Submitted by: Ishita Sharma (Sem I, Theories of Behaviour and Development)PGSR, SNDT Juhu.10/22/2012 |
LEV VYGOTSKY (1896-1934)
Vygotsky was born in Russia in the same year as Piaget. Vygotsky was not trained in science but received a law degree from the Moscow University. He went on to study literature and linguistics and became his Ph.D. for a book he wrote on the psychology of art.
His works were published after his death in 1934 and suppressed in 1936 and were not known in the West until 1958.
In his student days at the University of Moscow, he read widely in linguistics, sociology, psychology, philosophy and the arts. His systematic work in psychology did not begin until 1924. Ten years later he died of tuberculosis at the age of only 38. In that period, with the collaboration of Aleksandre Luria and A N Leontiev, he launched a series of investigations in developmental psychology, pedagogy and psychopathology. Vygotsky ran a medical practice in his native Byelorussia, actively participating in the development of the Revolution under atrocious conditions and almost total isolation from the West.
His most famous work is ‘Thought and Language’, published shortly after his death, developed for the first time a theory of language development which both anticipated Piaget 's genetic psychology - describing the development of language and logical thinking in young children in the course of their interactions with adults and the world around them.
THEORY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
BACKGROUND
To understand Vygotsky´s theory, it is important to look at the political environment of that time. Vygotsky began to work in psychology shortly after the Russian revolution, where the Marxism replaced the rule of the czar. The new philosophy of the Marxist emphasized socialism and collectivism. Individuals were expected to sacrifice their personal goals and achievements for the improvement
References: Blanck G, (1992). "Vygotsky: The man and his cause", Cambridge University Press. (p. 35) Driscoll, M McClare et al., "Vygotsky, Lev (2006)." Encyclopedia of Human Development, Vol. 3, (2006) Miller P Santrock, J (2004). A Topical Approach To Life-Span Development, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Schaffer, R (1996), Social Development, Oxford: Blackwell. Van der Veer, R., & Valsiner, J. (1991). Understanding Vygotsky. A quest for synthesis. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Vygotsky, L.S Wertsch V. (1985), Vygotsky and the social formation of mind.. Cambridge, Harvard University Press Wertsch, J Woolfolk, Anita E. (1998). Educational Psychology, 7th Edition, Boston: Allyn and Bacon Weblinks: