The Zone of Proximal Development, known as ZPD, is the difference between what a child can do by himself and what he cannot do. The conceps was used by Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) in his last ten years of life. Vygotsky said that a child follows the example of an adult and slowly develops the ability to do certain things without help. In other words, learning can take place only when the task is challenging enough (when they are not too easy), but when they are not too difficult either.

The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) where learning happens is situated between the child’s ability to work guided by an adult and his ability to carry out the task by himself, independently. Learning is more facile if the adult can serve as a role model for that particular competence. That is why, in their early years, the little ones learn from their parents. Children, with his set of skills acquired at home, enter collectivities at nurseries and schools where they add to it, making it more diverse. Studies have shown that tensions in families can negatively affect a child, that is why the development of children’s personalities depend very much on his social interactions and the effects these have on him. Given the amount of time spent at school, success or failure of schooling will also affect the developing personality of children. Equally, an important part in shaping their personality is the existence or not of coflicts in the set of values promoted by the school and at home.