Daniil Borisovich Elkonin belongs to that remarkable galaxy of Soviet specialists in psychology, which forms the basis of the general popular academic school of the no less famous scientist Vygotsky.
Daniil Borisovich combined the gift of a scientist, capable of in-depth study of fundamental academic problems, and the talents of a researcher, effectively solving practical psychological problems that are significant for pedagogical work. The psychologist is the founder of remarkable theories of periodization of preschool maturation and children's play, as well as the technology of teaching a child to read. And one more thing should be noted about Daniil Borisovich - he possessed the exceptional soul of a resilient and cheerful person who was able to save his great mind and kindness until his last days. In modern pedagogy, his works are of considerable importance. A brief biography of D. B. Elkonin and a description of two major works can be found below.
Birth and training
The scientist was born in February (16thnumber) 1904 in the Poltava province. In 1914, he entered the Poltava gymnasium, which he was forced to leave a few years later due to lack of funds in the family. For the next couple of years, he worked as a clerk of military-political courses, a teacher in a children's colony, where there were juvenile delinquents. In 1924 he was sent to study at the University of Social Education, which was located in Leningrad. Soon the institution was attached to the Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute. Herzen.
Young years
In 1927 he graduated from the pedagogical faculty of this institution, and then worked for 2 years as a teacher-pedologist of a children's vocational school. In 1929 he began to teach at the university in his speci alty. From 1931 he worked with other researchers, developing problems of children's play. As he said, especially in classical societies, play is considered a significant component in the existence of children. With the help of toys that act as reduced tools, they acquire a variety of skills. Also, toys provide visual information about the society around (models of really existing objects and dolls in clothes), contribute to the physiological formation of children.
Rise and fall
In 1932, Elkonin became deputy director of the educational institution, where, in fact, he worked. In the next couple of years, a large number of his articles were published, dedicated to the study of various types of children's activity: games, study, communication, etc. He believed that through activities in the world, a preschooler comprehendsthe basic principles of human culture, in this way his nervous system is gradually formed. After the publication in 1936 of the famous order "On pedological perversions in the concept of the People's Commissariat of Education", he was removed from all posts without exception.
Teaching activities
With great difficulty, he was lucky enough to get a job as a first-grade teacher in the school where his children studied. Work with students was very significant for the psychologist D. B. Elkonin. Having no chance to work elsewhere, he gave all his own energy to the school and in 1938-1940. composed a primer and a manual on the Russian language, intended for schools in remote cities. At the same time, he became a PhD for the 2nd time.
War
In 1941, he joined the national militia. He took part in the defense and liberation of Leningrad, ended the war as a major. He happened to survive a severe blow: his wife and daughter died in the Caucasus, evacuated there from their native city. The psychologist was not demobilized, instead he was put on a teaching job at the university of the Soviet army. Further, Elkonin taught psychology, was fond of academic activities: he developed the basics of a course in the psychology of soldiers. The activities of the scientist did not suit his superiors.
The biography of D. B. Elkonin should be completed with the date of his death. The scientist died on October 4, 1984. Having experienced quite serious blows in his life, he nevertheless constantly gained strength in himself for academic activities, for communicating with students and children. ATof his own theory of periodization of psychological development, he generalizes the conclusions of numerous popular child psychologists, building his own theory on their basis. D. B. Elkonin made enough efforts to improve the educational system in our state. He is known worldwide as a gifted psychologist and educator.
The biography of D. B. Elkonin is quite interesting, as are his main works. There are more than one and a half hundred of them. Below are two that are known to a large part of the population.
Age and individual characteristics of younger adolescents
Elkonin developed the concept of periodization of the psychological development of the child. He proceeded from the fact that age and age-specific features are conditional definitions, and only more general age features are allowed to be separated. The scientist analyzed the age development of children as a general transformation of the personality, accompanied by a change in life position and the principle of relations with those around, the development at each stage of new values and motives of behavior. The psychological formation of children occurs in leaps and bounds: there are evolutionary periods, dangerous stages. During the evolutionary stage, changes in the psyche accumulate over time, then a jump is made, during which the preschooler moves to a new stage of age formation.
Psychology of the game
The monograph summarizes keymaterials on the psychology of play. The scientist provides a complete critical analysis of foreign theories of play at the theoretical level and experimentally argues for a new (created with his direct participation) representation of the game, which was formed in Soviet psychology, demonstrates the importance of play for the psychological development of children. The book is intended for specialists - researchers in the field of pedagogy and psychology.
The main works and biography of D. B. Elkonin, a psychologist and simply a significant person for science, show him as a truly great scientist who is popular all over the world.
