Editing Lev Vygotsky (section)

==== Scaffolding ====
According to Vygotsky, through the assistance of a more knowledgeable other, a child is able to learn skills or aspects of a skill that go beyond their actual developmental or maturational level. This assistance is defined as 'scaffolding'. The lower limit of the ZPD is the level of skill reached by the child working independently (also referred to as the child's developmental level). The upper limit is the level of potential skill that the child is able to reach with the assistance of a more capable instructor. In this sense, the ZPD provides a prospective view of cognitive development, as opposed to a retrospective view that characterizes development in terms of a child's independent capabilities. The advancement through and the attainment of the upper limit of the ZPD are limited by the instructional and scaffolding-related capabilities of the more knowledgeable other (MKO). The MKO is typically assumed to be an older, more experienced teacher or parent but often can be a learner's peer or someone their junior. The MKO need not even be a person but can be a machine or book or other source of visual and/or audio input.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html|title=Vygotsky &#124; Simply Psychology|date=August 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805212531/https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html|access-date=September 1, 2020|archive-date=August 5, 2019|last1=McLeod |first1=Saul }}</ref>

Another significant property of the ZPD and scaffolding is reciprocal teaching during which the child and the instructor have an open dialogue with each other for the child to create new opportunities to acquire new information and ideas.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Pedapati |first=Kruthi |date=2022-08-01 |title=Piagetian and Vygotskian Concepts of Cognitive Development: A Review |url=https://indianmentalhealth.com/pdf/2022/vol9-issue3/4-Review-Paper-2.pdf |journal=Indian Journal of Mental Health |volume=9 |issue=3 |doi=10.30877/IJMH.9.3.2022.227-239}}</ref>