Abstract
The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a concept mostly associated with Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist. The concept is primarily concerned with social and participatory learning and refers to the space between what a child can do on his or her own and what the child can do with help from someone more capable. However, the ZPD is about more than passive scaffolding from the more capable other. Instead it is closely connected to the idea of expanding the possible, using one’s imagination, and pushing boundaries for what is known. This entry starts with defining the ZPD, and then the central part of the entry outlines the zone’s core principles and elaborates how the ZPD involves creativity, play, and emotions. Positive emotions make it easier to play with ideas and what is possible thinking. Play is a source for development, and Vygotsky’s ideas on creativity, play, and imagination can inspire how teachers teach. When children listen to the teacher or to each other’s experiences, they will be able to think in new ways, and the possible is broadened.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (1996). Tools of the mind: The Vygotskian approach to early childhood education. Englewood Cliffs: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
Brown, A. L., & Ferrara, R. A. (1985). Diagnosing zones of proximal development. In J. V. Wertsch (Ed.), Culture, communication, and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives (pp. 273–305). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Campione, J. C., Brown, A. L., Ferrara, R. A., & Bryant, N. R. (1984). The zone of proximal development: Implications for individual differences and learning. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 1984(23), 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219842308||https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219842308||https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219842308|.
Daniels, H. (2007). Pedagogy. In H. Daniels, M. Cole, & J. V. Wertsch (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Vygotsky (pp. 307–331). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Daniels, H. (2008). Vygotsky and research. London: Routledge.
Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition & Emotion, 19(3), 313–332.
Glaveanu, V. P., Ness, I. J., Wasson, B., & Lubart, T. I. (2019). Chapter 4: Sociocultural perspectives on creativity, learning, and technology. In C. A. Mullen (Ed.), Creativity under duress in education? Resistive theories, practices, and action. Cham: Springer.
Griffin, P., & Cole, M. (1984). Current activity for the future: The Zo-ped. In B. Rogoff & J. V. Wertsch (Eds.), Children’s learning in the zone of proximal development (pp. 45–63). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hasse, C. (2001). Institutional creativity: The relational zone of proximal development. Culture & Psychology, 7(2), 199–221. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354067X0172005.
Holzman, L. (2009). Vygotsky at work and play. London: Routledge.
Holzman, L. (2010). Without creating ZPDs there is no creativity. In M. C. Connery, V. John-Steiner, & A. Marjanovic-Shane (Eds.), Vygotsky and creativity: A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making, and the arts (pp. 27–39). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and development: A Vygotskian framework. Educational Psychologist, 31(3–4), 191–206.
John-Steiner, V., Connery, M. C., & Marjanovic-Shane, A. (2010). Dancing with the muses: An cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making and creativity. In M. C. Connery, V. John-Steiner, & A. Marjanovic-Shane (Eds.), Vygotsky and creativity: A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making, and the arts (pp. 3–16). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Lobman, C. (2010). Creating developmental moments: Teaching and learning as creative activities. In M. C. Connery, V. John-Steiner, & A. Marjanovic-Shane (Eds.), Vygotsky and creativity: A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making, and the arts (pp. 199–214). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Mahn, H., & John-Steiner, V. (2002). The gift of confidence: A Vygotskian view of emotions. In G. Wells & G. Claxton (Eds.), Learning for life in the 21st century: Sociocultural perspectives on the future of education. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.
Marjanovic-Shane, A. (2010). From yes and no to me and you: A playful change in relationships and meanings. In M. C. Connery, V. John-Steiner, & A. Marjanovic-Shane (Eds.), Vygotsky and creativity: A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making, and the arts (pp. 41–59). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Marjanovic-Shane, A., Connery, M. C., & John-Steiner, V. (2010). A cultural-historical approach to creative education. In M. C. Connery, V. John-Steiner, & A. Marjanovic-Shane (Eds.), Vygotsky and creativity: A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making, and the arts (pp. 215–232). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.
Moran, S., & John-Steiner, V. (2003). Creativity in the making: Vygotsky’s contemporary contribution to the dialectic of creativity & development. In R. K. Sawyer, V. John-Steiner, S. Moran, R. J. Sternberg, D. H. Feldman, J. Nakamura, & M. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Creativity and development (pp. 61–90). New York: Oxford University Press.
Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary scientist. New York: Routledge.
Newman, D., Griffin, P., & Cole, M. (1989). The construction zone: Working for cognitive change in school. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ribot, T. (1906/2010). Essay on the creative imagination (A. H. N. Baron, Trans.). Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company.
Rogoff, B., & Gardner, W. (1984). Adult guidance of cognitive development. In B. Rogoff & J. Lave (Eds.), Everyday cognition: Its development in social context (pp. 95–116). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Smagorinsky, P. (2008). Teaching English by design. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Smolucha, L. W., & Smolucha, F. C. (1986). L.S. Vygotsky’s theory of creative imagination. Spiel, 5(2), 299–308.
Thompson, I. (2012a). Planes of communicative activity in collaborative writing. Changing English, 19(2), 209–220.
Thompson, I. (2012b). Stimulating reluctant writers: A Vygotskian approach to teaching writing in secondary schools. English in Educational Psychologist, 46(1), 84–91.
van der Veer, R., & Valsiner, J. (1991). Understanding Vygotsky: A quest for synthesis. Oxford: Blackwell.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1930/2004). Imagination and creativity in childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1934/1987). Thinking and speech (N. Minick, Trans.). In R. W. Rieber & A. S. Carton (Eds.), The collected works of L.S. Vygotsky (Vol. 1, pp. 39–285). New York: Plenum Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. The development of higher psychological processes. London, UK: Harvard University Press.
Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry. Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wertsch, J. V. (1979). From social interaction to higher psychological processes: A clarification and application of Vygotsky’s theory. Human Development, 22(1), 1–22.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. S., & Ross, G. (1976). The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(2), 89–100.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ness, I.J. (2020). Zone of Proximal Development. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_60-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98390-5_60-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98390-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98390-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences