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 dictating, the child's development. "The educational process must be based on the student's individual activity ..." he states in Educational Psychology, "... and the art of education should involve nothing more than guiding and monitoring this activity." At a time when most education consisted of rote memorization and thwacks across the wrist with a ruler, these ideas were considered quite radical.
Today's educators can find much that is of use in the pages of Educational Psychology. Vygotsky addresses many issues that are still relevant in the 1990s - abnormal social behavior, the nurturing of creativity and reasoning, problems with attention and memory - in a bold and opinionated fashion that is sure to delight educators as well as lovers of classical Russian writing. Psychologists will also find the book useful for its fascinating glimpses into the study of psychology in the early twentieth century.