The zone of proximal development in early childhood education

Abstract

This study was focused on the theory of the zone of proximal development in early childhood education. It is a theory developed by a Russian socio-cultural psychologist called Lev Vygotsky. The theory mainly focuses on developmental area of children that is measured between an actually achieved level and one that can be achieved with the help of adults.

The thesis was part of VKK Metro project that worked on developing early childhood pedagogies in the Helsinki Metropolitan areas of Finland. The project involved different day cares, parents and universities of applied sciences around the area to carry out the duty of developing new structures. I.C.E.C play ‘n’ learn English kindergarten cooperated as working life partner in this thesis work. They provided with the necessary background information and allowed the data collection to be done in one of their branches. Qualitative research method was employed to collect the data. It was mainly through systematic observation and participant observation that data was collected.

After the implementation of the data collection, it was possible to obtain significant findings. The findings were clear and helpful in finding out a way how ZPD can be used as tool of evaluation in kindergarten settings. The theory of the zone of proximal development can be integrated in various ways as an evaluation method for early childhood education. Moreover, it can not only be used as an evaluative method but it can also enable teachers to know their individual students better.