Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)Former Soviet UnionAn outstanding psychologist during the founding of the People's Republic of China, he mainly studied children's development and educational psychology, focusing on the relationship between thinking and language, children's learning and development.Because of his important contributions in the field of psychology, he is known as "theMozart”The cultural and historical theory he founded not only applied to the former Soviet Union, but alsoWestern PsychologyIt has a wide range of impacts.
Vygotsky andPiagetHe is a contemporary figure.But different from Piaget's universal view of cognitive development, Vygotsky's theory emphasizes the influence of culture and society on children's cognitive development.However, due to the strong western cultural color in its theory, it was suppressed by the Soviet government from 1936 to 1956, and was prohibited from discussing its theory.It was not until the 1960s that Vygotsky's theory wasU.S.AThe attention of the psychological community.Vygotsky (1896-1934) was born inBelarus(Pronounced as: Birolusia. In Russian, the root word "white" is pronounced as "billa"), a small town - Osha. In 1913, Vygotsky completed college preparatory studies, won a gold medal with excellent quality, and only 3% of Jewish students can enterMoscow UniversityIn spite of many difficulties, he was finally admitted to Moscow University.At that time, Vygotsky was interested in history and philosophy, but he accepted his parents' advice and chose medicine. One month later, he was transferred to law school.Vigotsky decided to study in Moscow University and Shaniavsky People's University at the same time in 1914 because of his strong desire for knowledge.Vygotsky has laid a solid foundation in history, philosophy, psychology and other aspects, while insisting on literary research.
From 1913 to 1915, literature, law and drama represented the center of Vygotsky's interest, while psychology had not yet entered this center.His earliest published works are literary reviews, which do not belong to the category of psychology. However, from the evolution of his psychological thought, these works have important value.This short life of literary criticism is closely linked with the emergence of the word "consciousness", and consciousness is the key word of Vygotsky's further scientific research.
During his stay at Shaniavsky University, Vygotsky planned to write an article aboutShakespeareThe famous tragedy ofHamletVygotsky's first scientific research paper was finally completed in 1915-1916. As a historical document, this paper reflects his thinking mode in college.Although this paper is not intended to establish a materialistic psychology of personality and consciousness, it can never be regarded as a simple aesthetic paper, because it obviously penetrates the philosophical and literary analysis of the psychological environment, and highlights the impact of cultural environment on individualsCultural determinismThought.
In 1917, Vygotsky graduated from two universities at the same time and returned to Gomer, where his family was located, to begin his teaching career.During his seven years in Gomer, Vygotsky offered many courses for different kinds of schools.For example, we have opened literature and Russian for adult schools, logic and psychology for teaching research institutes, and aesthetics and art history for art schools.
In 1919, Vygotsky got itpulmonary tuberculosisFifteen years later, he died of tuberculosis.But this time he was safe and survived.After 1924, Vygotsky's interest turned to psychology, especiallyeducational psychology。From 1922 to 1926, Vygotsky wrote eight papers on psychology, seven of which were related to educational issues.He also organized a psychology laboratory at the teaching research institute in Gomer and carried out several studies on preschool and school-age children.
In 1924, Vygotsky arrivedLeningradAttended the second neuropsychological conferenceRussiaIt is the most important psychological conference, and it is also the first time for him to openly face the Russian psychological community.At the meeting, he gave a detailed description of the three studies carried out in Gomer. His report "Reflective Methodology and Psychological Research" left a deep impression on the delegates at the meeting, and he proposed for the first timeConditioned reflexThe relationship between consciousness and behavior advocates that scientific psychology cannot ignore such important facts as consciousness.At that timeMoscowKornilov, director of the Institute of Psychology, kindly invited Vygotsky to work in the Moscow Institute of Psychology.Vygotsky readily accepted, and a few weeks later he left Gomer for Moscow to start a new career.
In 1924, Vygotsky wrote the first book on the science of defects. In September of the same year, he began to work in the People's Education Committee, specifically responsible for the education department of children with physical defects or mental retardation.In the summer of 1925, Vygotsky participated in thebritainIn the same year, he organized a psychological laboratory for abnormal children in the Institute of Medical Education of the Public Education Commission. In 1929, the Institute became the "Experimental Deficiency Institute", which is now the "Institute of Deficiency Studies".After returning from England, he suffered from tuberculosis again, and the doctor suggested that he be isolated for rest.During his isolation, Vygotsky completed the writing of "Art Psychology".In the autumn of 1925, his condition worsened and he had to be hospitalized. During the hospitalization, he completed the famousMethodologyThe paper "Historical Significance of Psychological Crisis" accurately analyzed the psychological situation at that time, and its basic concepts are still closely related to contemporary psychology.
In 1930, Vygotsky andLuria Cooperated to complete Research on Behavior History: Apes, Primitive People, Children.His interest was aroused by the differences in the advanced psychological processes of people from different cultures, so from 1931 to 1932, he designed aUzbekistanDevelopedCross Cultural Studies。Vygotsky did not participate in the investigation due to physical reasons, and the investigation was led by Luria.
