Quick Thought on Peer Scaffolding & ZPD

Bill's Note: I've gotten a lot of mileage from this post, but especially the picture. How can peer learners calibrate and course correct in *your* classroom?

Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal development is a powerful one when it comes to thinking about how people learn. The ZPD acknowledges that we learn differently - and maybe we are capable of learning more and achieving more - when we learn together. The secret is to coordinate effort with a more capable peer in the learning environment; this is the process widely known as "scaffolding." It's how social beings build knowledge, confirm hunches, course-correct when trying out new procedures, etc.

But it is also a fairly innocuous and mundane process at the operational level. And I think many who talk about the ZPD and peer scaffolding tend to overthink it. So let me give you what I consider to be a straightforward example that puts things in perspective.

Used by permission of Flickr user Travis_Warren123

Imagine a dance recital with kids performing on the stage in a small group. They are close in age, close in height, but there are differences that are obvious to the audience. For some of the dancers, this is their first performance after weeks of class and a few technical rehearsals. For others, recitals have become a seasonal event and this is just the Spring show. As the number begins and the house lights come down, the stage glitters with sequins and bright smiles. The sound cue comes from the piano, and the group moves in unison. But the synchrony only lasts for  a few bars before one of the dancers - far stage right - sneaks a peek at the others in line to see if she has the steps right. She doesn't. But she gets on the right foot pretty quickly just in time for the group to begin forming a circle...

That little peek - that's a move made by one of the children to coordinate with a more capable peer. That more capable peer isn't permanently ahead of her, developmentally, nor is she necessarily a mentor. She's engaged - for the moment - in the same activity at the same time and under the same conditions. But she's been on the stage before and maybe has a bit more confidence in the routine. She'll do. And, along with the other veterans, they make a robust ZPD in which all the dancers can learn what it is like to perform in front of a real audience.

How do you build in opportunities for learners to be the social creatures they are and to engage in peer scaffolding in online & hybrid learning?  Do you sense the ZPD operating in our AL881 group?