The name of the scientific author of cultural-historical theory. Works by L.S.

He is not the author of the methods, but his theoretical developments and observations formed the basis for the practical systems of famous teachers (for example, Elkonin). The research begun by Vygotsky was continued by his students and followers, giving them practical use. His ideas seem especially relevant now.

Biography of L.S. Vygotsky

L.S. Vygotsky was born on November 17, 1896 in Orsha, the second child in large family bank employee. In 1897, the family moved to Gomel, where it became a kind of cultural center (the father is the founder of the public library).

Lev was a gifted boy and was educated at home. From 1912 he completed his studies at a private gymnasium.

In 1914, after graduating from high school, Vygotsky entered Moscow State University to study Faculty of Medicine, and a month later he was transferred to law school and graduated in 1917. At the same time, he received an education at the Faculty of History and Philology of the Shanyavsky University.

In 1917, with the beginning of the revolution, the young man returned to Gomel. The Gomel period lasted until 1924 and was the beginning of his psychological and pedagogical activity. Here he marries and has a daughter.

At first he gave private lessons, then taught a course in philology and logic at various schools in the city, and took an active part in the formation of a new type of school. He also taught philology at the Pedagogical College, where he created a consulting room for psychology. Here Vygotsky began his psychological research.

In 1920, Lev contracted tuberculosis from his brother, who died.

In 1924 he was invited to the Moscow Institute of Experimental Psychology. From that moment on, the Moscow period of the scientist’s family began.

In 1924 - 1925 Vygotsky created his own cultural and historical history on the basis of the institute. psychological school. He began to become interested in working with special needs children. Continuing his psychological research, he simultaneously worked in the People's Commissar of Education, where he proved himself to be a talented organizer.

Through his efforts, an experimental defectology institute was created in 1926 (now the Institute of Correctional Pedagogy). He headed it until the end of his life. Vygotsky continues to write and publish books. From time to time the illness put him out of action. In 1926 there was a very severe outbreak.

From 1927 - 1931 The scientist published works on the problems of cultural-historical psychology. During these same years, he began to be accused of retreating from Marxism. It became dangerous to study psychology, and Vygovsky devoted himself to pedology.

The disease periodically worsened, and in 1934 Lev Semenovich died in Moscow.

Main directions of Vygotsky's research

Vygotsky was, first and foremost, a psychologist. He chose the following areas of research:

comparison of adults and children;
comparison of modern man and ancient man;
comparison normal development individuals with pathological behavioral deviations.

The scientist drew up a program that determined his path in psychology: to look for an explanation of internal mental processes outside the body, in its interaction with the environment. The scientist believed that these mental processes can only be understood through development. And the most intensive development of the psyche occurs in children.

This is how Vygotsky came to an in-depth study of child psychology. He studied the patterns of development of normal and abnormal children. In the process of research, the scientist came to study not only the process of child development, but also his upbringing. And since pedagogy is the study of education, Vygotsky began research in this direction.

He believed that any teacher should base his work on psychological science. This is how he connected psychology with pedagogy. And a little later, a separate science in social pedagogy emerged - psychological pedagogy.

While studying pedagogy, the scientist became interested in new science pedology (knowledge about the child from the point of view of various sciences) and became the main pedologist of the country.

He put forward ideas that revealed the laws of cultural development of the individual, his mental functions(speech, attention, thinking), explained the child’s internal mental processes, his relationship with the environment.

His ideas on defectology laid the foundation for correctional pedagogy, which began to practically help special children.

Vygotsky did not develop methods for raising and developing children, but his concepts of the proper organization of education and upbringing became the basis of many developmental programs and systems. The scientist’s research, ideas, hypotheses and concepts were far ahead of their time.

Principles of raising children according to Vygotsky

The scientist believed that education does not consist in adapting the child to environment, but in the formation of a personality that goes beyond this environment, as if looking forward. At the same time, the child does not need to be educated from the outside, he must educate himself.

This is possible with proper organization of the education process. Only the personal activity of a child can become the basis of education.

The teacher should only be an observer, correctly guide and regulate the child’s independent activity at the right moments.

Thus, education becomes an active process from three sides:

the child is active (he performs independent action);
the teacher is active (he observes and helps);
The environment between the child and the teacher is active.

Education is closely related to learning. Both processes are collective activities. The structure of the new labor school, which Vygotsky created with his students, is based on the principles of the collective process of education and training.

Unified Labor School

It was the prototype of a democratic school based on a creative, dynamic, collaborative pedagogy. It was ahead of its time, imperfect, and made mistakes, but it was still successful.

Vygotsky’s ideas were implemented by teachers Blonsky, Wenzel, Shatsky and others.

The pedological theory was tested at the school:

there were rooms for psychological and pedological diagnostics;
constant medical and psychological monitoring was carried out;
classes were created according to the principle of the child’s pedological age.

This school existed until 1936, when the Soviet authorities began attacking it. The school was repurposed as a regular one.

The very idea of pedology was distorted, and it fell into oblivion. Pedology and the idea of a labor school received a second life in the 90s. with the collapse of the USSR. A unified labor school in the modern sense is a democratic school, very appropriate in today's education.

Development and education of special children

Vygotsky developed new theory abnormal development of the child, on which defectology is now based and all practical correctional pedagogy is built. The purpose of this theory: the socialization of special children with a defect, and not the study of the defect itself. It was a revolution in defectology.

He connected special correctional pedagogy with pedagogy normal child. He believed that the personality of a special child is formed in the same way as that of ordinary children. It is enough to socially rehabilitate an abnormal child, and his development will follow the normal course.

