Vygotsky's Ideas Research Articles

Applying Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development in Modern Classroom Settings: A Call for Social Learning in the Digital Age

This research paper examines how Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) can be used in today's educational environments. The belief that learning inherently involves social interactions is central to Vygotsky's ideas. The paper explores ways educators might employ the ZPD model to enhance collaborative learning, especially in tech-heavy classrooms. A broad range of existing literature is reviewed, shedding light on both the theoretical foundations and the real-world implementation of the ZPD. This discussion leads to understanding how ZPD-guided strategies can deepen students' learning experiences and boost their social skills. In summary, this research underscores the significant advantages that ZPD-focused teaching can bring to educational practices. It also points out promising directions for future studies, particularly regarding how emerging technological tools could mesh with ZPD concepts to innovate learning methodologies further.

Using Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to teach Olympia as part of the Classical Civilisation A Level

Abstract This study looks at the effective use of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey to teach Greek Religion at A Level. A focus of this study is to identify good teaching practice in using this tool to improve source recall as well as pupils’ ability to use these sources to support evaluation. A recent blog post on Quinquennium highlighted the potential for this game to be used as a teaching tool (Hinde, 2019), while its educational potential has also been promoted by the developers releasing a Discovery Tour version as a ‘game mode for educational purposes’ which acts as a ‘living museum’ (Ubisoft, 2021). While the development of educational tools for this franchise is fairly recent, the use of video games in education is established, with games like Oregon Trail being used as early as the 1980s (Buday et al., 2012, 259). Moreover, the fundamental ideas behind the use of video games, such as the player engaging in some form of virtual dialogue with the creator, is one which can be traced back to Vygotsky's ideas of learning as a socio-cultural phenomenon (1978). For example, by reacting to stimuli in the game, the player is engaging in a dialogue with the historian or game developer who created the initial stimulus, after which the game responds in turn, thereby engaging with the player's actions. Furthermore, the idea of reward or punishment for certain actions within an educational game is also drawing on behaviourist theories of education, whereby a pupil is conditioned via in-game tokens for recall of knowledge. Indeed, this is one of the ways in which game developers encourage game addiction (Vu, 2017, 1).

Человек сквозь призму совместности или о возможности общей психологии

<p>The paper raises the question of the possibility of creating a general psychological field of research. The condition for the beginning of such research is a sufficiently complete general model of psychological phenomena. The assumption is made that the work of identifying suitable psychological universals has already been done as a part of cultural-historical psychology. We summarised the investigations, starting with L.S. Vygotsky's idea of a psychological «unit». With the help of some modern theories, the assumption is substantiated that meaning is a feeling of jointness, the essence of the human in man. As an example we took the «integral unit of the human life world» construction in the F.E. Vasilyuk’s school and its transformation into a scheme of jointness. By analysing F.E. Vasilyuk's notion of «experience», the activity-dialogical model of jointness is extrapolated and filled with «meaning». This model is proposed as a suitable tool for generalising psychological knowledge. An assumption is made about resonance as a fundamental mechanism of jointness formation. In this paper we describe the properties of the prism of jointness and question its sufficiency for the beginning of general psychological research.</p>

Лев С. Выготский (1896-1934)

<p>This paper is written in a series of <em>Prospect’s </em>texts on most important educators. Therefore, the focus in this paper is on Vygotsky’s conception of education (learning). In case of Vygotsky, concept of the education is tightly linked to his general theory of mental development. Namely, his concept on development of higher mental function as sociogenesis of these functions imply formative role of socio-cultural factors, i.e. learning in a true sense. Consequently, Vygotsky’s main ideas on education are derived from his theory of higher mental function. In more specific approach Vygotsky sees the education (learning) and the school learning as one form of development, “an artificial development” (especially an acquisition of the system of scientific concepts). Such ideas of Vygotsky have major value at present for critical analyses of real process of school learning and its improvement.</p>