Due to physical reasons, Vygotsky raced against the clock and forgot to eat and sleep.In the spring of 1934, he was again attacked by tuberculosis, resolutely rejected the doctor's suggestion that he be hospitalized, and more selflessly put into work.His last words on his deathbed were "I'm ready".[1]
Main works
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Vygotsky has written a lot of works, up to 186 kinds.In addition to the above mentioned, the main works include:Meaning of Psychological Crisis(1926), Development of Advanced Attention Forms in Childhood (1929), Children's Psychological Development Problems (1929-1934), Psychology Handouts (1932).In 1956 and 1960, the former Soviet Union successively published his two anthologies: Selected Psychological Studies andDevelopment of Advanced Psychological Functions。
Theoretical viewpoints
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Vygotsky
Vygotsky advocated that psychology should adhere to scientificdeterminismOfCausalityHe opposes decomposing complex forms into simple components, and believes that this will lose the overall attribute.He believesMarxismOn "the essence of humansocial relationsThe correctness of the "constitution" thesis refuses to explain the advanced psychological process from the depth of the brain.Vygotsky's theory of culture and history is rich and profound, and its interpretation by later generations is ambiguous.On the one hand, many of Vygotsky's works have not been published. On the other hand, he has constantly revised and expanded his own views.The development of his work and the writing of his works are in a race against time, so it is inevitable that he is rough and immature.However, people can still grasp the essence of cultural and historical theories through the development of their thoughts.
Vygotsky's theory can be summarized into the following five principles:
1. Human being is a social entity from birth and a product of social history.
2. The means for people to meet various needs are acquired through continuous learning.
3. Education and teaching are forms of human psychological development.
4. Human psychological development is carried out in the process of mastering the means and ways to meet human needs.
5. The communication between people is initially manifested as an external form, and later internalized as an internal psychological form.
1. Psychological development view
From the perspective of origin:Low-level mental functionIt is the result of natural development and phylogenetic development.Advanced psychological function is the product of social and historical development.Relative to individuals:Advanced mental functionIt is produced and developed in the process of interpersonal activities.
Vygotsky pointed out that:
The first objective law of human psychological development is that the unique psychological functions mediated by human beings do not arise spontaneously from within, but can only arise from people's collaborative activities and interpersonal exchanges.
The second objective law of human psychological development is that the new psychological process structure unique to human must be formed in the external activities of human beings at first, and then it can be transferred to the inside and become the structure of human internal psychological process.
Accordingly, Vygotsky clarifiedChildren's cultural developmentThe general occurrence rule of "In the development of children, all advanced psychological functions come to the stage twice: the first is as a collective activity, social activity, that is, as a function between psychology; the second is as an individual activity, as a child's internal way of thinking, as an internal psychological function" (Vygotsky, 1994,p. 403) Obviously, this transformation from social, collective and cooperative activities to individual and independent activities, from external and psychological activities to internal psychological processes, is in essence the general mechanism of human psychological development -“internalization”Mechanism.At the same time, it also shows that the process of internalization is a process of transformation, not a process of teaching.
2. Advanced psychological function is mediated by tools and symbols
Vygotsky divided human psychological function into two forms: low-level psychological function and high-level psychological function.The former has a natural and direct form, while the latter has a social and indirect form.The most fundamental thing that distinguishes man from animals is tools and symbols.The unique advanced psychological function of human beings is mediated by symbols, the product of social culture.Human culture grows and changes with the development of human beings, and has a greater and greater impact on all human beings. It is through the use of tools and the intermediary of symbols that talents may realize the transformation from low-level psychological functions to high-level psychological functions.
Vygotsky
People live in a symbolic world. People's behavior is not determined by the object itself, but by the symbols connected with the object. People give the object meaning and act according to those meanings.Language is the most critical tool created by human beings to organize their thinking. Concepts and knowledge are embedded in language.Language is a tool for thinking and cognition. When a person learns a language, he is not only learning words, but also learning ideas related to these words;Language can be used for social interaction and activities, and children can exchange culture and ideas with each other through the interaction of language;Language is a tool for self-regulation and reflection.Language also develops through history.Symbolic mediation is the key to all aspects of knowledge construction. Vygotsky believes that the symbolic mechanism (including psychological tools) isSocial functionandIndividual functionThe intermediary of the internal consciousness and external reality.
3. Activity theory of psychological development
Vygotsky basisMarxThrough in-depth analysis of people's practical activities, it is pointed out that human psychology develops in activities and in the process of interaction between people.Vygotsky's "cultural history theory of psychological development" has an important theoretical hypothesis, that is, "the change of human's psychological process is synchronized with the change of his practical activities" (Vygotsky, 1956).As early as 1920s, Vygotsky noticed the important role of activities in the formation of advanced psychological functions, and recognized the unity of consciousness and activities, that is, consciousness is not an internal closed system isolated from the world and activities, but activities are objective manifestations of consciousness.Therefore, we can conduct objective research on consciousness through activities, materialize the content of consciousness, transform it into objective language, and transform it into objective existence.Therefore, Vygotsky clearly distinguished "consciousness" and "psychology", which are two essentially different concepts.The concept of "psychology" is applicable to both animals and people. It is a common reflection form between humans and animals, and consciousness is the highest reflection form unique to humans.
Vygotsky
Vygotsky put forward the psychological principle of the unity of activity and consciousness, emphasizing that consciousness is always a kind of whole and a complete system structure. He insisted on treating consciousness as a unified and dynamic meaning system composed of two inseparable parts: reason and passion, cognition and emotion will.He clearly pointed out that the relationship between consciousness and advanced psychological functions is the relationship between the whole and the part.This means that all kinds of psychological functions are interrelated, interacted and restricted. The development of psychology is not only reflected in the changes of various psychological functions, but also, more importantly, in the changes of their connections and interrelationships.All these are unique to human consciousness, and they determine the systematic structure of consciousness.
