Concept “Zone of Proximal Development” in Psychotherapy and Pedagogic V. Zaretskii, A.Kholmogorova Moscow State University of Psychology and Education

The concept “development” may be used both to pedagogics and psychotherapy. So concept “Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)” may be used also in both these kinds of psychological help. This concept (ZPD) can be rather heuristic for understanding what is common in pedagogics and psychotherapy (Kholmogorova, Zaretskii, 2010). The closeness of psychologo-pedagogical help in learning and psychotherapeutic help is illustrated with the “multivectoral model of ZPD (Zaretskii, 2006). The main idea of the report

What did Lev Vygotsky write about Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) The boundary between the zone of actual development (i.e. the actually available, the individually doable) and ZPD is the first complex task, which the child is unable to accomplish alone, where he or she needs adult assistance (irrelevant of whether it happens: in natural conditions or within a specially arranged procedure of evaluation child development level).

If the child is unable to accomplish a certain task (problem, activity, etc.), he or she encounters a problem situation, unable to do alone what needs to be done. What did Lev Vygotsky write about ZPD

Cooperation of the child and adult when determining the ZPD (or when learning within ZPD) is regarded as very important form of their interaction, that can initiate inner resources of the child and lead to his development. What did Lev Vygotsky write about ZPD

Development from this point of view is a process of transition from joint accomplishment of complex but attainable tasks to individual accomplishment (no adult assistance). This is also the measure of efficiency of adult assistance: help was successful, if the child can do something on his own, that he was able to do only with adult assistance “yesterday”. Otherwise, the adult should review the methods of assistance. What did Lev Vygotsky write about ZPD

Obviously, the maturing process zone has an opposite boundary, beyond which lies the actually unattainable, i.e. that, which a child cannot accomplish even with adult assistance. So, ZPD is a field with two opposite boundaries: one of them lies where the child is capable of individual successful activity, while the other lies where the child is unable to successfully act even in cooperation with an adult. What did Lev Vygotsky write about ZPD

ZPD consists of actions, which the child is capable of understanding, but incapable of performing. That is the zone, where the child acts sensibly and intelligently with adult assistance. When unable to interact sensibly, the cooperation fails. What did Lev Vygotsky write about ZPD

The final thesis by Lev Vygotsky we want to indicate is, that the notion ZPD can be extended to other facets of personality (not only intellectual development). What did Lev Vygotsky write about ZPD

Initial understanding of Zone of Proximal Development. The child is the subject of experience appropriation (mastering of learning material). Object field of activity Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge Point of challenge

Addition of the challenge-overcoming activity vector to the view of ZPD. The child is not only the subject of mastering the learning material, but also a subject of overcoming learning challenges. Object field of activity Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge Point of challenge Plane of ability to overcome learning challenges

Aspects of possible child’s cognitive and personality changes, defined by the child and adult’s intentions, in the framework of his interaction with an adult in the ZPD. Object field of activity Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge Point of challenge Aspect of the ability to overcome learning difficulties Aspect of personality, cognitive and other changes.

“One step in learning may to mean one hundred steps in development” (L. Vygotsky) In the framework of self-reflective-activity approach to assisting children who experience learning difficulties it is possible to point such vectors: self-determination, self-reflection, design elaboration, goal creation, control, interaction (cooperation) standards, self-regulation (conceptual, reflexive, emotional), ability to overcome difficulties, understanding error as a source for overcoming the difficulties, use an error as a reflection subject, understanding the relation between means and results, etc.

Multivectoral Model of ZPD In Self-Reflective-Activity Approach

Field of work on difficulties in academic subject. Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge Point of challenge - the epicenter of the problem ……… another Vector of the ability to overcome the difficulties. Vector of self-trust, self- confidence development Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness (agency) development

Field of work on difficulties in academic subject. Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge The epicenter of the problem: the s ymptom of learned helplessness is blocking progress in the educational subject. ……… another Vector of the ability to overcome the difficultis. Vector of self-trust, self- confidence development Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness development

Field of work on difficulties in academic subject. Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge The epicenter of the problem: the s ymptom of learned helplessness is blocking progress in the educational subject. ……… Vector of the ability to overcome the difficultis. Vector of self-trust, self- confidence development Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness development

Field of work on overcoming the learned helplessness Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge The epicenter of the problem Vector of the ability to overcome the difficulties. Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness development Field of work on difficulties in academic subject. Vector of development of activity means in the field of academic subject

Field of work on difficulties in academic subject. Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge The epicenter of the problem ……… another Vector of the ability to overcome the difficulties. Vector of self-trust, self- confidence development Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness development Psychologo-pedagogical help

Field of work on difficulties in academic subject. Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge The epicenter of the problem: internal obstacles are blocking the ways to realize activities - the symptoms of developmental disorder. Vector of overcoming internal obstacles blocking the ways to realize activities. Vector of the ability to overcome the difficulties. Vector of self-trust, self- confidence development Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness development Psychologo-pedagogical help

Field of psychotherapeutic work on internal obstacles blocking the ways to realize activities. Zone of actual development Zone of proximal development Zone of unattainable challenge The epicenter of the problem Vector of the ability to overcome learning difficulties. Vector of the ability to overcome the difficulty. Vector of self-trust, self- confidence development Vector of self-reflection development Vector of subjectness development Psychotherapeutic help (counceling)

One of the general rules of rendering of the psychotherapeutic help which it has entered on the basis of the empirical researches of factors of efficiency of psychotherapy, says: not to make active a problem, yet resources for its decision until t they aren't made active (Grave, 2006). This thesis can be interpreted in terms of ZPD in pedagogics. ZPD in Psychotherapy and Pedagogic

It is represented to us that both mentioned rules - «activization of resources» (K.Grave) and «work in ZPD» (L.S.Vygotsky) - are closely connected between themselves. Moreover, the second contains important heuristic potential for specification of conditions of realization the first. ZPD in Psychotherapy and Pedagogic

It According to L.S.Vygotsky training conducts behind itself development and one step to training, under certain conditions, can mean hundred steps to development (Vygotsky, 1984). From this point of view, concept «zone of the proximal development» is a theoretical key to understanding what are these conditions - what help the child needs, what helping actions of the adult will be useful to the child, what are useless and what can harm to development. ZPD in Psychotherapy and Pedagogic

Using of concept ZPD in scientific researches and practical work, will allow specialists to focus the attention to conditions at which the zone of difficulty of an actualized problem corresponds to resources of the patient, strengthened by support of the psychotherapist. ZPD in Psychotherapy and Pedagogic

Practice of psychologo-pedagogical help based on the self-reflective-activity approach is realized in the work with: children with learning difficulties (since1998); students of primary school in the Project “Chess for development” (since 2004); children with disabilities (since 2007); students-invalids of our University (since 2010); orphans-invalids with complicated structure of defect (since 2012). Practice of psychologo-pedagogical help