Child-Adult Interaction: The Creation of Zone of Proximal Development

The zone of proximal development is not a naturally existing phenomenon that occurs every time an adult tries to help a child to become more independent. It is a special form of interaction in which adult's action is aimed at generating and supporting child's initiative action. The relationship between a skilled one and an unskilled one, between an experienced one and an inexperienced one is a reduced form of conjoint action that can create the zone of proximal development. The advanced form of such relationship is cooperation between equal, but different persons, as in 'adult - group of children' relationship. The zone of proximal development is described not by means of tasks subject, but through types of assistance that help, in a greater or lesser degree, a child to solve tasks. Describing different education systems through types of assistance rendered shows that education itself introduces asymmetry into child's development supporting some types of children's initiatives and restricting the other ones. Choosing the education system means choosing the direction of child's development (or that of children's generation).

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