Ms. Jacobs teaches 26 second grade students who represent a wide range of diversity. Her students include six English learners, one student who just arrived from Mexico, three students with special learning needs, students from extreme poverty to middle class, and students from various ethnic groups. She has divided students into three reading groups and expects other students to work silently

Question

and independently as she works with reading groups. All students work on the same spelling tasks and worksheets during their independent seatwork.

How might Ms. Jacobs's teaching procedures during reading group time need to change if she followed Vygotsky's ideas about the zone of proximal development?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Suggested Response: The zone of proximal development is the area of learning in which a child can learn and master a task with help and support. The idea is that children are appropriately challenged with learning tasks. The tasks are not too easy, leading to boredom, and they are not too difficult, leading to frustration. In Ms. Jacobs's class, students are at different levels. They need to be challenged differently. The English learners, for example, are not at the same level with spelling and independent seatwork as students who are native English speakers. In the same way that Ms. Jacobs provides reading instruction at different levels, she should also provide spelling and other language arts instruction at different levels. Additionally, she might consider ways to allow students to work with a partner as needed. Then the students who find the work easy can be challenged with helping another student learn. Ms. Jacobs might also set up procedures for students to get the help they need by following steps to get help quietly.
Text Reference: Vygotsky's Sociocultural Perspective; Implications of Piaget's and Vygotsky's Theories for Teachers