Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist (Critical Psychology) (Paperback)

by Lois Holzman (Author) "By all accounts, Lev Vygotsky was a brilliant and charismatic thinker, speaker, mentor and builder..." (more)
Key Phrases: organized contradictoriness, learning leading development, ecologically valid psychology, Lev Vygotsky, United States, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
`This is a clearly written book with education students in mind. It provides the background to much of our owrk on childrens learning and is a gook introduction to a philosophical approach...' - Denny Mallows, Ripon & York St John Univ Coll.

`This is a clearly written book with education students in mind. It provides the background to much of our owrk on childrens learning and is a gook introduction to a philosophical approach... - Denny Mallows, Ripon & York St John Univ Coll.

Product Description
The increasing popularity of Lev Vygotsky, and the sociohistorical, sociocultural school of psychology with which he is associated, brings with it a debate about the enterprise of psychology itself--its object of study, its method, its practicality. Are Vygotsky's contributions limited to a reformulation of Western psychology or do they offer--in his words--``a tool and result'' for the practice of a new developmental, educational and clinical psychology?

In Lev Vygotsky, Fred Newman and Lois Holzman argue that Vygotsky's discovery of the Zone of Proximal Development allows us to see human beings as ``revolutionary activists'' and detail the implications of revolutionary activity for education, psychopathology and ``everyday life.'' In chapters on learning and development, thinking and speaking, and play, the authors combine discussions of Vygotsky's empirical work, his examination of method, and cntemporary research in the Vygotskian tradition, including their own. Provocative yet accessible, Lev Vygotsky is an introductory text suitable for undergraduates.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (May 10, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415064422
• ISBN-13: 978-0415064422
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,441,923 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Where is Vygotsky?, October 11, 2005

By	Michael Smith - See all my reviews

"Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist" by Fred Newman and Lois Holzman purports to be a clear introduction to Vygotsky and his ideas but it's actually a muddled, mish-mosh in which Vygotsky's discoveries get lost in a sea of philosophical, political, and psychological jargon. For example, the authors devote pages to discussing the "Zone of Proximal Development," a concept central to understanding Vygotsky's contributions to learning theory, but never bother to explain or define it for the reader. Moreover, the authors have an alarming axe to grind. Fired up by revolutionary zeal, they want to show that Vygotsky's ideas are thoroughly Marxian and can not be understood in any other context. Reading the book has something of the feeling of being invited to a seminar on financial planning and then discovering that the seminar is a poorly disguised infomercial for an expensive and unremunerative annuity. Readers searching for a lucid introduction to Vygotsky should look elsewhere.