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Vygotsky's idea of a zone of proximal development is the second aspect of his cognitive theory. A zone of proximal development is the level of development immediately above a person's present level (Slavin, 2003, p.44). The zone of proximal development contains things that children may not be able to do alone at the time, but are on the verge of achieving. Vygotsky felt it was important to work within the zone proximal development to achieve maximum learning.
Scaffolding involves encouragement and assistance in the form of advice and suggestions to aid a child in mastering a new concept. Scaffolding is the final piece of Vygotsky's cognitive development theory. By using hints and pointers from teachers, parents, and peers who have already grasped the desired concept, children are able to form their own path toward a solution and by doing this eventually to self-regulate, or think and solve problems without the help of others (Slavin, 2003, p.44).

Teachers and school systems have been applying the cognitive development theories of Piaget and Vygotsky for some time. A good example of Piagentian learning could be set in a preschool classroom. During the preschool years Piaget views children as being in the Preoperational stage and as a result they tend to be egocentric. Therefore, it would be logical to talk about things with preschool age children from their own viewpoints as they will feel their experiences are the only experiences. During show and tell one child might say the ball that another child brought to class to share is for rolling while the child who brought the ball may feel the ball is better suited to throwing. Neither child is wrong in this instance, the ball can be used for both purposes, but they may think that because they each respectively like to roll or throw the ball that the other child likes to share in the same activity.

A possible classroom application of Vygotsky's cognitive theory could take place in...