4. Concept of nearest development zone
Nearest development zoneThe concept was put forward by Vygotsky when he applied the general genetic law to children's learning and development in 1931-1932.Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development as "the gap between the actual level of development and the potential level of development. The former is determined by the children's ability to solve problems independently, while the latter refers to the children's ability to solve problems under the guidance of adults or when working with peers with strong abilities" (Vygotsky, 1978).Vygotsky divided students' ability to solve problems into three categories: those that students can do independently, those that can't be shown even with help, and those between the two extremes that can be shown with help from others.Vygotsky clearly pointed out the relationship between teaching and development. Teaching promotes development, and teaching should go ahead of development. "Good teaching goes ahead of development and guides it." (Vygotsky, 1978)
The nearest development zone isSociocultural theoryIt clarifies the social origin of individual psychological development, highlights the role of teaching, and teaching should go ahead of development;The teacher is the promoter of students' psychological development;It's clearPeer influenceAndcooperative learning The importance of children's psychological development;It inspired the dynamic assessment of children's learning potential.
Psychological research
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Methodology of Psychological Research
Vygotsky is not only a specific psychological theory researcher, but also aMethodologyresearcher.The reason why his thoughts still have an important impact today is not only that he has put forward some unique theoretical views, but more importantly, he has put forward and practiced a methodology line for studying psychology, which has brought a fresh wind of change to the transformation of traditional psychology, and still has reference significance for the development of western psychology today.
1. Dialectical Methods for Studying Human Psychological Development
Vygotsky
Vygotsky began to contact as early as his youthMarxism。In the 1920s, he took the lead in proposing the idea of establishing a new methodology of psychology, and clearly advocated that Marxism should be taken as the philosophical methodology of psychological research.In the process of using dialectical methods to study human psychological development, Vygotsky did not attempt to simply impose dialectical principles on existing psychological theories, but tried to use dialectical principles to scientifically investigate and analyze specific problems in specific psychological research.Vygotsky has repeatedly emphasized the central position of dialectical methods in many of his works. He believes that the exploration of methods is the most important issue to understand the form of human psychological activities.Vygotsky tried to build a unified scientific system with dialectical methods on the premise of updating methodologyModern PsychologyWe should unify all our knowledge.As a result, Vygotsky took a critical step to surpass his contemporary psychologists.
Vygotsky according toMarxist philosophyDistinguish three levels of methodological principles: (1) Marxism as the basis of all scientific methodologies（Dialectical materialism）The general methodological principles;(2) Specific science - methodological principles of psychology;(3) The special branch of psychology needs a unique research method.As a general methodology of the whole science, including psychology, it is mainly embodied in the determinist principle, systematic principle, developmental principle, and quality mutual change principle;As the specific methodology of psychology, it can be expressed as the theory of cultural and historical origin of psychological development;As a more specific methodology based on the theory of culture and history, causal analysis and unit analysis are the forms of methodology.According to Vygotsky's analysis, the whole edifice of psychological methodology can be constructed only when the analytical levels of these methodologies closely cooperate with each other.These thoughts made Vygotsky one of the founders of Soviet Russian psychological methodology.
2. Genetic analysis method
Vygotsky
Vygotsky argues that to understand any aspect of psychological function, one must understand its origin and history.In dealing with this problem, Vygotsky went beyond the usual practice of developmental psychologists, that is, to pay attention to the emergence and development of individual children. He explored the ethnogenesis and socio-cultural history.Vygotsky usedGenesisHe believes that the analysis of development involves the interweaving of four levels of analysis: the first level of analysis is the ethnogenesis analysis, which distinguishes human beings from other animals and is marked by the use of tools, especially the psychological tools in symbolic form;The second level of analysis is cultural and historical analysis, which focuses on the important role played by specific cultures and the practice of the same cultural group in the development. People in different cultural environments and people in different historical periods have different processes;The third level of analysis is ontogenetic analysis, which focuses on individual characteristics, such as individual physiological or psychological needs, age, temperament, etc;The fourth level of analysis is micro genetic analysis, which focuses on the real interaction process between individuals and their environment, taking into account the interaction between individuals, interpersonal relationships and socio-cultural factors.
3. Causal analysis and unit analysis
Vygotsky and his colleagues carried out systematic experimental research in the process of applying dialectical methods to establish scientific psychology theory.In the field of experimental research, Vygotsky adopted a new research method - causal analysis.Genetic analysis focuses on the origin and history of psychological phenomena, focusing on the development process of things rather than the product of development, and revealing its essence in the movement.The use of new methods makes it possible for researchers to end the traditional, isolated and static research methods, and truly make dynamic, holistic and interrelated research on the process of psychological formation and development itself.
In the process of using genetic analysis to study psychological phenomena, Vygotsky, from the perspective of "consciousness is a unified whole", proposed to replace the "component analysis method" that dismembers the complex psychological whole into various components that lose the inherent characteristics of the whole with the "unit analysis method".As a product of analysis, the unit is different from the component. It has all the attributes inherent in the whole, and is a living part of the whole that cannot be further decomposed.Just as living cells that maintain the inherent life characteristics of living organisms are the units of biological analysis, psychology should also find its own analysis unit.Vygotsky believes that the replacement of component analysis with unit analysis further opens the door for researchers to study psychological theory, and points out the research path to solve complex psychological theoretical problems.
