LEV VYGOTSKY

Lev Semonovich Vygotsky was born on the 5th of

November 1896 in a small Russian town called
Orsche. Within the first year of his life his family
moved to Gomel, a city that is in what is now the
independent nation of Belorussia, about 400 miles
west of Moscow. He was the second oldest of eight
children. His parents were well educated Jews
living in one of a few designated provinces
reserved for Russians of Jewish descent. His father
was a respected bank manager and his mother
who had trained as a teacher was a full-time
homemaker.

Vygotsky's parents were fluent in a number of foreign languages. As a child Vygotsky

was taught by his mother to care for the other children, all of whom shared equally
in household duties. The family would discuss history, literature, theatre and art, after
dinner, which exposed Vygotsky to a wide range of interests. Vygotsky was taught
by a private tutor, Solomon Ashpiz, a mathematician, who had spent time in exile in
Siberia for revolutionary activity. The life of a Jew in Russia was limited in terms of
places to live, study and work.

Vygotsky wished to train as a teacher but this was not an option for Jews in Russia,
before the revolution. Government sponsored schools did not accept Jewish
teachers. Vygotsky therefore enrolled in medicine as this profession allowed Jews to
practise outside 'the pale' of Jewish settlements. The Moscow University accepted
Jewish students according to a ballot and limited entry to 5% of all students. Vygotsky
was lucky enough to gain a place from the ballot.

When he decided medicine was not for him, he transferred to Law, which offered
the same freedoms. Vygotsky simultaneously enrolled in a Jewish public university, to
study philosophy and history. The qualifications gained at the Shavyavsky Public
University were not recognised, and degrees could not be awarded. Vygotsky
graduated from Moscow University with a law degree in 1917, the year of the Russian
revolution, and then returned to Gomel. The town experienced the extreme results
of civil war and famine.

In 1920 Vygotsky experienced the first of a number of attacks of tuberculosis and was
worried that he would not survive. He collected his literary works together to deliver
to his mentor - Yuli Aichenwald, in case of his death from this attack. Aichenwald
was exiled from Russia in 1922. Vygotsky became preoccupied with the theme of
death.
In 1924 Vygotsky presented a paper entitled “Methodology of reflexological and
psychological research” at the Second Psychoneurological Congress in Leningrad.
His choice of topic was considered bold, due to his youthful age and his relative
inexperience among the academics who were present.

Vygotsky completed 270 scientific articles, numerous lectures and 10 books based
on a wide range of Marxist based psychological and teaching theories as well as
the areas of pedagogy (the science of teaching), art and aesthetics and sociology,
before dying of tuberculosis in June 1934, at the age of 37. Vygotsky died while
dictating the final chapter of his book 'Thought and language'.

Lev Vygotsky was another psychologist who believed children learn about their
world through physical interaction. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory asserts that
learning is an essentially social process in which the supports of parents, caregivers,
peers and the wider society and culture plays a crucial role in the development of
higher psychological functions.

The work of Lev Vygotsky has become the foundation of much research and theory
in cognitive development over the past several decades, particularly of what has
become known as Social Development Theory.

Vygotsky’s theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the

development of cognition, as he believed strongly that community plays a central
role in the process of “making meaning”

Unlike Piaget’s notion that childrens’ development must necessarily precede their
learning, Vygotsky argued, “learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the
process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological
function” (1978, p.90). In other words, social learning tends to precede
development.

Vygotsky has developed a sociocultural approach to cognitive development. He

developed his theories at around the same time Jean Piaget was starting to develop
his ideas, but he died, and so his theories are incomplete – although some of his
writings are still being translated from Russian.

No single principle can account for development. Individual development cannot

be understood without reference to the social and cultural context within which it is
embedded. Higher mental processes in the individual have their origin in social
processes.

Lev was a Soviet psychologist, the founder of an unfinished Marxist theory of human
cultural and bio-social development sometimes referred to as "sociocultural theory"
but more commonly and correctly accepted as "cultural-historical psychology" a
prominent advocate for a “science superman”, a new psychological theory of
consciousness and its relationship to the development of higher psychological
functions, as well as the leader of the Vygotsky Circle (also referred to as “Vygotsky-
Luria Circle”).
A pioneering psychologist with diverse interest, Lev Vygotsky was interested in how
cultural elements which a particular society deems important are passed on to new
generations. His sociocultural theory declares that social interaction within the family
and with knowledgeable members of the community is the primary means by which
children acquire behaviours and cognitive processes relevant to their own society.
Adult or peer intervention in this context is thus an essential part of the development
process.

THEORIES

Social Development Theory argues that social interaction precedes development;

consciousness and cognition are the end product of socialization and social
behaviour. Constructivism is a proposed method of knowledge development based
on an individual's active participation in problem-solving and critical thinking.
Scaffolding is an incremental change in information support that steps the learner
up to the highest level they can achieve with support. Zone of Proximal Development
(ZPD) pertaining to the learning process of children. According to the Vygotsky
theory, children who are in the zone of proximal development for a particular task
can almost perform the task independently, but not quite there yet. They need some
help in order to perform the task successfully. According to Vygotsky’s theory of
cognitive development, children learn through social interaction that include
collaborative and cooperative dialogue with someone who is more skilled in tasks
they’re trying to learn. Vygotsky called these people with higher skill level the More
Knowledgeable Other (MKO). They could be teachers, parents, tutors and even
peers.

Born: 17 November 1896, Orsha, Belarus

Died: 11 June 1934, Moscow, Russia
Full name: Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky
Education: Shaniavskii Moscow City People's University (1913–1917), MORE

Known for: Cultural-historical psychology, Zone of proximal development,

Intrapersonal communication