How Teachers Unknowingly Organize Failure for Children of Color by Creating “Zones of Negative Development”

Abstract

In this chapter, the author introduces the concept of a “negative zone of proximal development” (NZOPD) and expand the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZOPD) to discuss how both ZOPDs and NZOPDs are created within classrooms by teachers and their students. Most educational ZOPDs organized by teachers have at very least, good intentions and goals that are aimed at helping students address their educational needs and to grow in knowledge and cognitive development. However, for children of color, those ZOPDs have to be analyzed to determine if they support students work from their actual level of development and leads to development of their optimal potential. Classroom interactions such as dialogue (oral and written) between teacher/student and student/student are also first social and then internalized by the students. The movement from social plane of functioning to individual and internal plane (thinking/thoughts) of functioning; however, requires active engagement by children in social interaction with peers and supportive adults.