Wednesday Words- ZPD

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Wednesday Words

We will look at the words that define us. 

Do you ever hear an acronym and have no idea what it means? There are many acronyms thrown around in education and sometimes their meaning can become lost or overlooked.  One such acronym is ZPD.

Any idea what that means?  ZPD stands for "zone of proximal development."  This is a term that was developed by Lev Vygotsky.  Vygotsky is a psychologist and developmentalist who strongly believed in social learning.  He looked at the way that interactions with others aided the child in learning.

Essentially the ZPD is the area where a child can learn through interactions with others more than they can learn independently.  This area of possible learning is referred to as the ZPD.  When creating lessons think about ways to stretch a child's learning by providing assistance through peers and instructors. 

Often times we equate ZPD with scaffolding.  ZPD is actually considered the area in which we scaffold (not to worry- scaffolding is next week's word!).

If you want more information on ZPD check out ZPD.  If you want more information on Vygotsky (who is one cool dude in my opinion) check out Vygotsky. The video below can explain a little more too!  I couldn't help but laugh as I watched it...... aren't you glad you have "a friend like me?"

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