Идея опосредования Л.С. Выготского: семиотические и образовательные проекции

<p>The work is aimed at discussing and clarifying the understanding of L.S. Vygotsky's idea of mediation in relation to educational processes and the semiotic perspective of their research. The provisions interpreting the concept of "sign" as a mediating mechanism of cultural and historical development of a person, the growing up of a child, the development of his mental processes, language thinking are presented. The history of the formation of semiotic concepts, their isomorphism to the ideas of L.S. Vygotsky is considered: the development of a sign, including verbal, allows you to move from natural actions into a conditional, virtual space, with a wide repertoire of not only mimesis, but also symbolic actions. The idea of the mediating mechanism of speech reflection as the basis of functional literacy is being developed. Speech reflection and diary activity are considered as the realization of the idea of mediation in language teaching. The semiotic interpretation of L.S. Vygotsky's mediation theory is presented, educational projections of its implementation in teaching the native language are shown. From the point of view of epistemological searches, a comparison of the ideas of Vygotsky and Levi-Strauss is undertaken. L.S. Understanding model Vygotsky, which underlies modern ideas about meaning and speech affirmation, is indicated by the metaphor of translation: it is the translation of alienated external meanings into the mental language of internal speech and the transformation of meaning into meaning, and then - the "internalization" of meaning, that is, the translation of the meanings that have arisen into external speech and the formation of a new, enriched meaning. It is shown that L.S. Vygotsky's semiotic merit also consists in the fact that the scientist understood the linguistic sign as an intermediary sign and brought it into the space of culture, thereby opening the cultural and historical horizon of interpretation of semiotic phenomena.</p>

Communication of Children of Preschool and School Age during Distance Learning in the Conditions of COVID-19

Introduction. The article presents the results of a study aimed at understanding how communication occurred among children of preschool and school age during distance learning in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was based on the ideas of Vygotsky, the founder of cultural-historical theory, in which communication plays a fundamental role in human development, especially in childhood, as it influences the formation of consciousness and personality. 
 Methods and Research procedure. The main research method was a survey of parents. A questionnaire was prepared on the Google Digital Platform, which consisted of 26 questions. From the obtained answers, those directly related to the research object were analyzed, leaving aside other data that will be the subject of analysis in the study. Sixteen respondents participated in the survey. The questionnaires were filled out not only by parents but also by other relatives of children who were undergoing distance learning in preschool and school institutions (both public and private) during the pandemic. Since many children lost their parents due to COVID-19, it was decided that these relatives could also participate in the study. It was important for us that these individuals were responsible for the upbringing of the children. 
 Results and Conclusions. After analyzing the obtained answers, it can be said that the pandemic has generated significant problems for preschool institutions, schools, and families of children. It has also shown a great variety of forms for continuing children's education proposed and implemented by preschool institutions and schools. Furthermore, it can be affirmed that the younger the child, the more difficult it was for them to communicate with their peers during distance learning.

THE ADVANTAGES AND BARRIERS OF DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT IN EFL WRITING: A REVIEW

Assessment may affect the quality of teaching and learning. Dynamic Assessment (DA) is essential for teachers and students in education, especially in administering the assessment process. DA is a pedagogical approach grounded on Vygotsky's idea from the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The key to such formation is the mediation session (by the teacher) and the automaticity or independency in performing the task (by the student) due to the appropriate guideline for administering the assessment. DA offers a more significant opportunity for future capabilities and experience to present and affords material about learning in general, including language learning. This paper presents an overview of DA in EFL Writing and its advantages and barriers in improving the quality of teaching with strategies to address. As the main results, this study revealed several advantages of using DA in EFL Writing and several barriers, including needing a precise procedure, taking more extended time, and more effort to implement. This paper is expected to contribute to developing teaching and learning quality, especially in assessing students in the EFL Writing context.

How do the 4E approach and actives methodologies contribute to rethinking creativity in teacher training?

How do the 4E approach and actives methodologies contribute to rethinking creativity in teacher training?

