Leading activity in developmental psychology: the concept and the principle

The concept of leading activity is considered in comparison to other fundamental ideas of cultural-historical psychology: social situation of development, interaction of ideal and real forms, psychological novel formations of age. It is demonstrated that the psychological content of the concept of leading activity does not completely coincide with the concept “social situation of development”.The idea of mental development as a linear individually chronological process of change of leading activities is significantly different from how both Vygotsky and El’konin viewed it. The change of leading activities is a process which represents the continuous structural reorganization of all the systems of activities of the child as a living, organic system of interaction of ideal and real forms. Behind the externally linear process of shift from one leading activity to another there is hidden a deep process of human search and finding space for possibilities of a wholly new quality at each new stage of development.

1. Veresov N., Hakkarainen P. O predposylkah stanovleniya uchebnoi deyatel’nosti u starshih doshkol’nikov // Vestnik Mezhdunarodnoi associacii Razvivayushego obucheniya. 2000. № 8.
2. Veresov N., Hakkarainen P. Stanovlenie kollektivnoi deyatel’nosti u starshih doshkol’nikov // Voprosy psihologii. 2001. №7.
3. Vygotskii L.S. Sobr. soch. T. 4. M., 1984.
4. Davydov V.V. Problemy razvivayushego obucheniya. M., 1986.
5. Davydov V.V. Poslednie vystupleniya. Riga, 1998.
6. Deyatel’nost’: teorii, metodologiya, problemy. M., 1990.
7. Zinchenko V.P. Psihologicheskie osnovy pedagogiki. M., 2002.
8. Leont’ev A.N. Izbrannye psihologicheskie proizvedeniya: v 2 t. T.1. M., 1983.
9. Mihailov F.T. Samoopredelenie kul’tury. M., 2003.
10. Polivanova K.N. Psihologiya vozrastnyh krizisov. M., 2000.
11. Fel’dshtein D.I. Psihologiya vzrosleniya. Strukturno_soderzhatel’nye harakteristiki processa razvitiya lichnosti. M., 1999.
12. Shedrovickii G.P. Izbrannye trudy. M., 1995.
13. El’konin B.D. Psihologiya razvitiya. M., 2001.
14. El’konin D.B. K probleme periodizacii psihicheskogo razvitiya v detskom vozraste // Voprosy psihologii. 1971. № 4.
15. El’konin D.B. Izbrannye psihologicheskie trudy. M., 1989.
16. El’konin D.B. Psihicheskoe razvitie v detskih vozrastah. M., 1995.
17. Yudin E.G. Sistemnyi podhod i princip deyatel’nosti. M., 1987.
18. Activity: the theory, methodology and problems. (1990). Orlando_Helsinki_Moscow, 1990.
19. Winnicott D.W. Holding and Interpretation. N. Y., 1986.