Struthers: Zone Of Proximal Development

In Case Study 26 (Ormrod & McGuire, 2007), Ms. Struthers, a French teacher, uses multiple strategies to accommodate Wesley, a student returning to the classroom environment for the first time after recuperating from a serious head injury. Struthers understood that, to create a successful zone of proximal development for this returning student, she would need to provide adult assistance and guidance as she supplied challenging tasks that would stretch his current level of independence. Although he returned to the classroom with limitations, Wesley had already proven himself capable of the challenge by reading a chapter from the History book and answering several questions about that chapter accurately.
According to Ormrod (2016), Vygotsky suggested that there is a
Struthers’ actions indicated that she recognized the accident had restricted Wesley’s capability of cognitive learning (she returned him to the French I text materials). Her actions also demonstrated her belief that with her assistance and guidance, she could create a zone of proximal development which would not only strengthening Wesley’s cognitive processing of the French language (Ormrod, 2016) but also promote further healing and rehabilitation because he would be with his classmates throughout the process. Struthers used the following strategies to encourage Wesley’s forward progression in a new ZPD and to promote his maximum cognitive growth. First, Struthers gave Wesley the opportunity to learn at a level that was challenging (French I textbook), but not so difficult that it was discouraging. The French I textbook empowered Wesley to maximize his cognitive growth by revitalizing French “learning and problem solving abilities” lost as a result