Л.С. Выготский в 21 веке: влияние на психологию эмоций (на основе англоязычных диссертаций)

Despite the popularity of L.S. Vygotsky in the English-speaking world, there is much debate about how exactly his ideas are applied in contemporary research. The article provides a quantitative analysis of dissertations on the psychology of emotions that mention L.S. Vygotsky from 2000 to 2020. It covers 177 dissertations from the ProQuest Dissertations & Thesis database, considering their topics and application of Vygotsky's ideas in the texts. It was discovered dissertations are distributed roughly equally into pedagogical (89) and psychological (88) dissertations. Half of all dissertations refers to Mind & Society, while a quarter relies on English editions of Thinking and Speech. Another 16% of dissertations contain no direct references to L.S. Vygotsky. In the majority of works, L.S. Vygotsky is mentioned either as the author of the sociocultural theory as a whole or as one of the concepts in the field of development. The methodology of the analysis of the semantic structure of consciousness and experiences is little in demand by English-speaking researchers. Only two dissertations have dealt with the concept of "experience". In 13 works, based on L. S. Vygotsky, the authors apply the ideas of mediation, development zones, development of concepts to emotions in childhood, the cultural specificity of emotional language, and consider the emotional side of speech. It is possible to trace both indirect influence of L.S. Vygotsky's legacy on psychology of emotions, testifying to graduate students' familiarity with the cultural-historical approach, and direct, through contemporary advancement of is core ideas.

Psychology “in Terms of Drama” Project: The Origins, the Essence, the Implementation

ABSTRACT This article analyzes several essential aspects of L. S. Vygotsky’s manuscript Konkretnaya Psikhologiya Cheloveka (Concrete Human Psychology, 1929) and related works that have to do with his—unrealized personally by himself—project of creating psychology “in terms of drama.” The article also comments on ideas formulated by the French Marxist philosopher Georges Politzer, whose works served as one of the project’s sources. The methodological foundations for creating the “dramatic” (concrete) psychology suggested by Politzer and Vygotsky are explicated as well. The author discusses the contents of such concepts as drama, emploi (in the sense of “onstage speciality”), role, mastery, will, choice—the terms Vygotsky used—in the context of the very broad interpretation of “drama” in works of some contemporary researchers of the scholar’s work. She also analyzes the ways of solving the problems of volitional regulation of activity and the possible mechanisms of resolving role conflict, which is, according to Vygotsky, the essence of drama. Further directions of evolution of these ideas of Vygotsky in the works of Aleksei N. Leontiev’s school, which deal with the psychology of volitional action and deeds, are followed as well.

Implications of Dialogic Teaching: Practices of and Reflections from English Language Teachers

Researches often endorse discussion, dialogues, and other learning tasks for the promotion of fluency, critical thinking, reasoning, and ability to evaluate and justifying. Keeping in view the Pakistani context, especially, the local context, it is not clear what type of classroom practices prevail in the region and what reflections teachers have about the use of such practices. Taking Bakhtin's and Vygotsky's ideas of dialogism and learning as a social entity, the present study aimed at knowing the teaching practices of English language teachers from the perspective of dialogic teaching and also at exploring how do teachers reflect on such a teaching approach. For this purpose, English Language Centers of district Mardan were taken as data sources where twenty classrooms were observed for classroom practices and the concerned teachers were interviewed for their reflections. It was found that the teachers use of dialogic teaching having positive and negative impacts. The positive impacts of dialogic teaching include creativity, thinking ability, confidence building, and other social impacts. It has little negative impacts that include challenges for the teachers in terms of behavior problems and control of talks.

Clear the Clouds and See the Sun in the World of Vygotsky's Ideas: An Interview with James Lantolf

Clear the Clouds and See the Sun in the World of Vygotsky's Ideas: An Interview with James Lantolf

ПРИМЕНЕНИЕ КУЛЬТУРНО-ИСТОРИЧЕСКОГО ПОДХОДА И ТЕОРИИ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ В НАУЧНЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯХ И ПРАКТИКЕ

Cultural-historical and activity theory has proposed many important theoretical ideas for the educational sciences, which inspired the creation of diff erent pedagogical approaches and models around the world. It is worth noticing that many important theoretical concepts of the cultural-historical and activity theory have become universally accepted and used in the contexts of education regardless of the prevailing theoretical paradigms. Th is is probably the cost that has to be paid for being widely known. It is not the fi rst time when certain theoretical concepts become widespread, a deeper systemic understanding of psychological theory itself is lost. Despite the fact that such a fate befell many of the concepts of the cultural-historical activity theory, there are many interesting attempts to deepen and further develop the approach. Th e introductory article introduces several important theoretical statements formulated by the creators of cultural-historical and activity theory that have signifi cantly contributed to the development of pedagogical ideas and based on which important educational research is being conducted today. It discusses in detail how the ideas of Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, D.B. Elkonin, Davydov, Galperin, Talyzina, N.N. Podd’iakov and other Russian scholars were understood and further developed in Scandinavia, other countries, and especially in the educational research of Latin American scholars. Th e introductory article ends by introducing the topics and research problems of scientifi c articles published in this special issue of the journal.

