The zone of proximal development is defined as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers" by Lev Vygotsky in the last 10 years of his life. Because of his early death, this theory is not yet fully developed.
In a nutshell, it is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with help.
Vygotsky stated that a child will follow an adult's example of doing a task and gradually develop the ability to complete this task without any assistance.
Among other educational specialists, Vygotsky believed that the role of education is to provide children with tasks that are within their zone of proximal development to encourage them to keep learning.
He also believed that, instead of determining a child's knowledge based on tests given in schools (based on memory in a way), their development of their learning and knowledge should be based on their ability to solve problems independently and then with the assistance of an adult.
A concept of 'scaffolding' has been gradually developed by theorist Jerome Bruner, and furtherly developed by Wood and Middleton in 1975, supporting Vygotskys idea. They believe that this idea is that, when helping learning, a teacher or adult will help a child with a task within the child's ZPD, and will later reduce the amount of help as it becomes unneeded due to the child understanding what is needed to complete the task.
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