Discomfort and Organization

Psychologist Lev Vygotsky coined the term “zone of proximal development,” (ZPD) a concept which prioritizes the moves a learner makes from being able to understand and act with assistance, to being able to understand and act independently.

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For his part, Martin Luther King, Jr., voiced a similar idea at the societal level when he wrote about “a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth”.

Necessarily, Vygotsky’s view of education, and Dr. King’s view of societal progress, both require individuals to feel at least slight discomfort. The idea of the ZPD holds in constructive tension the importance of adult assistance and support and the importance of moving into the unknown to work and think without that support. By “scaffolding” assignments that are intentionally just beyond the learner’s current comfort zone, we’re helping students move into greater comfort with doing things on their own. King’s view of “constructive tension” requires a willingness to engage in nonviolent conflict, and he draws an explicit connections between education and direct action, writing, “Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.”

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