His social pedagogy was supposed to help the child remove the negative social layers caused by the defect. The defect itself is not the cause of the child’s abnormal development, it is only a consequence of improper socialization.

The starting point in the rehabilitation of special children should be an unaffected state of the body. “We should work with the child based on what is healthy and positive,” Vygotsky.

By starting rehabilitation, you can also start the compensatory capabilities of the special child’s body. The idea of the zone of proximal development has become very effective in restoring the normal development of special children.

Zone of Proximal Development Theory

The zone of proximal development is the “distance” between the level of the actual and possible development child.

Level of current development- this is the development of the child’s psyche in this moment(which tasks can be completed independently).
Zone of proximal development- this is the future development of the individual (actions that are performed with the help of an adult).

This is based on the assumption that a child, while learning some elementary action, simultaneously masters general principle this action. Firstly, this action itself has more wide application than its element. Secondly, having mastered the principle of action, you can apply it to perform another element.

This will be an easier process. There is development in the learning process.

But learning is not the same as development: learning does not always push development; on the contrary, it can become a brake if we rely only on what the child can do and do not take into account the level of his possible development.

Learning will become developmental if we focus on what the child can learn from previous experience.

The size of the zone of proximal development is different for each child.

It depends:

on the needs of the child;
from its capabilities;
on the willingness of parents and teachers to assist in the development of the child.

Vygotsky's merits in pedology

At the beginning of the 20th century, educational psychology appeared, which was based on the fact that learning and upbringing depend on the psyche of a particular child.

The new science did not solve many problems of pedagogy. An alternative was pedology - a comprehensive science of complete age development child. The center of study in it is the child from the point of view of biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, pediatrics, and pedagogy. The hottest problem in pedology was the socialization of the child.

It was believed that child development comes from individual psychic world To to the outside world(socialization). Vygotsky was the first to postulate that the social and individual development of a child are not opposed to each other. They are simply two different forms of the same mental function.

He believed that the social environment is the source of personal development. The child absorbs (makes internal) those activities that came to him from the outside (were external). These types of activities are initially enshrined in social forms of culture. The child adopts them by seeing how other people perform these actions.

Those. external social and objective activity turns into internal structures psyche (interiorization), and through general social and symbolic activity (including through speech) of adults and children, the basis of the child’s psyche is formed.

Vygotsky formulated the basic law of cultural development:

In the development of a child, any function appears twice - first in social aspect, and then in the psychological (i.e., at first it is external, and then becomes internal).

Vygotsky believed that this law determines the development of attention, memory, thinking, speech, emotions, and will.

The influence of communication on raising a child

The child develops quickly and masters the world if communicating with an adult. At the same time, the adult himself should be interested in communication. It is very important to encourage your child's verbal communication.

Speech is a sign system that arose in the process of social historical development person. It is able to transform children's thinking, helps solve problems and form concepts. IN early age In the child’s speech, words with a purely emotional meaning are used.

As children grow and develop, words of specific meaning appear in their speech. In senior adolescence The child begins to designate abstract concepts in words. Thus, speech (word) changes the mental functions of children.

The mental development of a child is initially controlled by communication with an adult (through speech). Then this process moves into the internal structures of the psyche, and inner speech appears.

Criticism of Vygotsky's ideas

Vygotsky's research and ideas on psychological pedagogy were subjected to the most vehement condemnation.

His concept of learning, based on the zone of proximal development, carries the danger of pushing forward a child who does not have sufficient potential. This can dramatically slow down children's development.

This is partly confirmed by the current fashionable trend: parents strive to develop their children as much as possible, without taking into account their abilities and potential. This dramatically affects the health and psyche of children and reduces motivation for further education.

Another controversial concept: systematically helping a child perform actions that he has not mastered on his own can deprive the child of independent thinking.

Dissemination and popularity of Vygotsky's ideas

After the death of Lev Semenovich, his works were forgotten and did not spread. However, since 1960, pedagogy and psychology have rediscovered Vygotsky, revealing many positive aspects in him.

His idea of the zone of proximal development helped assess learning potential and proved fruitful. Her outlook is optimistic. The concept of defectology has become very useful for correcting the development and education of special children.

Many schools have adopted the definitions age standards according to Vygotsky. With the advent of new sciences (valeology, correctional pedagogy, a new reading of previously perverted pedology), the scientist’s ideas became very relevant and fit into the concept of modern education, a new democratic school.

Many of Vygotsky’s ideas are being popularized here and abroad today.

Michael Cole and Jerome Bruner incorporated them into their theories of development.

Rom Harré and John Shotter considered Vygotsky to be the founder of social psychology and continued his research.

In the 90s Valsiner and Barbara Rogoff deepened developmental psychology based on Vygotsky's ideas.

Vygotsky's students were prominent Russian psychologists, including Elkonin, who also worked on problems of child development. Together with teachers, based on Vygotsky’s ideas, he created an effective Elkonin-Davydov-Repkin development program.

It is used to teach mathematics and language according to a special system; it is approved by the state and is now widely used in schools.

In addition, there are still many talented hypotheses and unrealized ideas of Vygotsky that are waiting in the wings.

Treasury of the scientist's works. Bibliography

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky wrote more than 190 works. Not all of them were published during his lifetime.

Vygotsky's books on pedagogy and psychology:

"Thinking and Speech" (1924)
"Instrumental method in pedology" (1928)
"The problem of the cultural development of the child" (1928)
"Instrumental Method in Psychology" (1930)
"Tool and sign in the development of the child" (1931)
"Pedology school age" (1928)
"Pedology of Adolescence" (1929)
"Pedology of a teenager" (1930-1931)

Main publications:

1. Educational psychology. — M: Education worker, 1926

2. Pedology of a teenager. - M: Moscow State University, 1930

3. Main trends of modern psychology. — M + Leningrad: Gosizdat, 1930

4. Sketches on the history of behavior. Monkey. Primitive. Child. — M + Leningrad: Gosizdat, 1930

5. Imagination and creativity in childhood. — M + Leningrad: Gosizdat, 1930

6. Thinking and speech. — M + Leningrad: Sotsgiz, 1934

7. Mental development of children in the learning process. - M: State educational teacher, 1935

8. Developmental diagnostics and pedological clinic for difficult childhood. — M: Experiment, defectol. Institute named after M. S. Epstein, 1936

9. Thinking and speech. Problems psychological development child. Selected pedagogical studies. - M: APN, 1956

10. Development of higher mental functions. - M: APN, 1960

11. Psychology of art. Art. - M, 1965

12. Structural psychology. - M: Moscow State University, 1972

13. Collected works in 6 volumes:

vol. 1: Questions of the theory and history of psychology;

Vol. 2: Problems general psychology;

vol. 3: Problems of mental development;

vol. 4: Child psychology;

vol. 5: Fundamentals of defectology;

vol. 6: Scientific heritage.

M: Pedagogy, 1982-1984

14. Problems of defectology. — M: Enlightenment, 1995

15. Lectures on pedology 1933-1934. - Izhevsk: Udmurt University, 1996

16. Vygotsky. [Sat. texts.] - M: Amonashvili, 1996

Reading mode

Defectology in the scientific biography of L.S. Vygotsky *

In the activities and creativity of Lev Semenovich, problems of defectology occupied a significant place. Throughout the entire Moscow period of his life, for all ten years, Lev Semenovich, in parallel with psychological research, conducted theoretical and experimental work in the field of defectology. Specific gravity The research carried out on this issue is very large...

Lev Semenovich began his scientific and practical activities in the field of defectology back in 1924, when he was appointed head of the department of abnormal childhood at the People's Commissariat for Education. We have already written about his bright and turning-point report for the development of defectology at the II Congress of SPON. I would like to note that interest in this area of knowledge turned out to be persistent and increased in subsequent years. L.S. Vygotsky not only conducted intensive scientific research, but also did a great deal of practical and organizational work in this area.

In 1926, he organized a laboratory on the psychology of abnormal childhood at the Medical-Pedagogical Station (in Moscow, on Pogodinskaya street, building 8). Over the three years of its existence, the employees of this laboratory have accumulated interesting research material and done important pedagogical work. About a year Lev Semenovich was the director of the entire station, and then became her scientific consultant.

In 1929, on the basis of the above-mentioned laboratory, the Experimental Defectology Institute of the People's Commissariat for Education (EDI) was created. I.I. was appointed director of the institute. Danyushevsky. Since the creation of EDI And before last days During his life, L.S. Vygotsky was his scientific supervisor and consultant.

The staff of scientists gradually increased, and the base for research expanded. The institute examined the abnormal child, diagnosed and planned further correctional work with deaf and mentally retarded children.

To this day, many defectologists recall how scientific and practical workers flocked from different parts of Moscow to observe how L.S. Vygotsky examined the children and then analyzed each individual case in detail, revealing the structure of the defect and giving practical recommendations parents and teachers.

In EDI there was a communal school for children with behavioral problems, a auxiliary school (for mentally retarded children), a school for the deaf, and a clinical diagnostic department. In 1933 L.S. Vygotsky, together with the director of the institute I.I. Danyushevsky decided to study children with speech disorders.

Conducted by L.S. Vygotsky’s research at this institute is still fundamental for the productive development of problems in defectology. Created by L.S. Vygotsky’s scientific system in this area of knowledge has not only historiographical significance, but also significantly influences the development of the theory and practice of modern defectology.

It is difficult to name work of recent years in the field of psychology and pedagogy of the anomalous child that would not have been influenced by the ideas of Lev Semenovich and would not directly or indirectly refer to his scientific heritage. His teaching still does not lose its relevance and significance.

In the field of scientific interests L.S. Vygotsky was big circle issues related to the study, development, training and education of abnormal children. In our opinion, the most significant problems are those that help to understand the essence and nature of the defect, the possibilities and features of its compensation and the correct organization of the study, training and education of an abnormal child. Let us briefly describe some of them.

Lev Semenovich's understanding of the nature and essence of abnormal development differed from the widespread biologizing approach to the defect. L.S. Vygotsky viewed the defect as a “social dislocation” caused by a change in the child’s relationship with the environment, which leads to a violation of the social aspects of behavior. He comes to the conclusion that in understanding the essence of abnormal development, it is necessary to identify and take into account the primary defect, secondary, tertiary and subsequent layers above it. Distinguishing primary and subsequent symptoms of L.S. Vygotsky considered it extremely important when studying children with various pathologies. He wrote that elementary functions, being a primary defect arising from the very core of the defect and being directly related to it, are less amenable to correction.

The problem of defect compensation is reflected in most of the works of L.S. Vygotsky, dedicated to the problems of defectology.

The theory of compensation being developed was organically included in the problem of the development and decay of higher mental functions that he studied. Already in the 20s. L.S. Vygotsky put forward and substantiated the need social compensation defect as a task of paramount importance: “Probably, humanity will conquer sooner or later blindness, deafness, and dementia, but much sooner it will defeat them socially and pedagogically than medically and biologically.”

