Zona de desarrollo proximal: una zona próxima a desarrollar.

Abstract

ABSTRACT.The concept of the zone of proximal development (ZDP) is based on Vygotzky’s conviction that good education induces development and precedes whatever a subject is actually able to do. (Level of actual development, real development) involving him or herself in tasks or processes that at the moment he or she is not able (still) to perform. The ZDP is therefore a domain of cultural-educational activity taking the subject to develop his potential and challenging him to cope with tasks suggested to him with the aid of somebody more experienced. This enhances the role of the teacher doing more than transmitting knowledge. He is a mediator knowing the actual level of development of his learners and proposing tasks a little ahead (of this level), so generating zones of proximal development. (ZDP). While the students perform these tasks the teacher acts as a tutor supporting them mainly at the beginning and decreasing his help later so as to permit them to be autonomous. The present paper intends to deepen the concept of ZDP both as an individual and as a collective endeavour, perceiving the classroom as an ecosystem where different ZDP’s of students and teachers interact. We also propose a concrete activity for the pre-graduate level Faculty of Deontology of the Catholic University of Uruguay.