping their instruction slightly beyond their development.

Besides providing the appropriate instructional activity to further the development of the specific

concepts that are being learned, the teacher also mediates and scaffolds the performance of the

students until they can function independently (Antonacci, 2000). To support the framework of

the guided reading strategy, ZPD follows three major themes: learning is social and occurs in

social contexts, learning is mediated by language, and learning or the development of concepts

and higher mental functioning takes place within a student's zone of proximal development. The

first theme, learning is social, can be proven in many ways. Children begin learning with their

parents or caregivers at a very young age, and as they get older, they begin to learn with their

peers. A child's development is derived from his/her social context appears in Vygotsky's (1986)

general claim about the sociality of learning: "Any function in the child's development appears

twice, or on two planes. First it appears on the social plane, and then on the psychological plane.

First, it appears between people as an interpsychological category, and then within the child as an

intrapsychological category" (p. 163). The second theme, learning is mediated by language, is

very accurate, especially in earlier grades. To understand directions, information, or anything for

that matter, you have to read. From a socio-cultural theory perspective, learning and

development are seen to be interactive and such interaction acts as mediation for language
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acquisition (Khaliliaqdam, 2014). The final ZPD theme, learning or the development of concepts

and higher mental functioning takes place within a student's zone of proximal development, may

be one of the most important key ideas. When focusing on a student’s specific zone of proximal

development, a lot of growth and progress can occur. Children will soon be able to understand

instructions and construct their own knowledge based on language and literacy strategies.

Introducing children to literacy at a young age is extremely important. It teaches them the

benefits of reading and embeds a love of books for the rest of their life. There are many ways to

teach literacy and reading to children at school, but the most important and helpful tools are

guided reading and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. These two methods work really

well together. Guided reading teaches children the basics of reading and understanding themes

and ideas, while ZPD helps children learn things more on their own, without adult supervision or

help. Without these two tools in our classrooms today, students would have a more difficult time

reading, writing, problem-solving, and understanding literacy strategies.

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References

Antonacci, P. (2000). Reading in the Zone of Proximal Development: Mediating Literacy

Development in Beginner Readers Through Guided Reading. Iona College.

Billings, E & Walqui, A. (2021). The Zone of Proximal Development: An Affirmative

Perspective in Teaching ELLs/MLLs. WestEd.

https://www.wested.org/resources/zone-of-proximal-development/#:~:text=The%20Zone

%20of%20Proximal%20Development,collaboration%20with%20more%20capable%20pe

ers

Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Khaliliaqdam, S. (2014). ZPD, Scaffolding and Basic Speech Development in EFL Context.

Islamic Azad University, Boukan, Iran.