Facilitators: Charlotte Vidal-Hall and Shone Surendran | Six 1.5 hour sessions (fortnightly) | Spring: 17:30- 19:00 Tuesdays Jan 16, 30 Feb 13, 27 & Mar 13, 27 | Room 836

In the ten years before his death Vygotsky produced a body of work that forms the backbone of the development of sociocultural theory and activity theory. His legacy now influences a wide range of disciplines and professions of which education is perhaps the best known. This reading group aims to explore what are considered to be the three main themes of Vygotsky's research and writing, the relationship between them and where they fit in sociocultural theory. We will also discuss how he developed his theory in Thought and Language in order to look more closely at the role of language and meaning in human cognitive development. The implications of his work for education and educational research as well as the background historical, social and political context that frames his theories and concepts will be part of the discussion. This reading group is open to anyone interested in Vygotsky and his formulation of sociocultural theory at any level and who wants to gain an understanding of the man and his legacy. The intention is to explore themes and concepts through Vygotsky's own writing as well as that of post Vygotskian scholarship. Although there is an initial suggested outline of sessions, it is intended that they will be structured around participants own interests and knowledge.

Session 1: An introduction to Vygotsky and his work including a broad overview of his main concepts and themes. Vygotsky's thinking on the relationship between learning and child development including the role of the zone of proximal development

Session 2: Vygotsky's sociocultural approach to individual learning as a social act

Session 3: Mediation and the role of cultural tools and signs in individual development

Session 4: Introduction to Thought and Language and its key concepts. Language and its relationship to thinking and development and mediation

Session 5: Language and word meanings; the link between inner and external speech and their role in development

Session 6: The role of inner and external speech in constructing meaning and their link to mediation

Below is a list of key references. Specific readings and framing questions will be outlined before each session. It is hoped that participants will also contribute their own questions for discussion before each session.

Vygotsky, L. (1930). Imagination and Creativity in Childhood. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97.

Vygotsky, L. (2012/1934). Thought and Language. (A. Kozulin, Ed.) (revised and expanded edition.), Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. (chapters 6 and 7)
(also available online https://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/works/words/

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman, Eds.), London: Harvard University Press. (selected readings)

Kozulin, A. (2012a). Foreword (2012). In E. Hanfmann, G. Vakar, & A. Kozulin (Eds.), Thought and Language (revised and expanded edition, pp. ix–xxiii). The MIT Press. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Kozulin, A. (2012b). Vygotsky in Context (1986). In E. Hanfmann, G. Vakar, & A. Kozulin (Eds.), Thought and Language (revised and expanded edition, pp. xxv–lxxii). The MIT Press. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Chaiklin, S. (2003). The zone of proximal development in Vygotsky’s analysis of learning and instruction. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, V. S. Ageyez, & S. M. Miller (Eds.), Vygotsky’s Educational Theory in Cultural Context (pp. 39–64). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://bilder.buecher.de/zusatz/21/21628/21628130_lese_1.pdf

John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural Approaches to Learning and Development: A Vygotskian Framework. Educational Psychologist, 31(3/4), 191–206.
Wertsch, J. (2007). Mediation. In H. Daniels, M. Cole, & J. V. Wertsch (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky (pp. 178–192). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the Mind: Sociocultural Approach to Mediated Action, Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Wertsch, J. V., & Tulviste, P. (1996). L S Vygotsky and contemporary developmental psychology. In H. Daniels (Ed.), An Introduction to Vygotsky (1st ed., pp. 53–74). London: Routledge.