Lev Semenovich Vygotsky was one of the founders of modern psychology. His research led to the emergence of the largest psychological school in the Soviet Union. His legacy has been rethought many times, forgotten and rediscovered. Until now, disputes about Vygotsky's theories are ongoing at the international level.
Early years
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (real name - Lev Simkhovich Vygodsky) was born in 1896 in the Belarusian city of Orsha, where his parents' family was forced to live beyond the Pale of Settlement. Soon they moved to Gomel, Mogilev province. At the end of the 19th century, this city was a center of trade and industry.
Vygotsky's parents valued education, had a broad outlook, and tried to instill in their children a love of art and science. The best holidays in the family were reading and trips to the theater.
Young Leo's first teacher, Solomon Ashpiz, an activist in the Social Democratic Party, encouraged students to develop free thinking through Socraticdialogue. Even before entering the gymnasium, Leo learned English, Hebrew and Ancient Greek, and later Latin, French, Esperanto and German were added to them.
After successfully graduating from gymnasium education, Lev Vygotsky was going to study philology at Moscow University, but was refused. At that time, Jews could not freely choose their profession. Then Vygotsky entered the medical school. And then he transferred to the Faculty of Law. In addition, he attended lectures on psychology and philosophy by G. Shpet and P. Blonsky at the People's University, and after 1917 he transferred there altogether.
Scientific papers
While still a student, Vygotsky began to publish in magazines with articles on literature and Jewish culture. He was published a lot in the magazines "New Life", "New Way" and in Gorky's "Chronicle". The psychologist paid great attention to the problem of anti-Semitism in Russian literature.
After the revolution, Vygotsky left his legal career. He collaborated with Gomel newspapers and magazines, wrote theater reviews. Lev Semenovich taught logic, literature, and lectured on psychology at schools and technical schools. The experience of working in educational institutions became a serious impetus for the scientist. Which prompted him to decide to develop psychological theories in pedagogy.
A long-standing interest in culture has led to the creation of one of the most significant works. We are talking about Vygotsky's book "Psychology of Art". It was written as a dissertation and was first publishedonly in 1965.
Another seminal work was called Educational Psychology. The author analyzed his own teaching experience and developed his scientific theories on its basis. In later works "Thinking and Speech" and "Teachings on Emotions" these ideas are continued.
Among the legacy of L. S. Vygotsky - books, monographs, scientific articles. He managed to publish many works, which began to fall under the ban of the Soviet authorities during his lifetime. After the scientist's death, his works were confiscated from libraries and outlawed.
Vygotsky's theories found new life only in the late fifties. And after the publication of books abroad, the world fame came to the scientist. Until now, his scientific concepts cause admiration and controversy among colleagues.
Cultural-historical theory. Essence
Vygotsky's basic psychological theory began to take shape with his early publications in journals and acquired a finished form in the 30s. The scientist insisted on considering the social environment in which the child is located as the main factor in the development of personality.
Lev Semenovich believed that the reason for the crisis of contemporary psychology was that the researchers considered only the primitive side of human consciousness, while ignoring the higher functions. He distinguished two levels of behavior:
- natural, involuntary, formed by the evolution of biological processes;
- cultural, based on historical developmenthuman society, managed.
Vygotsky believed that consciousness has a socio-cultural, symbolic nature. Signs are formed by society in a historical context and influence the restructuring of the mental activity of the child. The scientist argued that speech is the most important factor in psychological development. It unites the physical, cultural, communicative and semantic levels of consciousness.
Higher psychological functions with the help of signs (mainly speech) are taken over from the outside and only then become part of the inner world of a person. Vygotsky introduced the concept of the social situation of development. It can be gradual, evolutionary or crisis.
Signs and thinking
Under the term "sign" Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky understood a conditional symbol that carries a certain meaning. The word can be considered a universal sign that changes and forms the consciousness of the subject who has mastered it.
