Vygotsky, Luria And Leontiev: Revolutionaries In Education
At the beginning of the 20th century, after the socialist revolution, a new psychological school was born out of the opposition to North American capitalism. One of the first problems it was intended to solve was to find a new education system that could meet their requirements. The most significant characters in this new form of Soviet psychology, and creators of a revolutionary education system, were Vygotsky, Luria, and Leontiev.
They saw education as a central theme, a tool that the following generations would need to continue the revolution they had started. Today, their scientific studies are considered very strict precursors to an educational revolution. In this article, we will explore their approach by looking at their ideas about communication, development and the goals of education.
Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev: The model of communication
The first problem with education they saw at the time was the lack of communication in the classroom. They saw that the students were passive agents in their own learning because communication only went one way, from teacher to student. The model for teaching was that the teacher should convey his knowledge to the students. Then the students would absorb the information without asking questions.
These three Soviet psychologists broke down this concept, and instead looked towards a constructivist style of education. In this model, students build their own knowledge. In other words, they are active subjects in their own learning.
They got rid of one-way communication model. In order for students to be able to construct their own ideas, the classroom needed to become a space for debate. Communication should take place freely from student to student and from student to teacher. Both parties should be prepared to talk and listen.
The function of the teacher in this type of classroom is not to convey his omniscient wisdom. It is rather to guide a debate between students and foster learning. It is an incredibly difficult task, but it has been proven time and time again that when learning is active, education improves significantly.
The importance of development
Another fundamental problem they observed was the lack of clarity about how learning and development are related. Vygotsky laid the foundation for this principle through his theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD).
Vygotsky found it absurd to talk about learning as independent of the individual’s cognitive development. He proposed a theory in which development and learning strengthen each other in a cyclical way.
But what is ZPD? Before we go into more detail, it is important to understand that people have two levels of abilities. First, the competencies we acquire by ourselves, and secondly the ones we acquire with the support of a supervisor. For example, a student may complete a set of math problems by themselves, but if they have the guidance of a teacher, they can solve even more difficult problems.
ZPD is the difference between what a person is able to do with support minus what they can do themselves. It is the ideal span of development that the person can work within.
According to Vygotsky, the goal of education is to convert abilities within ZPD into abilities that the person can master without help. When this happens, the individual will develop a new ZPD where they can continue to develop. The cycle of learning and development will continue.
The goals of education
One of the most important questions asked by these revolutionary leaders is, “What is the real purpose of education?” They saw the reality around them and saw that the purpose of education was far from developing the student’s potential.
They concluded that the mission of education at the time was to provide people with work skills. To teach people skills that fit into the positions that the market required.
In other words, the education was intended to create labor and allow people to fulfill the quota for their given job. With a few nuances and exceptions, you can see the same thing in our education system now.
This new approach in psychology sought to break that dynamic. Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev believed that all individuals should be given the opportunity to develop their maximum intellectual potential.
It is, of course, that one thinks that society always needs workers to sustain itself. In this connection, they believed that it would be ideal for students to participate directly in socio-economic life. They suggested that students leave school regularly to carry out the work needed to maintain society.
Education in today’s world
Today, it is easy to see that there are not many differences between the system that these three psychologists fought against and the current one. In most classrooms, communication continues to be one-sided, and we definitely do not maximize each student’s ZPD.
The revolutionary education system proposed by Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev has been forgotten. But why? Because the goal of education continues to exclude the development of each student’s potential. Our system seeks to create workers, just as factories make products.
If we really want to move forward as a society, education is the key. As long as we have an education system that neglects our students’ personal development, progress will be impossible. But what can we do to solve such a big problem? We must continue to try to answer this question through the scientific study of education and society.