In subsequent years, Lev Semenovich deepened and specified the theory of compensation. What was put forward by L.S. was extremely important for improving the theory of compensation and the problem of teaching abnormal children. Vygotsky’s position on the creation of workarounds for the development of a pathologically developing child. In his later works L.S. Vygotsky more than once returned to the question of workarounds for development, noting their great importance for the compensation process. “In the process of cultural development,” he writes, “the child replaces some functions with others, creates workarounds, and this opens up completely new opportunities for us in the development of an abnormal child. If this child cannot achieve something in a direct way, then the development of detours becomes the basis of his compensation."

L.S. Vygotsky, in the light of the compensation problem he developed, pointed out that all defectological pedagogical practice consists of creating workarounds for the development of an anomalous child. This, in the words of L.S. Vygotsky, “alpha and omega” of special pedagogy.

So, in the works of the 20s. L.S. Vygotsky only in the most general form put forward the idea of replacing biological compensation with social compensation. In his subsequent works, this idea takes on a concrete form: the way to compensate for the defect is to form workarounds for the development of an abnormal child.

Lev Semenovich argued that a normal and abnormal child develop according to the same laws. But along with general patterns, he also noted the uniqueness of the development of an anomalous child. And How main feature abnormal psyche highlighted the divergence of biological and cultural processes of development.

It is known that each of the categories of abnormal children has various reasons and in varying degrees accumulation delayed life experience Therefore, the role of training in their development is of particular importance. A mentally retarded, deaf and blind child needs early, properly organized training and education to a greater extent than a normally developing child who is able to independently draw knowledge from the world around him.

Characterizing defectiveness as a “social dislocation,” Lev Semenovich does not at all deny that organic defects (deafness, blindness, dementia) are biological facts. But since the teacher has to deal in practice not so much with the biological facts themselves, but with their social consequences, with conflicts that arise during the “entry of an abnormal child into life,” L.S. Vygotsky had sufficient grounds to assert that the upbringing of a child with a defect is fundamentally social in nature. Incorrect or late upbringing of an abnormal child leads to aggravation of deviations in the development of his personality, and behavioral disorders appear.

To tear an abnormal child out of a state of isolation, to open before him ample opportunities for genuine human life, to introduce him to socially useful work, to educate him as an active, conscious member of society - these are the tasks that, in the opinion of L.S. Vygotsky, the special school should first of all decide.

Having refuted the false opinion about the reduced “social impulses” of an anomalous child, Lev Semenovich raises the question of the need to raise him not as a disabled dependent or a socially neutral being, but as an active, conscious person.

In the process of pedagogical work with children with sensory or intellectual disabilities, L.S. Vygotsky considers it necessary to focus not on the “spools of illness” of the child, but on the “pounds of health” he has.

At that time, the essence of the correctional work of special schools, which boiled down to training the processes of memory, attention, observation, and sensory organs, was a system of formal isolated exercises. L.S. Vygotsky was one of the first to draw attention to the painful nature of these trainings. He didn't count correct selection systems of such exercises into separate activities, into turning them into an end in themselves, but advocated for such a principle of correctional educational work, in which the correction of deficiencies in the cognitive activity of abnormal children would be part of the general educational work, would be dissolved in the entire process of teaching and upbringing, and would be carried out during play, study and work activities.

Developing in child psychology the problem of the relationship between learning and development, L.S. Vygotsky came to the conclusion that learning should precede, run ahead and pull up, lead the development of the child.

This understanding of the relationship between these processes led him to the need to take into account both the current (“current”) level of development of the child and his potential (“zone of proximal development”). Under the “zone of proximal development” L.S. Vygotsky understood the functions “those in the process of maturation, functions that will mature tomorrow, which are now still in their infancy, functions that can be called not the fruits of development, but the buds of development, the flowers of development, i.e. something that is just ripening."

Thus, in the process of developing the concept of “zone of proximal development,” Lev Semenovich put forward an important thesis that when determining the mental development of a child, one cannot focus only on what he has achieved, i.e. into passed and completed stages, but it is necessary to take into account “the dynamic state of its development”, “those processes that are now in a state of formation.”

According to Vygotsky, the “zone of proximal development” is determined as a child solves problems that are difficult for his age with help from an adult. Thus, the assessment of a child’s mental development should be based on two indicators: receptivity to the assistance provided and the ability to solve similar problems independently in the future.

In his daily work, encountering not only normally developing children, but also conducting examinations of children with developmental disabilities, Lev Semenovich became convinced that ideas about development zones are very productive when applied to all categories of abnormal children.

The leading method of examining children by pedologists was the use of psychometric tests. In a number of cases, although interesting in themselves, they nevertheless did not provide an idea of the structure of the defect or the real capabilities of the child. Pedologists believed that abilities could and should be measured quantitatively with the aim of subsequently distributing children to different schools depending on the results of this measurement. Formal assessment of children's abilities through test trials led to errors that resulted in normal children being sent to feeder schools.

In his works L.S. Vygotsky criticized the methodological inconsistency of the quantitative approach to the study of the psyche using test trials. According to the scientist’s figurative expression, during such examinations “kilometers were added up to kilograms.”

After one of Vygotsky’s reports (December 23, 1933) he was asked to give his opinion on the tests. Vygotsky responded to this like this: “At our congresses, the smartest scientists argued about what better method: laboratory or experimental. It's like arguing which is better: a knife or a hammer. A method is always a means, a method is always a way. Can we say that the most the best way– is this from Moscow to Leningrad? If you want to go to Leningrad, then, of course, this is so, but if you want to go to Pskov, then this is a bad way. This is not to say that tests are always a good or a bad thing, but one thing can be said general rule that the tests themselves are not an objective indicator of mental development. Tests always reveal signs, and signs do not directly indicate the development process, but always need to be supplemented by other signs.”

