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Adult Sensitivity to Children’s Learning in the Zone of Proximal Development
Author(s) -
Chak Amy
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal for the theory of social behaviour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.615
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1468-5914
pISSN - 0021-8308
DOI - 10.1111/1468-5914.00166
Subject(s) - zone of proximal development , distancing , psychology , sensitivity (control systems) , developmental psychology , process (computing) , cognitive psychology , computer science , covid-19 , medicine , disease , pathology , electronic engineering , infectious disease (medical specialty) , engineering , operating system
Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development (zpd) has brought wide attention to the role of adults in children’s learning and development. The author proposes that beyond understanding its mechanism, its use is influenced by various factors which the adult needs to be sensitive to. Through integrating related literature on the zpd and on adult‐child interactions, this paper aims to shed light on the nature of adult sensitivity in actualizing the zpd. The concept is first analyzed theoretically. Two types of sensitivity will then be discussed: adults’ self‐awareness and their awareness of children as active players in the interaction process. Sigel’s concept of distancing is suggested as a means of enhancing one’s sensitivity.