The Zone of Proximal Development

Human beings are naturally social creatures and we learn through our social interactions with each other.

According to Vygotsky, 'Individuals grow into the intellectual life of those around them.'

Students learn with and from each other.

Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development can be understood as the potential learning development a child can accomplish when they learn with more capable peers or adults as opposed to the level of learning development a child could accomplish independently.

When students learn together in mixed ability groupings, all members of the group have the potential to benefit from working together. Students who are less capable or just beginning to explore a topic benefit from the expertise of their more capable peers and they in turn benefit from teaching their less capable peers as they have the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge a second time through mentoring and in this way they potentially gain a deeper understanding of what they are learning.

Learning together in mixed ability groupings makes it possible for all members of the learning community to grow in knowledge together.