Answering the question of whether tests can serve as a criterion for current development, L.S. Vygotsky said: “I think the question is which tests and how to use them. This question can be answered in the same way as if I were asked whether a knife could be a good tool for surgery. It depends which one? Of course, there will be a knife from Narpit's canteen bad remedy, and the surgical one will be good.”

“The study of a difficult child,” wrote L.S. Vygotsky, more than any other child type, should be based on long-term observation of him in the process of education, on pedagogical experiment, on the study of the products of creativity, play and all aspects of a child’s behavior.”

“Tests for the study of will, emotional side, fantasy, character, etc. can be used as an auxiliary and indicative tool.”

From the above statements by L.S. Vygotsky is clear: he believed that tests themselves cannot be an objective indicator of mental development. However, he did not deny the admissibility of their limited use along with other methods of studying the child. In fact, Vygotsky’s view of tests is similar to that held by psychologists and defectologists at the present time.

L.S. pays a lot of attention to his works. Vygotsky focused on the problem of studying abnormal children and their correct selection into special institutions. Modern principles of selection (comprehensive, holistic, dynamic, systematic and integrated study) of children are rooted in the concept of L.S. Vygotsky.

Ideas L.S. Vygotsky about the characteristics of a child’s mental development, the zones of actual and proximal development, the leading role of teaching and upbringing, the need for dynamic and systematic approach to the implementation of corrective influence taking into account the integrity of personality development and a number of others were reflected and developed in theoretical and experimental studies of domestic scientists, as well as in the practice of different types of schools for abnormal children.

In the early 30s. L.S. Vygotsky worked fruitfully in the field of pathopsychology. One of the leading provisions of this science, which contributes to a correct understanding of the abnormal development of mental activity, according to well-known experts, is the concept of the unity of intellect and affect. L.S. Vygotsky calls him cornerstone in the development of a child with intact intelligence and a mentally retarded child. The significance of this idea goes far beyond the problems in connection with which it was expressed. Lev Semenovich believed that “the unity of intellect and affect ensures the process of regulation and mediation of our behavior (in Vygotsky’s terminology, “changes our actions”).”

L.S. Vygotsky took a new approach to experimental research basic processes of thinking and to the study of how higher mental functions are formed and how they disintegrate during pathological conditions brain Thanks to the work carried out by Vygotsky and his colleagues, the processes of decay received their new scientific explanation...

The problems of speech pathology that interested Lev Semenovich began to be studied under his leadership at the EDI speech clinic school. In particular, from 1933–1934. One of Lev Semenovich’s students, Roza Evgenievna Levina, dealt with the study of alalik children.

Lev Semenovich attempted a thorough psychological analysis of the changes in speech and thinking that occur with aphasia. (These ideas were subsequently developed and worked out in detail by A.R. Luria).

Theoretical and methodological concept developed by L.S. Vygotsky, ensured the transition of defectology from empirical, descriptive positions to truly scientific foundations, contributing to the formation of defectology as a science.

Such famous defectologists as E.S. Bain, T.A. Vlasova, R.E. Levina, N.G. Morozova, Zh.I. Schiff, who was lucky enough to work with Lev Semenovich, evaluate his contribution to the development of theory and practice: "His works served scientific basis construction of special schools and theoretical justification of the principles and methods of studying the diagnosis of difficult (abnormal) children. Vygotsky left a legacy of enduring scientific significance, included in the treasury of Soviet and world psychology, defectology, psychoneurology and other related sciences.”

Fragments of the book by G.L. Vygodskaya and T.M. Lifanova “Lev Semenovich Vygotsky. Life. Activity. Touches to the portrait." - M.: Smysl, 1996. - P. 114–126 (abbreviated).*

The main ideas of Lev Nikolaevich Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory are briefly outlined in this article.

- Russian psychologist of the early 20th century, famous for linking psychology with pedagogy. He is responsible for the development of a fundamental theory of the formation and development of higher mental functions in a child. Vygotsky’s main idea is the socially mediated mental activity of a person, whose tool is the word. This theory is called the cultural-historical concept.

Vygotsky's main ideas briefly

The social environment is a source of personal development.
There are 2 intertwined lines in the development of a child.

The first line goes through natural maturation, and the second through mastering culture, ways of thinking and behavior. The development of thinking occurs as a result of mastering language, counting and writing.

Both lines are fused, interact complexly and form a single complex process. Under these conditions, mental functions develop:

Elementary mental functions or natural ones - perception, involuntary memory, sensations, children's thinking.
Higher mental functions are complex mental processes that develop during life. They are social in origin. Features: indirect nature, arbitrariness. These are speech, abstract thinking, voluntary memory, imagination, voluntary attention. In a child they arise as a form of cooperation with other people, but as a result of internalization, higher mental functions turn into individual functions. This process originates in verbal communication and culminates in symbolic activity.

The role of the environment in child development

Lev Nikolaevich was the first to affirm the importance of the environment in the development of a child, which is capable of changing his psyche and leading to the emergence of specific higher mental functions. He identified the mechanism of environmental influence - this is the internalization of signs, artificially created stimuli-means. They are designed to control other people's and their own behavior.

