Applying a Sociocultural Approach to Vygotskian Academia: `Our Tsar Isn't Like Yours, and Yours Isn't Like Ours'

Abstract

A Vygotskian approach to education and psychology involves attention to culture, history, society, and institutions that shape educational and psychological processes. Yet, Vygotskian academia itself seems to operate as if academic issues transcend local contexts. Often debates over Vygotsky's legacy in sociocultural international academic communities are carried out, around scholarly texts, without analysis of the (often very diverse) local historical and political situations that may promote such debates. This is especially true in national and international debates about the issues of multiculturalism in education. In my article, I consider cultural-historical and sociocultural paradigms to investigate their ontological projects and dialogical oppositions and consider their relationship between each other.