Activity 3.3

Vygotsky emphasizes the prevalence of the “zone of proximal growth”, or the distance between what a child can accomplish on his own before instruction and what the same child is capable of individually after receiving instruction.

A pair of twins named Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is beginning their first grade year. Having grown up with minimum differences in upbringing, the twins are nearly identical in experiences and abilities. The two are assigned different classes; Rosencrantz is placed in a smaller classroom where small group projects and teacher interaction is ideal, while Guildenstern is placed in a large classroom, where, in order to preserve the peace, the teacher requires individual work and gives only class-wide instruction. Because of the active social instruction and interaction Rosencrantz receives, his capabilities soar while Guildenstern lags behind.

James remarks, “The child will always attend more to what a teacher does than to what the same teacher says,” (64). Since Rosencrantz’s teacher actively interacts as she instructs, more is received by Rosencrantz; since Guildenstern’s teacher merely instructs with very little interaction, less information is received.