Vygotsky’s legacy in education is enduring and prolific, influencing educational research and scholarship in areas as far ranging child development, language and literacy development, bilingual education, and learning disabilities to name but a few. In this accessible, introductory volume, renowned Vygtosky authority Luis C. Moll presents a summary of Vygtoskian core concepts, constituting a cultural-historical approach to the study of thinking and development. Moll emphasizes what he considers central tenets of Vygotsky’s scholarship --- the sociocultural genesis of human thinking, the consideration of active and dynamic individuals, a developmental approach to studying human thinking, and the power of cultural mediation in understanding and transforming educational practices, broadly considered. After an introduction to Vygotsky’s life, the historical context for his work, and his ideas, Moll provides examples from his educational research inspired by Vygotsky’s work. With both critical scrutiny of current interpretations of Vygotksian theory and clear deference for the theorist known as "The Mozart of Psychology," Moll stresses the many ways Vygotksy’s theory can offer a theory of possibilities for positive pedagogical change.

Analyzes the educational implications and applications of Soviet psychologist L.S. Vygotsky's ideas.

Vygotsky’s legacy in education is enduring and prolific, influencing educational research and scholarship in areas as far ranging child development, language and literacy development, bilingual education, and learning disabilities to name but a few. In this accessible, introductory volume, renowned Vygtosky authority Luis C. Moll presents a summary of Vygtoskian core concepts, constituting a cultural-historical approach to the study of thinking and development. Moll emphasizes what he considers central tenets of Vygotsky’s scholarship --- the sociocultural genesis of human thinking, the consideration of active and dynamic individuals, a developmental approach to studying human thinking, and the power of cultural mediation in understanding and transforming educational practices, broadly considered. After an introduction to Vygotsky’s life, the historical context for his work, and his ideas, Moll provides examples from his educational research inspired by Vygotsky’s work. With both critical scrutiny of current interpretations of Vygotksian theory and clear deference for the theorist known as "The Mozart of Psychology," Moll stresses the many ways Vygotksy’s theory can offer a theory of possibilities for positive pedagogical change.

The great Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky has long been recognized as a pioneer in developmental psychology. But somewhat ironically, his theory of development has never been well understood in the West. Mind in Society should correct much of this misunderstanding. Carefully edited by a group of outstanding Vygotsky scholars, the book presents a unique selection of Vygotsky’s important essays, most of which have previously been unavailable in English. The Vygotsky who emerges from these pages can no longer be glibly included among the neobehaviorists. In these essays he outlines a dialectical-materialist theory of cognitive development that anticipates much recent work in American social science. The mind, Vygotsky argues, cannot be understood in isolation from the surrounding society. Man is the only animal who uses tools to alter his own inner world as well as the world around him. From the handkerchief knotted as a simple mnemonic device to the complexities of symbolic language, society provides the individual with technology that can be used to shape the private processes of mind. In Mind in Society Vygotsky applies this theoretical framework to the development of perception, attention, memory, language, and play, and he examines its implications for education. The result is a remarkably interesting book that is bound to renew Vygotsky’s relevance to modern psychological thought.

When this classic book was first published in 1926, L.S. Vygotsky was well on his way to becoming one of the leading intellectuals in Russia. His study of the psychology of education led him to believe that the child should be the main figure in the educational process - and the efforts of the teacher should be directed toward organizing, not dicta

Vol. 2 translated and with an introduction by Jane E. Knox and Carol B. Stevens.

Since it was introduced to the English-speaking world in 1962, Lev Vygotsky's highly original exploration of human mental development has become recognized as a classic foundational work of cognitive science. Vygotsky analyzes the relationship between words and consciousness, arguing that speech is social in its origins and that only as children develop does it become internalized verbal thought. Now Alex Kozulin has created a new edition of the original MIT Press translation by Eugenia Hanfmann and Gertrude Vakar that restores the work's complete text and adds materials that will help readers better understand Vygotsky's meaning and intentions. Kozulin has also contributed an introductory essay that offers new insight into the author's life, intellectual milieu, and research methods. Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1934) studied at Moscow University and acquired in his brief lifespan a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the social sciences, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, literature, and the arts. He began his systematic work in psychology at the age of 28, and within a few years formulated his theory of the development of specifically human higher mental functions. He died of tuberculosis ten years later, and Thought and Languagewas published posthumously in 1934. Alex Kozulin studied at the Moscow Institute of Medicine and the Moscow Institute of Psychology, where he began his investigation of Vygotsky and the history of Soviet psychology. He emigrated in 1979 and is now Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology) at Boston University. He is the author of Psychology in Utopia: Toward a Social History of Soviet Psychology(MIT Press 1984).