Vigotsky's correct methodology orientation in psychological research has promoted his remarkable achievements in this field.Guided by dialectics, he explained a series of concepts and theoretical problems, such as the role of language and other semantic symbol forms in human psychological development, the role of social interaction in psychological development, the role of word meaning in conceptual thinking, the relationship between primary psychological function and advanced psychological function in the process of psychological development, and the recent development area of learning and teaching.
Important contribution to psychological science
Since the 1950s, Vygotsky has gained increasing popularity in the field of psychology. He is not only considered as a key figure in Russian psychology in the 20th century, but also selected as one of the 100 most influential psychologists in the world in the 20th century.It is amazing that such a famous psychologist died young at the age of 37. He has been engaged in psychological research for only 10 years. In terms of the richness, uniqueness, universality of his thoughts and achievements, and the transience of his life, he created a miracle in the history of psychology, which is praised by later generations as "psychologicalMozart”。
Vygotsky's life is short and brilliant, with continuous struggle and creation.Despite the vicissitudes of life, we are still committed.Due to origin and race, I suffered a lot during my schooling;Due to physical reasons, he has been plagued by diseases for several times and has come back from the dead;Due to political reasons, he suffered a lot of coldness and neglect.All these frustrations and misfortunes were turned into inexhaustible power for scientific exploration by Vygotsky.Vygotsky's research involves philosophy, history, literary criticism, art, filmPsychology、education、linguistics、defectlearn、Medical ScienceAnd other fields.His theory of culture and history has become a treasure of psychology.
1. He founded the cultural history theory of psychological development and the school of cultural history
The theory of culture and history is broad and profound, and its basic proposition can be summarized as follows: human psychological activities aresocial learning As a result, cultural and social relationsinternalizationResults;Psychological development is essentially a social process;Culture is internalized in the form of neuropsychological system, forming the physiological activities of human brain;Advanced nervous activityIt is the basis of the formation and development of advanced psychological processes;Higher neural activities internalize the social significance derived from human cultural activities and intermediary symbols;Social and practical activities promote the internalization of sensorimotor patterns;The internalization process of advanced psychological function is historic in nature;In different cultural and historical environments, perceptionCasual attention, memory, emotion, thinking, language, problem solving, behavior, etc. have different forms.
Vygotsky
Vygotsky's theory of the historical origin of advanced psychological function tries to prove that the source and decisive factor of human psychological development is the constantly developing culture in the process of human history, which can eliminate the inherent attribute of understanding psychological process as spiritidealismViewpoint, overcoming the ignorance of the essential difference between animal behavior and human psychological activitiesnaturalismThe tendency played a positive role.He willHistoricismThe principle introduces psychology, and points out that human advanced psychological function is generated and developed on the basis of low-level psychological function, and the high-level psychological function is the product of history.As AA. Smirnov pointed out that "it is the historical principle that forms the core of his whole theory, and that is why Vygotsky's main achievements and his great contribution to the development of Soviet psychology are all based on this" (Smirnov, 1984)
Vygotsky, with his profound knowledge, profound scientific literacy, noble personality and extraordinary creativity, attracted a group of talented young scholars to gather under his academic banner, forming the school with the largest number of people and the greatest influence in the history of Soviet psychology——Sociocultural Historical School。Many outstanding psychologists in Soviet Russia, such as LeontievLuria 、Davidoff、ZankovEtc. are important members of this school.They have studied the social and historical occurrence of advanced psychological functions from different perspectives, such as Leontiev'sActivity theory, founded by LuriaNeuropsychology、KaliperinIntellectually formedStage theoryThe theoretical and experimental research on "teaching and development" carried out by EliCorning, Zankov and others had a profound impact on Soviet Russian psychology.
Vygotsky is not only an outstanding psychological theorist and experimenter, but also an outstanding psychological methodology.That is to say, Vygotsky not only devotes himself to solving the specific problems in the development of psychology, but also pays more attention to the philosophical methodological problems of great significance to psychology, and regards the latter as the cornerstone of the future psychological science building.The materialistic dialectics strongly advocated by Vygotsky has enabled psychologists to find another effective way to study human psychology beyond the traditional methods.The introduction of dialectical methods makes psychological research methods diversified, providing a new perspective for psychologists to reveal the mysteries of human psychology.
3. Has affected the development of modern psychological science
Many concepts and theories put forward by Vygotsky enrich the theoretical treasure house of modern psychology. Its theoretical research involves many fields of psychology, such as general psychology, educational psychology, psycholinguistics, children's psychology, neuropsychology, etc. Vygotsky has influenced and promoted the research in the above fields with his bold and unique ideas, and promoted the development of modern psychology.Especially in the late 1970sBrunerThe American educational psychologist led by Vygotsky introduced Vygotsky's ideas to the United States, which directly affectedconstructivismAn important academic school in the field——Social constructivismThe rise of the theory has triggered a revolution in contemporary educational psychology.
