Vygotsky’s 7 best phrases

Knowing Vygotsky’s best phrases is like getting to know the “Mozart” of developmental and educational psychology more closely. Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) is a prominent Belarusian psychologist and doctor, precursor of Soviet neuropsychology and theorist of developmental psychology.

Vygotsky’s writings and phrases were ignored for a long time. Something that did not make him abandon the defense of an idea: Culture plays a very relevant role in the development of mental processes. In fact, looked at with the maturity that comes with the passage of time, we can say that his contributions represented a revolution, especially in that fertile field shared by psychology and education. Many of Vygotsky’s research, reflections, articles and phrases focused on:

The role of language on human behavior. The role of language in the mental development of the child. The origin and development of higher mental functions. The philosophy of science. The methodologies of psychological research. The psychology of art. The game understood as a psychological phenomenon. The study of learning disorders and abnormal human development.

Vygotsky’s phrases that best symbolize his thoughts

The importance of social interaction

The sense in which thought develops is not from the individual to the social, but from the social to the individual. In contrast to Piaget, he focuses on the social vision of learning. Learning would be a form of appropriation of the available cultural heritage, and is not only a process of individual assimilation.

Vygotsky explains that human learning presupposes a specific social nature. That is, it is a process through which children access the intellectual life of those around them.

The value of thought for understanding

With language we now have the possibility of affirming or denying, which indicates that the individual is aware of what he is and can act with his own will. Language and thought have different origins, but gradually thought becomes verbal and speech becomes rational.

Specifically, children’s language is social and external, but little by little it is internalized. Children’s cognitive development happens thanks to informal and formal conversations with adults. The child begins to perceive the world through his eyes, but also through his speech.

The abandonment of imitation

The child nourishes himself from his environment, like a sponge, while he configures his own structure. As we get older, we continue to imitate and react to the environment but more based on our schemas or values.

The relationship between words and thought

A thought can be compared to a cloud that casts a rain of words. Language is the main vehicle of interaction, and decisively influences the development of the mind: language is essential for thinking.

The definition of knowledge

All higher psychological processes (communication, language, reasoning, etc.) are first acquired in a social context, and then internalized at the individual level. In this sense, There is no better learning than that conferred by one’s own experience and critical judgment thereof.

The teacher as facilitator

The student is the one who builds his own path and the teacher is the one who accompanies him along the way. What a child can do with help today, he will be able to do on his own tomorrow.

Learning is like a tower, you have to build it step by step. Closely related to the potential of the zone of proximal development, social constructionism and the concept of scaffolding.

Social adaptation

Vygotsky believed that a need can only be truly satisfied through a certain social adaptation. Let us remember that culture largely determines our needs. The mind cannot be independent of a culture. In this sense, we are social animals, not isolated individuals.

It should be noted that Vygotsky’s phrases identify complex psychological functions, such as dialogue, and give it great value in problem solving. His philosophy, by its positive nature, is ultimately an attempt to underline the importance of our environment and the power it has on our development. We are always in continuous change, with culture and experience being the two main compasses of our lives.

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