Our Educational System
Our educational system is orientated around the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which covers the range of abilities that a person can perform with assistance but cannot yet perform independently, and considers peer interaction as an essential part of the learning process.
Zone of Proximal Development refers to the gap between actual competence level (level of individual problem-solving), and the potential development level (level of development problem-solving).
ZPD is based on the mental functions that have not yet matured but are in the process of maturation.
Learning is an interactive, interpersonal activity. The psychological mechanism is to create (external) activities that will be internalized by the children.
We become a supportive tool for children in the ZPD by using scaffoldings.
We promote a “reciprocal teaching”, in which we work together in learning and practicing four key skills: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting.
Our role in the process is reduced over time. We help to structure or arrange a task so that a novice can work on it successfully.
We encourage children into collaborative learning, suggesting that group members will have different levels of ability; therefore the advanced peers can help less advanced members operate within their ZPD.