Signs are a psychic tool that changes the consciousness of the subject who operates with them. This is a conventional symbol with a certain meaning, a product of social development. Signs carry the imprint of the culture of the society in which the child develops and grows. In the process of communication, children assimilate them and use them to manage their mental life. In children, the so-called sign function of consciousness is formed: speech develops, logical thinking and will. The use of the word, as the most common sign, leads to a restructuring of higher mental functions. For example, impulsive actions become voluntary, mechanical memory turns into logical, the associative flow of ideas is transformed into productive thinking and creative imagination.

Relationship between development and training

Development is a process of qualitative and quantitative changes in the body, psyche, nervous system, personalities.

Education is the process of transferring socio-historical experience and organizing the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and abilities.

Lev Vygotsky summarized the most common points of view regarding the relationship between development and learning:

These are processes independent from each other. Development proceeds according to the type of maturation, and learning occurs according to the type of external use of development opportunities.
These are two identical processes: the child is as developed as he is trained.
These are interconnected processes.

Zone of proximal development

Introduced the concepts of levels of child development:

Zone of current development. This is the achieved level of development of intellectual tasks that the child can solve independently.
Zone of proximal development. This is the achieved level of development of complex intellectual tasks that a child can solve together with adults.

Learning comes ahead of development.

We hope that from this article you learned what the main ideas of Vygotsky Lev Nikolaevich are.

Years of life: 1896 - 1934

Homeland: Orsha ( Russian empire)

Vygotsky Lev Semenovich was born in 1896. He was an outstanding domestic psychologist, creator of the concept of the development of higher mental functions. Lev Semenovich was born in the Belarusian town of Orsha, but a year later the Vygodskys moved to Gomel and settled there for a long time. His father, Semyon Lvovich Vygodsky graduated from the Commercial Institute in Kharkov and was a bank employee and insurance agent. Mother, Cecilia Moiseevna, devoted almost her entire life to raising her eight children (Lev was the second child). The family was considered a kind of cultural center of the city. For example, there is information that Vygodsky the father founded in the city public library. Literature was loved and known in the house; it is no coincidence that so many famous philologists came from the Vygodsky family. In addition to Lev Semenovich, these are his sisters Zinaida and Claudia; cousin David Isaakovich, one of the prominent representatives of “Russian formalism” (somewhere in the early 20s he began to publish, and since both of them were engaged in poetics, it was natural to want to “distinguish themselves” so that they would not be confused, and therefore Lev Semenovich Vygodsky letter " replaced d" in his last name with "t"). Young Lev Semenovich was interested in literature and philosophy. Benedict Spinoza became his favorite philosopher and remained until the end of his life. Young Vygotsky studied mainly at home. He studied only the last two classes at the private Gomel Ratner gymnasium. He showed extraordinary abilities in all subjects. At the gymnasium he studied German, French, Latin, and at home, in addition, English, ancient Greek and Hebrew. After graduating from high school, L.S. Vygotsky entered Moscow University, where he studied at the Faculty of Law during the First World War (1914-1917). At the same time, he became interested in literary criticism, and his reviews of books by symbolist writers - rulers of the souls of the then intelligentsia: A. Bely, V. Ivanov, D. Merezhkovsky appeared in several magazines. During these student years, he wrote his first work - the treatise "The Tragedy of William Shakespeare's Danish Hamlet." After the victory of the revolution, Vygotsky returned to Gomel and took an active part in the construction new school. The beginning of his scientific career as a psychologist falls during this period, since in 1917 he began to engage in research work and organized a psychological office at the pedagogical college, where he conducted research. In 1922-1923 he conducted five studies, three of which he later reported at the II All-Russian Congress on Psychoneurology. These were: “Methodology of reflexological research as applied to the study of the psyche”, “How psychology should be taught now” and “Results of a questionnaire about the mood of students in graduating classes Gomel schools in 1923." During the Gomel period, Vygotsky imagined that the future of psychology lay in the application of reflexological techniques to the causal explanation of the phenomena of consciousness, the advantage of which was their objectivity and natural scientific rigor. The content and style of Vygotsky's speeches, as well as his personality, literally shocked one of the congress participants - A.R. Luria. The new director of the Moscow Institute of Psychology, N.K. Kornilov, accepted Luria’s proposal to invite Vygotsky to Moscow. Thus, the ten-year Moscow stage of Vygotsky’s work began in 1924. This decade can be divided into three periods. First period (1924-1927). Having just arrived in Moscow and having passed the exams for the title of scientific worker of the 2nd category, Vygotsky made three reports in six months. In terms of further development of the new psychological concept conceived in Gomel, he builds a model of behavior in the basis of which was the concept of speech reaction.The term “reaction” was introduced in order to distinguish the psychological approach from the physiological one. He introduces into it features that make it possible to correlate the behavior of an organism, regulated by consciousness, with forms of culture - language and art. After moving to Moscow, he was attracted to a special area of practice - working with children suffering from various mental and physical defects. Essentially, his entire first year in Moscow can be called “defectological.” He combines classes at the Institute of Psychology with active work at the People's Commissariat of Education. Showing brilliant organizational skills, he laid the foundations of the defectology service, and later became the scientific director of the special scientific and practical institute that still exists today. The most important direction of Vygotsky’s research in the first years of the Moscow period was the analysis of the situation in world psychology. He writes a preface to Russian translations of the works of the leaders of psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and gestaltism, trying to determine the significance of each of the directions for the development of a new picture of mental regulation. Back in 1920, Vygotsky fell ill with tuberculosis, and since then, outbreaks of the disease more than once plunged him into a “borderline situation” between life and death. One of the most severe outbreaks hit him at the end of 1926. Then, having ended up in the hospital, he began one of his main studies, to which he gave the name “The Meaning of the Psychological Crisis.” The epigraph to the treatise was the biblical words: “The stone that the builders despised has become the cornerstone.” He called this stone practice and philosophy. The second period of Vygotsky's work (1927-1931) in his Moscow decade was instrumental psychology. He introduces the concept of a sign, which acts as a special psychological tool, the use of which, without changing anything in the substance of nature, serves as a powerful means of transforming the psyche from natural (biological) to cultural (historical). Thus, the didactic “stimulus-response” scheme accepted by both subjective and objective psychology was rejected. It was replaced by a triadic one - “stimulus - stimulus - reaction”, where a special stimulus - a sign - acts as an intermediary between an external object (stimulus) and the response of the body (mental reaction). This sign is a kind of instrument, when operated by an individual, from his primary natural mental processes (memory, attention, associated thinking) a special system of functions of the second sociocultural order, inherent only to man, arises. Vygotsky called them higher mental functions. The most significant achievements of Vygotsky and his group during this period were compiled into a lengthy manuscript, “The History of the Development of Higher Mental Functions.” Among the publications that preceded this generalizing manuscript, we note “Instrumental method in pedology” (1928), “The problem of the cultural development of the child” (1928), “Instrumental method in psychology” (1930), “Tool and sign in the development of the child” ( 1931). In all cases, the center was the problem of the development of the child’s psyche, interpreted from the same angle: the creation of new cultural forms from its biopsychic natural “material”. Vygotsky becomes one of the country's main pedologists. "Pedology of School Age" (1928), "Pedology of Adolescence" (1929), "Pedology of Adolescents" (1930-1931) are published. Vygotsky strives to recreate big picture development of the mental world. He moved from the study of signs as determinants of instrumental acts to the study of the evolution of the meanings of these signs, primarily speech ones, in mental life child. The new research program became the main one in his third and last Moscow period (1931-1934). The results of its development were captured in the monograph “Thinking and Speech.” Having taken up global questions about the relationship between training and education, Vygotsky gave it an innovative interpretation in the concept he introduced of the “zone of proximal development,” according to which only that training is effective that “runs ahead” of development. IN last period creative work, the leitmotif of Vygotsky’s quest, connecting into a common knot the various branches of his work (the history of the doctrine of affects, the study of the age-related dynamics of consciousness, the semantic subtext of a word), became the problem of the relationship between motivation and cognitive processes. Vygotsky worked at the limit of human capabilities. From dawn until late, his days were filled with countless lectures, clinical and laboratory work. He made many reports at various meetings and conferences, wrote theses, articles, and introductions to materials collected by his collaborators. When Vygotsky was taken to the hospital, he took his beloved Hamlet with him. In one of the entries about the Shakespearean tragedy, it was noted that Hamlet’s main state is readiness. “I’m ready” - these were the words, according to the nurse’s testimony. last words Vygotsky. Although his early death did not allow Vygotsky to realize many promising programs, his ideas, which revealed the mechanisms and laws of cultural development of the individual, the development of his mental functions (attention, speech, thinking, affects), outlined fundamentally new approach to the fundamental issues of personality formation. Bibliography of works by L.S. Vygotsky has 191 works. Vygotsky's ideas have received wide resonance in all sciences that study humans, including linguistics, psychiatry, ethnography, and sociology. They defined a whole stage in development humanitarian knowledge in Russia to this day retain their heuristic potential.

