It is strange, isn’t it, that Vygotsky has made such an impact on our thinking 3/4 of a century on. He did, of course, explain that teenagers and adults follow different patterns of development from the young minds he was studying at the time.

His zone of proximal development is a great concept and the extension of it in adult learning is useful, for Vygotsky himself admitted that learning, even in the more advanced years, can be supported by a similar prop.

For the analogy to work (and I’m not knocking your analogy) the adult has to have an inner ‘person’ that takes the part of the mother who was a key player in the studies Vygotsky reported on and who provided the guidance for the developing child.

I’d like to extend that idea here. Who or what is it that takes the part of the mother, when an adult does what you have described, and steps into the zone of proximal development?

My feeling is that few adults can (or know how to) do this – but those who can have the potential to be genuine innovators. I’d be interested in your thoughts on this.

Catchya later
from Middle-earth