Human Development: Examining ZPD's Impact on Parenting and Education

This assignment examines the application of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) to parenting, focusing on how parents can effectively support their children's learning. The paper discusses the integration of ZPD principles into parenting philosophies, particularly in response to media influences. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the three key components of ZPD: the 'more knowledgeable other' (MKO), scaffolding, and social interactions. The assignment highlights how caregivers can provide appropriate support and intervention, allowing children to complete tasks independently when ready. The paper provides examples of how teachers and peers can act as MKOs and how scaffolding can be used to assist learners. The goal is to enable children to achieve tasks independently by gradually reducing support. The paper also includes references to relevant literature, such as Arnett, Chapin & Brownlow (2018), to support the discussion.

Running head: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 1
Human Development
Name
Institutional Affiliation

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 2
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) can be incorporated into general
parenting philosophy to address the controversies in media regarding how much and under what
conditions parents need to help their children. ZPD can be integrated into general parenting
philosophy when its three components are clearly understood and applied to make caregivers
only intervene when it is necessary and let the children independently complete their tasks when
the intervention becomes unnecessary. This will help solve this controversy because caregivers
will have known the specific extent they need to help their children complete the task and when
they should be left to do finish such tasks independently. Thus, parents will be able to assist their
children appropriately move through ZPD by focusing on three significant constituents aiding the
learning process. These components include a “more knowledgeable other”/MKO, social
interactions with a skillful person scaffolding/supportive activities (Arnett, Chapin & Brownlow,
2018).
Specific circumstances under which I wish more caregivers (parents, grandparents, and
teachers) understood ZPD include when a child or a student is assigned a “more knowledgeable
other” or MKO and during scaffolding. The MKO might be a teacher or older adult or child’s
peers with more experience and knowledge to help the student or child complete their
assignments. Another circumstance applies social interaction to learn since much significant
learning by a child takes place via social interaction with a skillful teacher. Thus, the teacher will
be a model behavior and even give verbal instructions for the students. Another circumstance is
scaffolding with activities given by the teacher or competent peer to support the learner as he is
led via ZPD. Thus, the teacher will only withdraw the support when it becomes unnecessary,
much as scaffold remains eliminated from a building in the course of construction to enable the

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 3
student finish the task on his own. In all the three circumstances, outcome is improved by
focusing on ZPD with aim of enabling the child to complete the task again independently.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 4
References
Arnett, J., Chapin, L., & Brownlow, C. (2018). Human development: A cultural approach.
Pearson Australia.