Sensitizing trainees in adult education to the use of the proximal zone of development
The training addressed in this article involved a dual approach of experimentation, i.e., on oneself and on others, using psychological instruments originating from the Instrumental Enrichment Program (Programme d’Enrichissement Instrumental, PEI). This last developmental method founded on the semiotic mediations described by Vygotski is geared toward working with the zone of proximal development (ZPD) based on a list of characteristic parameters of various learning processes. After having identified their own moments of cognitive restructuring as prompted by the instruments, the trainees choose the tools corresponding to their pupils’ cognitive needs within the internship context, in order to work with the ZPD in its threefold dimension, namely theoretical, methodological and pedagogical. The trainees’ use of a logbook has proven to be a decisive cognitive transformer, fostering an awareness of the need to link together one’s cognitive map and the ZPD and contributing to the trainees’ development of a reflective posture. Finally, the multidimensional nature of the cognitive map facilitates teachers’ differentiated management of the diverse developmental pathways of learners: this collective management of their different potentialities leads us to suggest the term of GZPD, for “group zone of proximal development”.