Zone of proximal development
We all know Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development: the range of abilities that an individual can perform with assistance, but cannot yet perform independently.
I have come to realize that the zone of proximal development also applies to schools as an organization. I have been traveling a fair bit in recent months and had the chance to visit a number of schools around the world. One of the purposes of these invitations is to talk about programmatic assessment. But programmatic assessment requires such a fundamental mind shift that its likelihood of implementation falls beyond the zone of proximal development of many organizations.
We know from psychology that beliefs and attitudes are related to subsequent behavior. In education this has shaped the research around beliefs on education and the resulting teacher behavior. One of my former PhD students showed that teacher profiles of student-centeredness also depended on the exposure to student-centered education1. Teacher beliefs therefore change as a result of experience with student centered education.
I am part of a redesign group for a new curriculum here in Maastricht. The group consists of people with ample experience in student-centered education. A significant part of the group are people who have formal qualifications in education, either at the master level or PhD level. They are very aware of educational theories and the state of affairs in health professions education. It was a joy to listen to their discussions of how the educational sciences informed the choices that needed to be made. I think our zone of proximal development is therefore very different than in many other educational organizations. Innovation in education is about people, rather than educational technology. That is why innovation is taking so much time. What is the zone of proximal development in your organization?
Cees van der Vleuten
1Jacobs, J. C., Muijtjens, A. M., Van Luijk, S. J., Van Der Vleuten, C. P., Croiset, G., & Scheele, F. (2015). Impact of institute and person variables on teachers’ conceptions of learning and teaching. Medical Teacher, 37(8), 738-746.