Main limitations of psychological theory
As Vygotsky's short life was full of intense exploration, he constantly put forward new ideas, was eager to build his own theory, and because he died young, he failed toVont、FreudLike other psychologists, they have enough time to further modify, supplement and improve their early theories in their later years. Therefore, Vygotsky's theory inevitably has some shortcomings, such as the lack of accuracy in the use of some words, the failure of some hypotheses to be proved by experiments, and the inadequacy of some theories.The limitations of Vygotsky's thought are highlighted as follows: First, Vygotsky's cultural and historical theory also appeared in the early periodnaturalismThe tendency of.For example, he absolutely opposed the low-level psychological function to the high-level psychological function, and believed that the low-level psychological function of children has the nature of pure heredityCultural symbolsIt is intermediary, so there is no intermediary structure.Later, he made a major revision to this view.Second, VygotskyHistoricismWhen the principle was introduced into psychology, it did not analyze the specific nature of social formation.Talking about history apart from the concrete social form can only make history abstract.Thirdly, Vygotsky arbitrarily believes that the development of advanced psychological functions has nothing to do with the biological changes in the structure of the organism.There is no end to development and change. There is no sufficient scientific basis for Vygotsky to oppose the natural development process of psychological function with the development process of cultural history.
Main basis
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As an important paradigm of contemporary constructivismSocial constructivismIt is mainly based on Vygotsky's theory.Social constructivism regards knowledge as the construction of society, mainly based on:
Knowledge is based on language knowledge, conventions and rules, while language is a social construction;
Human knowledge, rules and conventions play a key role in determining and judging the truth of knowledge in a certain field;
Personal subjective knowledge is translated into objective knowledge that can be accepted by others after being published.This transformation needs the social process of interpersonal communication, so objectivity itself should be understood as sociality;
Figure 1: Social construction of knowledge
The published knowledge must be examined and judged by others before it can be re formed and become objective knowledge accepted by people, that is, subjective knowledge can become objective knowledge only after being socially accepted;
The subjective knowledge possessed by individuals is, in essence, the internal laboratory, and the reconstructed objective knowledge, even if the objective knowledge has obtained the subjective internal performance.
Individuals can play an active role in the construction and creation of subjective knowledge, or in the process of participating in the evaluation and re formation of knowledge published by others.
● Circular process of social construction of knowledge
To sum up, the uniqueness of social constructivism with reference to Vygotsky's theory is to consider subjective and objective knowledge at the same time and link them in half to promote each other.In this cycle, the formation of new knowledge first originates from the subjective construction of new knowledge by individuals, that is, individuals play a potential role in the accumulation of objective knowledge on the basis of their subjective knowledge through their own creation process.This role can be simply divided into "adding", "rebuilding" and "reappearing"."Add" means new conjecture or proof, perhaps including new concepts or new definitions, or new applications of existing knowledge.The role of "reconstruction" can be to propose new concepts or new theorems, so as to generalize the existing knowledge or link the knowledge of two or more parts previously divided.The most typical role of "reproduction" is reflected in high-level textbook compilation and knowledge explanation.New knowledge generated based on the subjective construction of individuals is published through media representation (print, handwriting, oral or electronic), reviewed and judged by others according to certain objective standards, and then re formed and accepted by people (that is, social acceptance), thus becoming objective knowledge.In the process of learning, objective knowledge is internalized and reconstructed by individuals, and becomes personal subjective knowledge on the basis of obtaining meaning.Individuals further create and publish new knowledge based on this subjective knowledge.This completes a tree ring of knowledge construction.Obviously, in the cycle of social construction of knowledge, subjective knowledge and objective knowledge promote each other's production, renewal and reproduction.This knowledgeSocial constructionThe circulation process of the individual fully proves that the subjective world of the individual is connected with the society.Knowledge is constructed in the scope of human society through the interaction of individual sound quality and its own cognitive process.Therefore, although social constructivism also regards learning or the acquisition of meaning as the process of individual construction, it pays more attention to the intermediary of social objective knowledge to the process of individual subjective knowledge construction, and pays more attention to social micro and macro background and selfInternal construction, belief and cognition, and regard them as inseparable, recurring, mutually reinforcing and unified social processes.Vygotsky formed in the 1920s and 1930sPsychological Development TheoryAfter several ups and downs, in the second half of this century, it was pointed out that the dust of history could stand out and attract much attention.Furthermore, in the context of multicultural exchanges, this theory is also in the rise of constructivism. Through the collision and integration with various constructivism models, especially with social constructivism, it can change its appearance, representing a noteworthy theoretical orientation at the turn of the century and having a profound impact on the theory and practice of contemporary education and teaching.
Vygotsky
● Comparison
Vygotsky
At the end of the century, constructivism has increasingly influenced teaching, learning and school curriculum.However, as there is no uniqueCognitive Learning TheorySimilarly, constructivists have different views on the nature of knowledge and the importance of various performances in the process of knowledge construction.However, despite the differences, most constructivists have four common points on learning: 1) learners construct their own understanding;2) New learning depends on existing understanding;3) Social interaction can promote learning;4) Meaningful learning occurs in the real learning task.These four points of consensus indicate that the core of constructivism is the construction of knowledge.However, different paradigms of constructivism have different perspectives on knowledge construction.NowPiagetOfCognitive constructivismAnd deeply influenced by Vygotsky's theorySocial constructivismAs an example, make a comparison (see table).It can be seen from the table that Piaget puts more emphasis on everyone's creation of new knowledge, while Vygotsky focuses on the dissemination of knowledge tools such as culture and language. For this reason, someone vividly made a metaphor: Piaget facesPCWhat Vygotsky is facingweb（PC is to Piaget as WWW is to Vygotsky）（Robert Edgar）。
(Source: Eggen,P. & Kauehak, D. , Educational Psychology, 1997,p. 59）
Educational application
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1. Steps of scaffolding
Vikowski emphasizes that children construct the intelligence valued by their society from the interaction with a person who is more knowledgeable than themselves.In the process of interaction with children, adults will transfer the intelligence that their society attaches importance to to children, which is the framework.In the teaching process, the architecture has six steps, namely, introduction, demonstration, simplifying the tasks, maintaining participation, feedback, and controlling frustration.
