The zone of proximal privilege: towards a Vygotskian theory of privilege in education*

Abstract

Foundational to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) was the influence of Marx’s theory of historical materialism. Vygotsky’s work radically rejected the traditional approaches of developmental psychology. The ZPD centralized the importance of potential development not only by measuring or testing what a child could perform, but a tool to observe developmental change as a dialectical product of society and material life. In other words, social structures and the dynamic material world play a significant role in shaping the child’s development. It follows then that contemporary uptakes of Vygotsky’s ZPD likewise would be remiss to neglect the importance of historical materialism and take account of the dynamism of modern capital. This paper offers for further engagement the Zone of Proximal Privilege—a contemporary uptake of Vygotsky’s work that explores the ways that the excesses of capital have created vast educational privileges for some while constricting access and development for many others.

Keywords:

• Vygotsky
• privilege
• development

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This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hoang Vu Huy Tran^†

Hoang Vu Huy Tran, Ph.D., was Assistant Professor of Curriculum, Culture and Educational Inquiry in the College of Education, Florida Atlantic University. His research focused mainly on race stratification in education, legal studies, and society. He was the author of Race, Law, and Higher Education in the Colorblind Era: Critical Investigations into Race-Related Supreme Court Disputes (Routledge).