Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Vygotsky’s idea of the Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD reflects both the complexity of the relationship between learning and development and the dynamics of the transitions from shared forms of mental processes to their individual forms:
...what we call the Zone of Proximal Development...is a distance between the actual developmental level determined by individual problem solving and the level of development as determined through problem solving under guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.
Source(s)
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The Development of Higher Mental Processes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.