Introduction means that teachers should first make students willing to participate in thinking and solving problems, rather than just being a bystander.When students intend to participate in problem solving, teachers should first demonstrate the correct problem solving methods.Then it is left to the students.But we must first simplify the problem so that the difficulty of the homework is not too difficult for children, but it can not be too simple without challenge.In the process of teaching, teachers must make students actively participate in thinking and solving problems.This includes timely feedback to students, not only to let students know whether the direction of their thinking is correct;If it is not correct, let the students know why their solution is not correct.Of course, if students cannot solve the problem, teachers should simplify the problem again to control students' frustration.
2. Interactive teaching
reciprocal teaching It is also an example of the successful application of Vikowski's theory.Teachers and students play the role of leaders in the discussion group respectively.It is mainly used to train the reading ability of students with low reading performance.First, the students read the article, and then the teacher demonstrates the discussion leader.The leader's main job is to ask some questions to make a summary of the article, or predict the subsequent development of the article, or clarify students' misconceptions.Then, the teacher selects a simpler article and asks students to take turns to play the role of discussion leader.At this time, the teacher does not take the initiative to intervene, but only when the students' discussion is biased.
3. Use children's private language
Vygotsky
According to Vikowski's theory, teachers should attach importance to students' private language, and regard it as a process in which students internalize teachers' mature problem solving methods.Even when students are not proficient in problem solving, they can be encouraged to speak out their thinking process to help themselves solve problems.
Impact Review
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Vygotsky isFormer Soviet UnionA famous psychologist, whose theory of cultural and historical development established the foundation of children in the former Soviet UnionDevelopment and Educational PsychologyThe foundation of.Since the 1960s, his theory has gradually enteredWestern PsychologyTerritory, and has a wide and profound impact on western development and educational psychology.
Since the birth of western psychology in 1879positivism、PhenomenologyAs a philosophical foundation, the study of people who put aside social and cultural background has led to the obvious appearance of western psychologynatural scienceColor.As an independent system, the psychology of the former Soviet Union has formed a sharp contrast with the West both in philosophy and theory, thus forming two camps in psychology.For a long time, western psychology and Soviet psychology were isolated.However, in recent years, there has been a new trend in the development of western psychologynaturalismThe change from the view of psychological science of the social culture to the view of psychological science of the social culture.Vygotsky's psychological thoughts also gradually entered the western psychological territory, and gradually formed a worldwide upsurge of Vygotsky research.Vygotsky's influence on western psychology began 20 years after his death, which was marked by his book Thinking and Language being translated into English and published in the United States (1962).From the 1960s to the end of the 1990s, Vygotsky'sdevelopmental psychologyandeducational psychologyIt has a very wide and strong impact.The impact can be divided into three stages:
The first stage (from the early 1960s to the middle and late 1970s): the stage when the western psychological community initially understood Vygotsky's psychological thoughts, which was marked by the translation of Vygotsky's Thinking and Language into English in 1962, published in the United States, and a famous psychologistBruner(J. S. Bruner) wrote a preface for it.
The second stage (from the end of the 1970s to the end of the 1980s): the stage of widespread influence.It is marked by a series of works by Vygotsky and their translation into English, which was translated and published in 1978.Later, Thinking and Language was republished in 1986, and a series of research papers on Vygotsky gradually appeared.The research of these papers mainly focuses on the role of "psychological tools" in cognitive development“Nearest development zone”The concept ofInternal speechProblems and scientific concepts in children's thinking.All these show that Vygotsky's thought has had a very wide influence in the West.
The third stage (from the early 1990s to the late 1990s): the deepening stage of the study of Vygotsky.At this stage, researchers are not only interested in Vygotsky's psychological thoughts, but also study Vygotsky from a historical perspective, expanding their vision to the connection between Vygotsky's personal life and his era background and his psychological thoughts.For example, in the 1990s, he published some books on Vygotsky, such as Vygotsky: Revolutionary Psychologist, Understanding Vygotsky: Discussion on Complex, Vygotsky and Education: Teaching Meaning and Application of Social Historical Psychology, etc.At the same time, empirical research has gradually increased, closely focusing on Vygotsky's idea of social construction.
