Vygotsky Podcast

Nikolai Veresov presents a case that Vygotsky is to psychology what Darwin is to biology, Newton is to physics, and Copernicus is to astronomy. Veresov suggests reasons for the undervaluing of Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory (CHT) and discusses potential pathways to restoration. (Initially published May 8, 2021)

Highlights include:  

1:20 - What is the state of Vygotsky's "reputation" in 2021? 

6:16 - A fundamental theory of psychological science 

8:06 - CHT is a dialectical-psychological theory 

12:40 - The Darwinian contribution of Vygotsky (Subject-matter) 

17:45 - The Newtonian contribution of Vygotsky (Laws) 

21:05 - The Copernican contribution of Vygotsky (Method) 

27:02 - Is Vygotsky's theory undervalued, and if so is its status recoverable? 

33:50 - Productive paths forward?  

38:17 - Is Vygotsky's work treated with condescension? 

41:55 - Is a Vygotskian TED-Talk doable and/or advisable? 

46:16 - Inspirations and influences (Kravtsova, Bosovic, Davydov) 

52:58 - Contemporary recommendations (Dafermos, van Oers, Zaretsky, Hedegaard, School 91) 

58:01 - Marketplace for teachers: Activity Theory, CHAT, or CHT 

1:02:29 - A brief summary of our discussion  

http://tiny.cc/su7xtz - Rethinking Cultural-Historical Theory. A Dialectical Perspective to Vygotsky. Dafermos, M. (2018), Springer.

Nikolai Veresov explains how Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory was built as a system of concepts.  Veresov then demonstrates how a CHT  concept can be analyzed and applied as a theoretical tool.   

0:03 - Analysis vs. Interpretation (and why the difference matters) 

1:14 - Two questions for understanding the content of CHT concepts 

2:19 - The importance of these two questions 

3:21 - EXAMPLE: the interaction between ideal and present forms  (Question 1) 

5:17 - EXAMPLE: the interaction between ideal and present forms  (Question 2)  

*Excerpted from a private conversation (used with permission).  Initially published April 21, 2021.

Nikolai Veresov discusses the under-reported "most important difference" between Piaget and Vygotsky, who had much in common, including a  general approach to solving the "crisis in psychology."  

Excerpted from a  private conversation (and used with permission).  Initially published April 21, 2021.

Reading Vygotsky is challenging, yet the challenge is part of the fun. These excerpts are a good doorway into Vygotsky's writing -- and if you like them, consider checking out any or all of the following:  

https://bit.ly/3stZ2hJ​ - "Thinking and Speech, Chapter 6 - The Development of Scientific Concepts in Childhood" 

https://bit.ly/2NZe8MZ​ - "Reading Thinking and Speech" video lectures from Nikolai Veresov 

https://bit.ly/3ds693Z​ - Some notes on the Veresov lectures 

https://bit.ly/31sXGrz​ - "Distinguishing Spontaneous, Scientific, and Pseudo- Concepts" 

https://bit.ly/3dbZcno​ - Peter Smagorinsky on "Sturdy Concepts"   

(Initially published March 27, 2021)

*excerpts are from Vygotsky, L. S. (1987). Thinking and Speech. In R. W. Rieber, & A. S. Carton (Eds.), The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky (Vol. 1), Problems of General Psychology (pp. 39-285). New York: Plenum Press. (Original Work Published 1934)

Bazerman (1997) on genre - an influential piece for me  (Initially posted March 8, 2021)

Tangentially related to Vygotsky, but related enough. 

Andy Blunden weighs in on a question I've been asking for a while: "What do you think the following passage means?" (Initially published January 25, 2021)

Additional responses, via xmca listserv, are here: http://tiny.cc/3l27tz  

The passage in question: [A better understanding of child psychology is possible] "...only if we  radically change our representation of child development and take into  account that it is a complex dialectical process that is characterized  by a complex periodicity, disproportion in the development of separate  functions, metamorphoses or qualitative transformation of certain forms  into others, a complex merging of the processes of evolution and  involution, a complex crossing of external and internal factors, a  complex process of overcoming difficulties and adapting" (Vygotsky 1997,  Vol 4. pp. 98–99)

A review of Anis Bawarshi's (2003) book -- interesting from a Vygotskian  and a pedagogical perspective.  (Initially published December 23, 2020)

(I think I wrote this review but am not 100% sure.  I will update as  soon as I find out for sure and will credit appropriately if necessary!)

This paper was written for a course at Temple University about 10 or 12  years ago.  (Initially published December 21, 2020)

Jerome Bruner was kind enough to read the paper and to reply: "Thank you  for sending on your thoughtful piece on my early work on curricula and  school learning . . . I found it very stimulating."  

Paper here: http://tiny.cc/o9v6tz

Excerpts from a 2009 curriculum design paper titled, "A genre theory  model of collaborative inquiry."  (Initially published December 20, 2020)

This middle section of the paper references Bazerman, Bawarshi, Bruner,  Devitt, Freadman, Halliday, Hillocks, Smith & Wilhelm, and Wiggins  & McTighe.  

The first section, not included, introduces the project and review  curricular theory from Addams, Apple, Bobbitt, Dewey, Eisner,  Montessori, Noddings, Pinar, and Popham.   

The final section of the paper aims to combine genre theory and  collaborative inquiry in a hybrid-learning model, via an online  class-blog.

Paper here: http://tiny.cc/3l27tz

This is one of my favorite assignments, in part because it arose as a  solution to multiple, simultaneous problems.  And also because the  resulting work from students is always fun to read.  

Full chat here: http://tiny.cc/r5v6tz  

Class document here: http://tiny.cc/o9v6tz