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Lev Vygotsky's notion of zone of proximal development (зона ближайшего развития), often abbreviated ZPD, is the gap between a learner's current or actual development level determined by independent problem-solving and the learner's emerging or potential level of development. Vygotsky's often quoted definition of zone of proximal development presents it as

the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86, [1] )

The notion of ZPD implies that a child's development is determined by the social interaction and collaborative problem-solving. Development is understood by Vygotsky as the process mediated by various cultural mediators (e.g., word, sign, symbol, etc.) acquired (or internalized) in the course of human development that turn from being external social phenomena into psychological tools that are used individually and independently.

The notion of the zone of proximal development clearly reflects Vygotsky's view on the nature of human development and interrelation between learning and development. Learning, which is distinct from development, may lead development and ZPD is the abstraction that describes the mechanism and potential effect of learning on development. In education in North American settings this idea was largely interpreted in a more top-down and controlled fashion. Thus, a significant adult's guidance is believed to be needed for a child's development within the ZPD and is known as scaffolding. This concept has been further developed by A.L. Brown, among others. Several instructional programs were developed on the basis of the notion of ZPD interpreted this way, the most well-known of them are Reciprocal teaching and Fostering communities of learners. The concept was also instrumental in the research and educational implementation of Dynamic assessment (Lidz, Brown, Campione, etc.).

• Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

• Chaiklin, S. (2003) The Zone of Proximal Development in Vygotsky's Analysis of Learning and Instruction. In Kozulin, A., Gindis, B., Ageyev, V. & Miller, S. (Eds.) Vygotsky's Educational Theory and Practice in Cultural Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

• Education
• Lev Vygotsky
• Constructivism (learning theory)