L.S. Vygotsky's Principle "One Step in Learning — A Hundred Steps in Development": In Search of Evidence

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Abstract

On the basis of L.S. Vygotsky's published works the paper attempts to trace the dynamics of his concepts of child development and to provide evidence supporting Vygotsky's statement that one step in learning equals a hundred in development, which is one of the key principles of cultural-historical theory in its application to child development. This statement is put in a row with two other major principles: one arguing that learning precedes development and the other referring to the zone of proximal development. The paper outlines a multivector model of the zone of proximal development as one of the conceptual tools of the reflective and activity approach to helping children overcome learning difficulties and promoting their development. The paper also describes a case study in which an orphan child with a disability received psychological and educational support that obviously contributed to the child's development. It is argued that L.S. Vygotsky's idea of the specific relationship between learning and development has fundamental theoretical and practical implications, in particular, for working with children with special needs.

General Information

Keywords: Vygotsky, cultural-historical psychology, history of psychology, developmental psychology, learning and development, steps of development, zone of proximal development, multivector model of the zone of proximal development, reflective and activity approach, subjectness, reflection, child/adult collaborative activity, children with special needs, psychological and educational support, overcoming learning difficulties

Journal rubric: Problems of Cultural-Historical and Activity Psychology

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2015110305

For citation: Zaretsky V.K. L.S. Vygotsky's Principle "One Step in Learning — A Hundred Steps in Development": In Search of Evidence . Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2015. Vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 44–63. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2015110305. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Victor K. Zaretsky, PhD in Psychology, Professor, Chair of Individual and Group Psychotherapy, Faculty of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8831-6127, e-mail: zaretskiyvk@mgppu.ru

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