Gifted and the “Zone of Proximal Development”

Abstract

Identification of the gifted student is problematic. Prescription, the matching of student needs with program services, is perhaps even more precarious. To optimize potential and maximize achievement, diagnosis and instruction should be linked, on going, and based on state-of-the-art knowledge. Despite a burgeoning paradigm shift in the theory and practice of assessment in general, identification procedures for the gifted remain little changed. The bulk of the literature still recommends standardized, “product” measures of potential and achievement. Although status-quo recommendations include the use of multiple criteria, teacher judgment, and attention to cultural differences, scant endorsement is made for “process” measures. Dynamic assessment, based upon the Soviet psychologist Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZOPD), which measures the difference between what a learner can do alone and with appropriate guidance, has gained increased attention and suggests modification in the way the gifted are identified. This paper expounds upon the application of the dynamic assessment procedure (OAP) for the identification and instruction of the gifted. Pedagogical implications and conflicts to be resolved are also addressed.