Building a Knowledge Base in Reading-Chapter 2

I think that the most interesting thing I learned from chapter 2 was “Vygotsky’s notion of Zone Proximal Development in learning is central to understanding the development of cognitive process. This is the range of social interaction between a novice and more knowledgeable other in which the child can perform with degrees of assistance from an adult that which the child cannot yet perform independently.” In other words an adult helps a child complete a task that he cannot do on his own.

This is important because the student will learn by following an adult’s example. A student will learn how to do difficult tasks with the help of an adult and through this the student will eventually learn how to operate on their own. I think that as future teachers, we must remember that some students need more help than others, so it is important not to abandon those who struggle. By guided practice, we can help students perform difficult tasks and help them get to where they need to be.