So far, the influence of Vygotsky's theory in the field of psychology and education has been recognized, and has formed a worldwide upsurge of Vygotsky research.There are many reasons for Vygotsky fever.First, the reason why Vygotsky has such a wide influence on American psychology is that American psychologists are attracted by social influence and Vygotsky's repeated emphasis on the importance of social influence.Western scholars generally believe that Vygotsky, compared with any other psychologist, pays more attention to the relationship between the large social environment and the small social environment;More emphasis is placed on the relationship between social factors of culture and history and personal characteristics.Vygotsky's view on the impact of social culture on children's psychology breaks the long-standing dominance in the eyes of WesternersIndividualismThey saw a new world and solved some practical problems that were difficult to explain with their inherent ideas, which made the West more and more interested in Vygotsky;Secondly, because Vygotsky andPiagetHe is a contemporary psychologist, and has some similar research fields, such as thinking and language, constructive thinking, etc;At the same time, there are great differences between the two theories, such as self speech problems, social problems of construction, etc., which is also a main reason for Vygotsky fever.Third, the first Soviet Union in the 1950sArtificial satelliteAscension had a great shock to the United States, which made the Americans discover the progress of Soviet basic education. Then the famous psychologist and educator Bruner was appointed to take charge of the entire education reform, and Bruner was very appreciative of Vygotsky's theory.Fourth, there is a big social background for Vygotsky's thought to be so valued, that is, with the development of societyPostmodern society，PostmodernismBegan to have an impact on psychology.Dr. John Pichering quoted Bruner (1990) and Edelman (Edelman 1992) in his preface to Psychological Culture"Psychology is not outside the postmodern situation. Its attention has shifted from individual cognitive structure to cultural process, which appears among individuals and creates individual cognitive structure of each individual.Criticism of psychology in recent years has emphasized in different ways the need to consider psychological life in its biological and cultural context, so as to rebalance the discipline that overemphasizes the internal cognitive mechanism. "It can be seen that Vygotsky has received such extensive attention in the West because of its scientific theory and the inevitable trend of the development of western psychology.
Vygotsky's influence on western development and educational psychology is mainly manifested in two aspects.
1、 Research methods One of the fundamental drawbacks of traditional western psychological research is to study human psychology without specific environment.In the 1970s, students of Vygotsky and the United StatesCornell UniversityOfBrownfin Brenner(U. Bronfenbrenner) proposedEcosystem theory。He believes that human psychology is also in the ecological environment, and human development can not be separated from the interaction between people and the environment. The root of this view can be traced back to Vygotsky's cultural and historical theory.The human development formula "D=F (PE)" (development is a function of people and the environment) determined by Bronfin Brenner is directly influenced by Vygotsky andLuria Impact.Bronfin Brenner pointed out that many existing studies lack "ecological certainty" and do not conform to the reality.He believes that psychological research should pay more attention to the authenticity of ecology.This research idea has become worldwide“Ecological movement”。
The research method of western traditional psychology is to attach importance to quantitative evaluation and static evaluation. With the rise of ecological movement, the specific research method of psychology has begun to change, and more and more attention has been paid toQualitative researchAnd dynamic evaluation, and the theoretical basis of these two evaluation methods should be attributed to Vygotsky'sActivity theoryandTheory of the zone of proximal development。
Qualitative research has also been translated as "qualitative research". People have different views on the concept of qualitative research.But qualitative research is fundamentally put forward opposite to quantitative research.Its main feature is to pay attention to the overall evaluation and the exploration of social and cultural factors."Qualitative research believes that the thought and behavior of individuals and the operation of social organizations are inseparable from the social and cultural context in which they live. If you want to understand and understand individuals and social organizations, you must place them in a rich, complex and mobile natural context to investigate." One of the theoretical backgrounds of the rise of this method is Vygotsky's social and cultural theory,That is to say, we should pay attention to the interaction between people and society, and emphasize the overall study of social phenomena.In Vygotsky's theory, activities play a very important role.He believes that psychology develops in activities, first external activities and then "internal" activities, and the study of human psychology must be carried out in human activities.In this sense, Vygotsky's understanding of activities is not only a theory, but also a method.This method of activity psychology provides a theoretical basis for process evaluation or qualitative evaluation in psychological research.
Maarten K. van der Heijden pointed out that general psychology only studies the interaction between human and environment;andActivity psychologyAn intermediate element has been added in, forming a creative model of human - approach behavior - environment.Among them, connected behavior is an independent category, which neither belongs to the personality of students nor to the situation.Connective behavior consists of practical activities and psychological activities.Therefore, from the perspective of activity psychology, psychological research should pay more attention to process assessment orqualitative evaluation (qualitative assessment), which is opposite to the test method focusing on behavior performance, advocates using the concept of "process" rather than the concept of achievement or achievement, and focuses on the evaluation of behavior in specific task situations.Vygotsky's activity theory is modernQualitative research methodsIt provides an important theoretical basis.
Dynamic assessment is another important contribution of Vygotsky to research methods.Dynamic evaluation is to measure the independent activity level of children when they are helped or instructed.The dynamic evaluation can be considered to be determined by the nearest development zone (Vygotsky).Peter Smagorinsky pointed out that the theory of the zone of proximal development emphasizes that people's thinking is flexible, potential and flexible in different social environments, which has obvious and powerful methodological characteristics for psychological research.Veggetti Maria Serena and others also pointed out that the ideological origin of dynamic evaluation should be attributed to Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development.
It is very necessary for children's psychological research to study children from a developmental perspective in children's activities in combination with their specific living environment.However, the long existing research methods of western psychology, which are divorced from children's specific living environment and reality, have led to misunderstandings in children's psychological research and lost the practical significance of children's psychological research.The revolution in research methods since the 1970s has changed the research direction of western child development psychology, making the research of child psychology more objective, scientific and realistic.From this point of view, Vygotsky has a great influence on western developmental psychology.This influence has further expanded from the West to the whole world, making great changes in the research methods of children's psychology around the world. In this sense, Vygotsky has made great contributions to developmental psychology.
