Сultural-Historical Theory for Analyze Educational Inequality: Potential, Barriers, Prospects

Abstract

<p>The cultural-historical theory, which is basic for Soviet and post-Soviet Russian psychological science, is based on the idea of "specifically human" higher mental functions. The key concepts for the theory of "social situation of development", "zone of proximal development" include as a central element the cooperation of the child with other people. The article shows that in the works of followers of cultural-historical theory psychology in the USSR and modern Russia, very little attention was paid to the problems of development and learning related to differences in the characteristics of the sociocultural environment and interaction with teachers and peers. Explanations of this phenomenon are offered. The examples of the development of L.S.Vygotsky's ideas in the studies of educational inequality in foreign sociology are analyzed, the importance for Russian science of using cultural-historical theory to understand the mechanisms of the relationship between the peculiarities of social circumstances and the dynamics of child development, the analysis of pedagogical discourse is substantiated.</p>