Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934), a prominent and innovative Soviet Union psychologist, had a life short-lived but during that short span of time, he made significant contributions. For this reason, he is known as the “Mozart of Psychology”, because just like the composer, he produced several different theories, showcasing his ingenuity. His work aided the advancements in the field of child development, developmental psychology, and educational philosophy and is being discovered and explored to this very day.
Early life
Lev Vygotsky was born into a middle-class family in Orsha during the Soviet Union, that is now Belarus, in 1896 and was raised in Gomel. Although working as a psychologist, he first earned his degree in Law at Moscow State University, studying various subjects including sociology, linguistics, psychology, and philosophy. He officially began his work in psychology at Moscow’s Institute of Psychology, where he completed his dissertation on the psychology of art. He initially taught logic and psychology in the local college back in Gomel, exploring topics such as language, attention, and memory with his students, one of them being Alexei Leontiev, another developmental psychologist who developed the activity theory. Later, he would join Moscow’s Institute of Experimental Psychology, working as a teacher and researcher, thus beginning his formal work as a psychologist.
Work and contributions to the field of developmental psychology
The work of Lev Vygotsky laid the groundwork for much research and theory in cognitive development. In his sociocultural theory, he puts a strong emphasis on the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition. To understand his theories, one must take into consideration the political situation of his state at the time and the environment in which Vygotsky grew up. A society in which an individual’s success is the success of all. Therefore, he believed that human development is influenced by culture, and it varies depending on the society one grows up in. He also argued that language is the main tool promoting thinking, which develops reasoning and supports cultural activities. In his opinion, culture helps develop children’s behavior and form their habits via interpersonal experiences. Playtime is considered to be an educational tool, helping children learn concepts based on this activity and in consequence modulating their behavior. Fundamentally, Vygotsky acknowledged that learning cannot be detached from a social context.
Finally, although being a contemporary to other greats, such as Skinner, Pavlov, Freud, and Piaget, he had never reached the same level of notability during his lifetime, probably due to his untimely death caused by tuberculosis. In addition, the harsh criticism that his work endured by the Russian Communist Party made his work and writings difficult to access, reducing the chances of it spreading to the rest of the world. Despite all this, he remains to be influential notably in the fields of developmental and educational psychology.