Clear the Clouds and See the Sun in the World of Vygotsky's Ideas: An Interview with James Lantolf

Clear the Clouds and See the Sun in the World of Vygotsky's Ideas: An Interview with James Lantolf

Dynamic Assessment in Education: A Case-Study of Chinese-Speaking EFL Classroom

This paper reports on the use of dynamic assessment (DA) by an English as second language teacher (ESL) in their classroom in China. It examines how DA can be employed in English as foreign language classrooms as a method of developing learners' oral English skills. DA is framework with the aim of combing both instruction and assessment in a way which supports development (Poehner, 2008). It is founded in the ideas of Vygotsky's (1987) zone of proximal development (ZPD) emanating from his socio-cultural theory (SCT). ZPD highlights the role of a more capable others as mediators who interact learners in order to help them realize their potential. This study provides an example of how an EFL teacher might utilize DA in their classroom based on their personal understanding and with interpretation of it. Examples of the interactions between the teacher and learners are analyzed in this study to find out investigate how it they aid in development.

A FUNÇÃO DO PROBLEMA: APROXIMAÇÕES ENTRE VYGOTSKY E FREIRE PARA A EDUCAÇÃO EM CIÊNCIAS

Alguns estudos na área de Educação em Ciências têm-se apoiado no pensamento de Lev S. Vygotsky para discutir aspectos que envolvem a linguagem, a Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal (ZDP) e o processo de formação de conceitos científicos em de sala de aula, em diferentes níveis de ensino. Além disso, há pesquisadores que compartilham da concepção de que a perspectiva marxista fundamenta tanto as ideias de Vygotsky quanto as de Freire, no que concerne ao processo de humanização, e buscam estabelecer relações entre esses autores. Com o intuito de aprofundar essas relações, objetiva-se investigar articulações teóricas entre as ideias de Freire e Vygotsky que possam contribuir na elaboração e desenvolvimento de programas curriculares na Educação em Ciências. Para tal, realizou-se um estudo das principais obras de Vygotsky e Freire utilizadas no ensino de ciências brasileiro por meio da Análise Textual Discursiva. Dentre os resultados, destacam-se as relações teóricas estabelecidas entre Freire e Vygotsky, quais sejam: i) conceitos espontâneos e codificação; ii) conceitos científicos e descodificação e ii) problematização e ZDP. Essas relações se constituem em parâmetros analíticos a serem considerados no planejamento e desenvolvimento de atividades de sala de aula, bem como na organização de programas escolares, em que o ponto de partida sejam situações da vivência dos sujeitos, marcadas por contradições sociais e/ou demandas sociais, e as estruturas conceituais subordinadas à essas situações.

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM BASED EDUCATION ACCORDING TO LEV SEMYONOVICH VYGOTSKY

This article is a theoretical study of Vygotsky's idea of zone of proximal development. Its aimed at finding out of its relevance to contemporary educational practices that are increasingly complex. Through the description of the background of the emergence of this idea the author concludes that the idea of zone of proximal development is still relevant in modern education, especially to support the educational practices that are friendly toward student’s individual differences at school. Vygotsky's criticism of the practice of levering in schooling is a warning for teachers and education practicioners to consider learning interventions based on individual students' backgrounds especially their mental development differences so that education can be an effective medium to help children's growth and development optimally.