_________________________

http://www.nsk.vspu.ac.ru/person/vygot.html
http://www.psiheya-rsvpu.ru/index.php?razdel=3&podrazdels=20&id_p=67

Psychologist, professor (1928). He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University (1917) and at the same time from the Faculty of History and Philology of the A. L. Shanyavsky People's University. In 1918-1924. worked in Gomel. Since 1924, in psychological scientific and educational institutions of Moscow (Institute of Psychology of Moscow State University, Academy of Communist Education named after N.K. Krupskaya, Faculty of Pedagogy of the 2nd Moscow State University, Experimental Defectology Institute, etc.); He also worked at the Leningrad State Pedagogical Institute and the Ukrainian Psychoneurological Institute in Kharkov.

He began his scientific career by studying the psychology of art - he explored the psychological patterns of perception literary works(The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, 1916; The Psychology of Art, 1925, published 1965). He studied the theory of reflexological and psychological research (articles of 1925-1926), as well as problems of the psychology of education ("Pedagogical psychology. Short course", 1926). Gave deep critical analysis world psychology of the 1920-1930s, which played an important role in the development of Soviet psychological science ("The Historical Meaning of the Psychological Crisis", 1927, published 1982; see also Vygotsky's prefaces to the Russian translation of the works of V. Köhler, K. Koffka, K. Buhler, J. Piaget, E. Thorndike, A. Gesell, etc.).

He created a cultural-historical theory of the development of human behavior and psyche, in which, based on the Marxist understanding of the socio-historical nature of human activity and consciousness, he examined the process of ontogenetic development of the psyche. According to this theory, the sources and determinants of human mental development lie in the historically developed culture. "Culture is the product social life and social activity of a person, and therefore the very formulation of the problem of cultural development of behavior already introduces us directly into the social plan of development" (Collected Works, vol. 3, M., 1983, pp. 145-146). The main provisions of this theory: 1) the basis of mental human development - qualitative change social situation his life activity; 2) the universal moments of a person’s mental development are his training and upbringing; 3) the initial form of life activity - its detailed implementation by a person in the external (social) plan; 4) psychological new formations that have arisen in a person are derived from the internalization of the original form of his life activity; 5) a significant role in the process of internalization belongs to various sign systems; 6) important in a person’s life activity and consciousness are his intellect and emotions, which are in internal unity.

