View in EDS

Is Instructional Scaffolding Actually Vygotskian, and Why Should It Matter to Literacy Teachers?

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Is Instructional Scaffolding Actually Vygotskian, and Why Should It Matter to Literacy Teachers?
Authors: Smagorinsky, Peter smago@uga.edu
Source: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Nov2018, Vol. 62 Issue 3, p253-257. 5p.
Subject Terms: *Adult literacy, *Functional reading, *Scaffolded instruction, *Student-centered learning, *Effective teaching
Abstract: In this commentary, the author reconceives Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD), particularly its conflation with the notion of instructional scaffolding. The author reviews Vygotsky's description of the ZPD and how it has come to be misinterpreted; summarizes Wood, Bruner, and Ross's introduction of the scaffolding metaphor and how it emerges from a poor translation; and provides a different, more accurate translation of the ZPD as the zone of next development as available in the documentary film The Butterflies of Zagorsk. The author argues that the conflation of scaffolding with the ZPD has produced a trivialization of Vygotsky's greater body of work, which focused on long‐term, socially mediated human development not short‐term learning. The author makes a case for contextualizing Vygotsky's attention to the ZPD (better translated as zone of next development) in a broader reading of his work and its emphasis on how people develop over time rather than through brief pedagogical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Description
Abstract:In this commentary, the author reconceives Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD), particularly its conflation with the notion of instructional scaffolding. The author reviews Vygotsky's description of the ZPD and how it has come to be misinterpreted; summarizes Wood, Bruner, and Ross's introduction of the scaffolding metaphor and how it emerges from a poor translation; and provides a different, more accurate translation of the ZPD as the zone of next development as available in the documentary film The Butterflies of Zagorsk. The author argues that the conflation of scaffolding with the ZPD has produced a trivialization of Vygotsky's greater body of work, which focused on long‐term, socially mediated human development not short‐term learning. The author makes a case for contextualizing Vygotsky's attention to the ZPD (better translated as zone of next development) in a broader reading of his work and its emphasis on how people develop over time rather than through brief pedagogical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:10813004
DOI:10.1002/jaal.756