Vygotsky the Teacher : A Companion to His Psychology for Teachers and Other Practitioners

This book sets out to be an accessible guide to Vygotsky’s work. It pays serious attention to the full range of Vygotsky’s ideas and their educational implications. Vygotsky wanted to ensure that psychology in general, and the psychology of education in particular, was broad enough to include the importance of play, the role of creativity, imagination and emotion, and the fundamental part played by language in the development of concepts and of consciousness. To this end he set out to change psychology. "This highly accessible guide to the varied aspects of Vygotsky's psychology emphasises his abiding interest in education. Vygotsky was a teacher, a researcher and educational psychologist who worked in special needs education, and his interest in pedagogy was fundamental to all his work. Vygotsky the Teacher analyses and discusses the full range of his ideas and their far-reaching educational implications. Drawing on new work, research and fresh translations, this unique text foregrounds key Vygotskian perspectives on play, imagination and creativity, poetry, literature and drama, the emotions, and the role of language in the development of thought. It explains the textual issues surrounding Vygotsky's publications that have, until recently, obscured some of the theoretical links between his ideas. It underlines Vygotsky's determination to create a psychology that is capable of explaining all aspects of the development of mind. Vygotsky the Teacher is essential reading for students on education and psychology courses at all levels, and for all practitioners wanting to know more about Vygotsky's theories and their roots in research and practice. It offers a unique road map of his work, connecting its different aspects, and placing them in the context of his life and the times in which he lived"-- Provided by publisher Cover Endorsements Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of figures Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Beginnings 2. The psychology of art 3. Vygotsky and defectology 4. The crisis in psychology 5. Tool and symbol 6. The development of higher psychological functions 7. Vygotsky and pedology 8. Play, imagination and creativity 9. The zone of proximal/proximate development 10. Thinking and speech 1: Word meaning develops 11. Thinking and speech 2: The final ‘why’ 12. After Vygotsky Afterword Index This highly accessible guide to the varied aspects of Vygotsky's psychology emphasises his abiding interest in education. Vygotsky the Teacher analyses and discusses the full range of his ideas and their ground-breaking educational implications.