Inventário dos jogos e brincadeiras: a manifestação da cultura lúdica infantil

RESUMO: Este artigo consiste em um estudo sobre a atividade preferida das crianças na terceira infância, baseado nas ideias de Vygotsky, Alexander, Luria, Leontieve e Elkonin (autores filiados à Psicologia Histórico-cultural). Apresenta como objetivo geral conhecer os jogos e brincadeiras preferidas das crianças de 6 a 11 anos, buscando compreender a relação dessas atividades com o processo de aprendizagem e desenvolvimento das crianças. A metodologia que deu suporte a esta investigação tem como enfoque epistemológico a pesquisa descritiva, com dados empíricos, métodos científicos de coleta e análise de dados, apresentados com embasamento teórico. Quanto à abordagem, esta é uma pesquisa mista, com aspectos qualitativos e quantitativos. As técnicas de coleta de dados utilizadas foram a análise bibliográfica e a entrevista. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada na Escola Municipal Antonio Bispo de Oliveira, localizada no Distrito Massapê, Feira Grande - Alagoas, Brasil. Os sujeitos envolvidos nesse estudo foram 36 crianças de ambos os sexos, com idade de 6 a 11 anos, que estudavam do 1º ao 5º ano. Os resultados apontam que brincar é atividade preferida das crianças em qualquer ambiente que elas estejam e que os jogos com regras explícitas são as brincadeiras preferidas das crianças nessa faixa etária.
 PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Criança. Cultural lúdica. Desenvolvimento infantil. Jogos com regras.

Проекция идей Л.С. Выготского и принципа культурного опосредствования в контексте анализа гендерных отношений

Проекция идей Л.С. Выготского и принципа культурного опосредствования в контексте анализа гендерных отношений

Phenomenon of Self-Objectification in Women: Analysis of foreign Studies and a View through the Prism of Russian Psychology

Background. At present, self-objectification of females is a very common phenomenon, reflecting the desire of women to meet the standards accepted in the society and manifested in excessive (even pathological) care of achieving the “ideal” appearance. This phenomenon was under study in various foreign psychological concepts and approaches, and especially in the theory of B. Fredrickson and T.E. Roberts. However, despite similar research in Russian psychology, the phenomenon has not been disclosed within Russian psychological methodology. In this regard, it is very important to analyze foreign publications for the subsequent development of an integrative approach to the study of self-objectification in females in the context of Russian psychology. Looking into this phenomenon from the standpoint of Russian psychological methodology would be useful for developing methods of assessment, intervention, and psychotherapeutic assistance for Russian girls and women experiencing psychological problems due to negative self-objectification. The Objective is to conduct a theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of women’s self-objectification in line with the national cultural-historical and activity methodology. Design. The paper provides a review of the publications on self-objectification in females which is analytical in its nature. In the paper, the basic approaches to the study of the phenomenon of self-objectification in females in foreign psychology are determined, and also the ways to understand the phenomenon in the context of the Russian psychological tradition proposed in the works of L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, S.L. Rubinstein developed by their students and the followers are shown. Results. The phenomenon of self-objectification in females is considered within the context of fundamental issues of psychology — the relationship of ‘outer’ and ‘inner’ contents, and particularly, within the framework of the subject-activity approach of S.L. Rubinstein and the activity theory of A.N. Leontiev. The role of the “social situation of the development” (L.S. Vygotsky) in the development self-objectification in females is shown. The mechanism of interiorization as a female’s adoption of the social ideas and attitudes is described. The process of interiorization is considered through three facets: individualization, intimization, and production of consciousness. The phenomenon of self-objectification was interpreted through the lenses of L.S. Vygotsky ideas about the intertwining of two domains of mental development in ontogenesis, i.e. the biological maturation of a person and the processes of mastering culture, and also within the notions of cultural-historical defectology. Conclusion. The research results contribute to expanding the scientific theoretical views of psychologists working within the national methodology to shape the phenomenon of self-objectification in females, which could facilitate further understanding of this theoretical construct and increase the number of empirical works in the research area. Female self-objectification through the prism of the Russian research methodology will contribute to the methodological status of this issue, enriching the idea of female self-objectification primarily at the philosophical (worldview) level and at the general scientific level of methodology (E.G. Yudin). All these will increase the interpretative capabilities of the concept. The materials of the paper can contribute to developing an integrative approach for understanding female self-objectification. The findings can be sufficient for creating methods of psychodiagnostics and psychotherapy for girls and women experiencing psychological problems due to the negative impact of self-objectification.