Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist and the founder of the theory of human cultural and bio-social development, referred to as cultural-historical psychology. His research was extensive, consisting of 270 scientific articles and 10 books, covering psychology as well as pedagogy, art, aesthetics and sociology.
Vygotskian theoretical perspective can be understood best in terms of three general themes:
- the use of a genetic, or developmental method;
- the claim that higher mental functioning in the individual emerges out of social processes; and
- the claim that human social and psychological processes are fundamentally shaped by cultural tools, or mediational means.
Vygotsky discussed spontaneous and scientific concepts by highlighting their distinguishing characteristics and recognizing their interdependence:
The two processes – the development of spontaneous and of nonspontaneous concepts – are related and constantly influence each other. They are parts of a single process: the development of concept formation which is affected by varying external and internal conditions but is essentially a unitary process, rather than a conflict of antagonistic, mutually exclusive forms of thinking.
Vygotsky believed all learning takes places through interpretation of the impressions and experiences we have of the world. Learning is an internal process. “From a scientific point of view, strictly speaking you cannot educate anyone else.”