2、 Social construction thought asCultural-Historical School Vygotsky, the founder of, attaches great importance to the role of culture in psychological development.He put forward the extremely important historical principle of understanding the psychological process, and believed that everything should be understood from the historical, social environment and interrelationship.It is the first time to clarify the role of cultural and historical factors in the development of psychology, and the first time to propose that the view on history should be the main principle of establishing human psychology.He pointed out that "culture creates a special way of behavior", "activities that change psychological functions", and "in the process of historical development, social people change their own ways and methods of behavior, and change their innate qualities and functions, forming and creating a new way of behavior - a special cultural way".In Vygotsky's psychological thought, four very important concepts are the zone of proximal development, activity, psychological tool and internalization.The internal relationship between these four concepts constitutes a complete ideological system of education and teaching, which is called "social construction" by the West.
At present, the study of social construction in the West has not only been limited to the theoretical discussion, but also many empirical studies have emerged.
（1） Research on school-age children In recent years, the new trend of research on school-age children is to regard school education as a cultural process and school education as a cultural system.It believes that school education as a whole culture affects the development of students.In the overall cultural environment of school, the interaction between teachers and children, children and children can promote children's cognitive development.
This field mainly includes the research of Matusov, Cobb, etc.Among them, this kind of research is divided into two clues.One is school culture, the other is classroom culture.
In school culture and classroom culture, the impact of the overall cultural atmosphere of the school and the creation of the classroom environment on students' learning is an important aspect of the study.Matusov's research found that different school environments affect students' level of social interaction.Schools should provide students with sufficient environment for activities and communication, and give play to students' learning autonomy.Roth studied the impact of classroom culture on students' problem-solving ability. The research found that resources, practical tools, and intellectual practice activities in the classroom have a significant impact on children's experience, which in turn directly affects children's ability to solve practical problems.
Teachers are one of the important factors of school culture, and the overall cultural environment of the school plays a role through teachers.Therefore, they play an important role in students' learning activities.The research on the critical role of teachers by Cober and others shows that teachers can turn the classroom into a place where children can verify their views with each other through teaching.Including the establishment of norms, such as adhering to the personal point of view of solving problems, explaining personal solutions to peers, listening to peer explanations or feeling that peers want to achieve consistent intentions and the process of solving problems.Daigre, Iris Sigman studied teachers' understanding of the value of autonomy, teachers' control points, teachers'Self efficacyThe relationship between teachers' conversation in the classroom and teaching methods.The results show that teachers with internal control points and high efficiency have an independent teaching mode. In this mode, they seldom evaluate students, put forward more open and higher thinking questions, ask less questions with certain answers, and focus on stimulating students' thinking in the form of dialogue.However, the teachers with external control points and low sense of efficiency, due to their lack of awareness of the value of autonomy, emphasize the teaching method of recitation, resulting in students' participation in recitation.
The current research has generally confirmed that Vygotsky'sSocial construction thought, also remind the schoolEducatorsOn the one hand, it is necessary to create a school cultural atmosphere that is democratic, encourages children's activities and exchanges, and carefully designs the classroom environment to provide students with time, space and materials that can be used for intellectual activities, so as to promote the development of students' intelligence;On the other hand, students should be purposefully helped to learn the skills of peer discussion, so that peer interaction can truly become an effective way to promote children's cognitive development.
（2） Research on preschool children The research on preschool children mainly focuses on games, the social origin of speech, internalization theory and other aspects.Among them, aboutPreschool childrenThe study of play is the key issue of the study. The study proves that the interaction between children and children, children and adults in play plays an important role in children's psychological development in preschool children's cognitive development.Play is an area that Vygotsky attaches great importance to, and is the most important form of preschool children's social interaction.Vygotsky emphasizes the relationship between play, cognition and emotional development, and believes that play is the basis of the development process, because play belongs to an activity in the recent development zone.Vygotsky believes that children's play is the most important source of development at preschool age.Vygotsky pointed out: "In the game, a child's behavior is always beyond his actual age and his daily behavior; in the game, he is a little higher than his actual level." In children's games, children's speech and symbol activities as mediators can promote children's cognitive level.B. van Oers' research found that children aged 4 to 7 can learn problem-solving methods through play activities to promote their psychological development.
The behavior of parents or teachers has a significant impact on children's play behavior, which is also an important aspect of research.Cox, Mary LSymbolic gameResearch on the relationship between symbolic play and mother's interaction has found that the interactive play between mother or caregiver and children is as important to children's development as memory or teaching.Steffi (Steffey, M. Stephanie, 1992) The research results show that fully developed role games have an obvious relationship with the development of sociality, cognition and social cognitive ability.Kelner, Lisa studied the influence of teachers' behavior on children's play, and the results showed that teachers' participation in children's play was positively related to social interaction and children's cognitive activities on roles.The current research on the role of play in children's cognitive development has theoretically proved that Vygotsky and Soviet developmental psychology regard play as an active activity for preschool children, and further proved the important role of parents and teachers in children's play, reminding teachers and parents to change the traditional concept of letting children play by themselves and actively participate in children's play,And at the appropriate time, give appropriate guidance to children's play in an appropriate form.This has important guiding significance for preschool education.
In short, VygotskySociocultural environmentThe idea of the importance of interaction between children and adults, children and children has changed the traditional western concepts, and has also aroused great interest of western scholars.At present, the empirical research on Vygotsky's theory in the West shows that Vygotsky's theory that children's psychology originates from social interaction is very correct. Schools, classrooms and kindergartens should be fully valued as important environments that affect children's psychological development, and the guidance of teachers or other adults on children should not be ignored. At the same time,Children should be provided with an environment in which they can interact with each other and learn how to interact.Schools, classrooms, teachers, peersSociocultural factorsThe form and level of children's psychological development are directly affected.[2]