Speech carries information of the sociocultural environment in which the child grows up. With its help, such important functions of consciousness as logical thinking, will, and creative imagination are formed.
Psychology of Pedagogy
Most of the works of Lev Semenovich Vygotsky are devoted to the study of the psychological patterns of human development that arise in the process of education and training. The term "pedology" is also used to refer to this area of knowledge.
Education in psychology refers to the development of human abilities, the transfer of skills and knowledge. Under education - work with personality, behavior. This is the area of feelings and relationships betweenpeople. Educational psychology has a close relationship with sociology and physiology.
Developmental learning
Vygotsky for the first time in Russian psychology began to study the relationship between learning and human development. By the term "development" he meant gradual changes in the physiology, behavior and thinking of the child. They occur over time under the influence of the environment and natural processes in the body.
Changes are taking place in several areas:
- Physical - changes in the structure of the brain, internal organs, motor and sensory skills.
- Cognitive - in mental processes, mental abilities, imagination, speech, memory.
- Psychosocial - in personality behavior and emotions.
These areas are developing simultaneously and are interconnected. There is a need to draw up an approximate schedule for the appearance of specific forms of behavior in children. Lev Semenovich Vygotsky developed the doctrine of age as a central problem and theoretical psychology. As well as teaching practice.
In subsequent years, Soviet scientists V. Davydov, P. Galperin, M. Enikeev and others, based on the theories of L. S. Vygotsky on the psychology of child development, developed the concept of developmental education. That is, the works of the scientist were continued by his followers.
Laws of age development
L. S. Vygodsky in the psychology of child development formulated several general provisions:
- Age development has a complex organization, its own rhythm, which changes in different periods of life;
- Development is a sequence of qualitative changes;
- The psyche develops unevenly, each side has its own period of change;
- Higher mental functions are collective forms of behavior and only then become the individual functions of a person.
Levels
In the theory of age-related development, Vygotsky singled out two important levels. Consider them:
- Zone of actual development. This is the level of available preparedness of the child, the tasks that he is able to perform without the help of adults.
- Zone of proximal development. It includes tasks that the child cannot solve on his own, only with the help of an adult. However, through interaction with other people, the child gains the necessary experience and subsequently becomes able to perform the same actions independently.
According to Vygotsky, learning should always go ahead of development. It should be based on the age stages already passed and focus on the functions that have not yet fully formed, the potential capabilities of the child.
The most important factor in the development of a child is cooperation with an adult. At the same time, learning takes place not only at school, but also in everyday life and in the family.
Personal action approach
Lev Semenovich Vygotsky believed that the human personality is formed in the process of complex interaction withenvironment. There is no unmotivated activity. Her motive comes from a certain need. The mental development of the individual is aimed at the formation of internal actions aimed at achieving conscious goals.
Vygotsky's theory of personality puts the student himself, his goals, motives, and individual psychological characteristics at the center of the learning process. The teacher determines the direction and methods of teaching based on the interests and perspectives of the child.
Influence on the development of science
In world psychology, Vygotsky's theory of the cultural and historical development of personality gained popularity in the 70s, when the scientist's books began to be published in the West. Many works have appeared devoted to the comprehension and development of his ideas.
American and European psychologists use Vygotsky's findings to develop methods for learning foreign languages and even researching modern computer technologies. In the context of cultural-historical theory, the possibilities of new forms of education are considered: distance and electronic. Scientists D. Parisi and M. Mirolli suggested using the achievements of the Soviet psychologist to give robots more "human" features.
In Russia, Vygotsky's theories were developed and rethought by students and followers. Among them are outstanding scientists P. Galperin, A. Leontiev, V. Davydov, A. Luria, L. Bozhovich, A. Zaporozhets, D. Elkonin.
In 2007, Cambridge University Press published a major study of the works of L. S. Vygotsky. In its creation tookparticipation of scientists from ten countries of the world, including Russia.