In relation to human mental development, Vygotsky formulated a general genetic law: “Every function in the cultural development of a child appears on the scene twice, on two levels, first social, then psychological, first between people, as an interpsychic category, then within the child, as an intrapsychic category.” ... The transition from outside to inside transforms the process itself, changes its structure and functions. Behind all higher functions and their relationships there are genetic social relations, real relationships between people" (ibid., p. 145).

Thus, according to Vygotsky, the determinants of mental development are not located inside the child’s body and personality, but outside it - in the situation of the child’s social interaction with other people (primarily with adults). In the course of communication and joint activities, patterns are not simply learned social behavior, but also the basic psychological structures are formed, which subsequently determine the entire course of mental processes. When such structures are formed, we can talk about the presence in a person of the corresponding conscious and voluntary mental functions, consciousness itself.

The content of a person’s consciousness, arising in the process of internalization of his social (external) activity, always has a symbolic form. To realize something means to attribute meaning to an object, to designate it with a sign (for example, a word). Thanks to consciousness, the world appears before a person in a symbolic form, which Vygotsky called a kind of “psychological tool.” “A sign located outside the organism, like a tool, is separated from the personality and serves, in essence, as a social organ or social means” (ibid., p. 146). In addition, a sign is a means of communication between people: “Every sign, if we take its real origin, is a means of communication, and we could say more broadly - a means of connecting certain mental functions of a social nature. Transferred to oneself, it is the same means of connection functions in itself" (ibid., vol. 1, p. 116).

Vygotsky's views were important for the psychology and pedagogy of education and training. Vygotsky substantiated the ideas of activity in the educational process, in which the student is active, the teacher is active, and the social environment is active. At the same time, Vygotsky constantly emphasized the dynamic social environment that connects teacher and student. “Education should be based on the personal activity of the student, and the entire art of the educator should be reduced only to directing and regulating this activity... The teacher is, from a psychological point of view, the organizer of the educational environment, the regulator and controller of its interaction with the student. .. The social environment is the true lever of the educational process, and the entire role of the teacher comes down to controlling this lever" (Pedagogical psychology. Short course, M., 1926, pp. 57-58). home psychological goal education and training - purposeful and deliberate development in children of new forms of behavior and activity, i.e. systematic organization of their development (see ibid., pp. 9, 55, 57). Vygotsky developed the concept of the zone of proximal development. In Vygotsky’s view, “properly organized education of a child leads to the child’s mental development, brings to life a whole series of development processes that would otherwise be impossible without education. Education is... an internally necessary and universal moment in the process of development of a child’s non-natural , but the historical characteristics of man" (Selected psychological studies, M., 1956, p. 450).

Analyzing the stages of mental development, Vygotsky formulated the problem of age in psychology and proposed a variant of periodization of child development based on the alternation of “stable” and “critical” ages, taking into account the mental neoplasms characteristic of each age. He studied the stages of development of children's thinking - from syncretic through complex, through thinking with pseudo-concepts to the formation of true concepts. Vygotsky highly appreciated the role of play in mental development children and especially in the development of their creative imagination. In a polemic with J. Piaget about the nature and function of speech, he methodologically, theoretically and experimentally showed that speech is social both in origin and in function.

Vygotsky made major contributions to many areas of psychological science. He created a new direction in defectology, showing the possibility of compensating for mental and sensory defects not through training of elementary, directly affected functions, but through the development of higher mental functions (“Main problems of modern defectology”, 1929). He developed a new doctrine about the localization of mental functions in the cerebral cortex, which marked the beginning of modern neuropsychology (“Psychology and the doctrine of the localization of mental functions”, 1934). He studied the problems of the connection between affect and intellect ("The Teaching of Emotions", 1934, partially published in 1968, fully in 1984), problems of the historical development of behavior and consciousness ("Studies on the History of Behavior", 1930, jointly with A.R. Luria).

Some of Vygotsky’s studies, psychological in essence, were carried out using pedological terminology in the spirit of the times (for example, “Pedology of the Adolescent,” 1929-1931). This led to the mid-30s. sharp criticism of Vygotsky’s ideas, dictated mainly by extra-scientific reasons, since there were no real grounds for such criticism. On long years Vygotsky's theory was excluded from the arsenal of Soviet psychological thought. Since the mid-50s. the assessment of Vygotsky’s scientific creativity is freed from opportunistic bias.

Vygotsky created a large scientific school. Among his students are L. I. Bozhovich, P. Ya Galperin, A. V. Zaporozhets, A. N. Leontiev, A. R. Luria, D. B. Elkonin and others. Vygotsky’s theory causes a wide resonance in world psychological science, including in the works of J. Bruner, Koffka, Piaget, S. Toulmin and others.

Literature: Scientific creativity of L. S. Vygotsky and modern psychology, M., 1981; Bubbles A. A., Cultural-historical theory of L. S. Vygotsky and modern psychology, M., 1986; Davydov V.V., Zinchenko V.P., L.S. Vygotsky’s contribution to the development of psychological science, Soviet Pedagogy, 1986, No. 11; Yaroshevsky M. G., L. S. Vygotsky: search for principles of constructing general psychology, Questions of Psychology, 1986, No. 6; Leontiev A. A., L. S. Vygotsky. Book for students, M., 1990; Wertsch J. V., Vygotsky and the social Formation of mind, Camb. (Mass.) - L., 1985; Culture, communication and cognition: Vygotskian perspectives, ed. by J. V. Wertsch, Camb. - , 1985.