ZPD vs. Scaffolding
Reading Wood et al.'s (1976) original article in which they introduce the metaphor of "scaffolding" really makes clear how different this is from ZPD. There is no collaboration (perhaps a better word is co-operation) between the expert and the child... the expert guides the child's actions through controlling their immediate problem-solving experience. The model of scaffolding assumes that the expert is, in a sense, all-knowing in relation to the problem and is not an active participant in the actions of problem-solving. Vygotsky's theory really seems to require a much more dynamic social interaction or series of social interactions. I also question to what extent a tutor operating in this way can engage with a child's everyday and scientific concepts in a meaningful way.
Having read Smagorinsky's (2018) article once more, it is hard not to be convinced of his position. He confirmed with Anna Stetsenko at CUNY (who earned her PhD in Psychology at Moscow State University) that Vygotsky's use of the term "tomorrow" really is metaphorical; she wrote, "It is 100% metaphorical, not 24 hours. 'Tomorrow' is often used [in Russian] in this sense, meaning 'the future', or more precisely (and depending on the context as is the case here in this quote) 'soon in the future'" (p. 72).
After reading this, I think I would like to read Moll's (1990) interpretation of the ZPD. Moll, according to Smagorinsky, equates the ZPD with "social contexts... for mastery of and conscious awareness in the use of... cultural tools" (p. 12; cited in Smagorinsky, 2018, p. 72).
Moll, L. C. (1990). Introduction. In L. C. Moll (Ed.). Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 1-27). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Smagorinsky, P. (2018). Deconflating the ZPD and instructional scaffolding: Retranslating and reconceiving the zone of proximal development as the zone of next development. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 16, 70-75.
Having read Smagorinsky's (2018) article once more, it is hard not to be convinced of his position. He confirmed with Anna Stetsenko at CUNY (who earned her PhD in Psychology at Moscow State University) that Vygotsky's use of the term "tomorrow" really is metaphorical; she wrote, "It is 100% metaphorical, not 24 hours. 'Tomorrow' is often used [in Russian] in this sense, meaning 'the future', or more precisely (and depending on the context as is the case here in this quote) 'soon in the future'" (p. 72).
After reading this, I think I would like to read Moll's (1990) interpretation of the ZPD. Moll, according to Smagorinsky, equates the ZPD with "social contexts... for mastery of and conscious awareness in the use of... cultural tools" (p. 12; cited in Smagorinsky, 2018, p. 72).
Moll, L. C. (1990). Introduction. In L. C. Moll (Ed.). Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 1-27). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Smagorinsky, P. (2018). Deconflating the ZPD and instructional scaffolding: Retranslating and reconceiving the zone of proximal development as the zone of next development. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 16, 70-75.
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