Unfulfilled Ambitions of Russian Pedologists (At the Turn of the 20th Century)

Elena Minkova^1,

¹Department of Psychology and Pedagogy Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University 1, Ulyanov Str., Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Cite this paper:
Elena Minkova. Unfulfilled Ambitions of Russian Pedologists (At the Turn of the 20th Century). Research in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. 2013; 1(3):30-36. doi: 10.12691/rpbs-1-3-1

Abstract

This article discusses the question that remains unanswered to this day: why Pedology, so actively developing in the early 20th century, not only in Russia but also abroad, faded away after just three decades? Was Pedology a pseudoscience as stated by the ideology of Bolshevism? Were the ideas about creating and educating a new man, developed and supported not only by leading Russian pedologists, such as: Basov, Blonsky, Vygotsky, Nechayev but also by foreign pedologists, for example: Granville Stanley Hall, Alfred Binet, James Mark Baldwin, significantly flawed from the start? Or was it due to the goals set by pedologists that were too ahead of their time and just like unique seeds failed to grow in a rocky soil? How relevant is the problem of creating a useful science about a child that allows us to see peculiarities of a child's development. Is it time to reflect on those problems raised by so many pedologists of the past?

Keywords:
Russia pedology ideology methodology

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Figures

References:

[1]	Abul'hanova-Slavskaya K.A. et al., Psihologicheskaia nauka v Rossii XX stoletiya: problemi teorii i istorii. [Psychology in Russia in XX century: questions of theory and history], Izdatel'stvo "Institut Psihologii RAN", Moscow, 1997.
[2]	Ananjev, B.G., Voprosi detskoi psihologii. [Questions of child psychology], Тip. im.Voroshilova. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948.
[3]	Babushkin, A. P.," Eklektika i reakzionnaya kleveta na sovetskogo rebenka i podrostka" [Eclecticism and reactionary slander of Soviet child and adolescent]. Pedology, 1-2. 35-41. 1932.
[4]	Basov, M. J., Obshije osnovi pedologii [General principles of Pedology], Gosudarstvennoje isdatel’stvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1932.
[5]	Berezin F.B. et al., Metodika mnogostoronnego issledovaniya lichnosti. [The method of multilateral study of personality], Folium, Moscow, 1994.
[6]	Blonsky, P.P., Vtorogodnik i neuspevaiushii shkol'nik.[A pupil repeating a year at school], Psihonevrologicheskie nauki v SSSR [Psycho-Neurological Science in USSR].(Materiali 1 Vsesoiuznogo c’ezda po izucheniiu povedenia cheloveka). Otv. Red. A.B. Zalkind. Gos.med. izdatel'stvo, Moscow-Leningrad, 1930.
[7]	Blonsky, P.P., Pedologija [Pedology]. Gosudarstvennoje uchebno-pedagogicheskoje isdatel’stvo, tip "Pech. dvor", Moscow, 1934.
[8]	Brushlinky, A.V., Problema sub'ekta v psihologicheskoi nauke. [The problem of the subject of the study in Psychology], Izdatel'stvo "Institut Psihologii RAN", Moscow, 2000.
[9]	Feofanov, M. P. Teorija kuĺturnogo razvitija v pedologii kak eklekticheskaja koncepcija, imejushaiasa v osnovnom idealisticheskie korni. [The theory of cultural development of pedology as an eclectic concept, which has largely idealistic roots]. Pedology,1-2. 21-34. 1932.
[10]	Cole, M., & Wertsch, J., Contemporary implications of Vygotsky and Luria. MA: Clark University Press, Worcester, 1996.
[11]	Daniels, H. (Ed.), An introduction to Vygotsky. Routledge, London, 1996.
[12]	Daniels, H., Wertsch, J., & Cole, M. (Eds.), The Cambridge companion to Vygotsky. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007.
[13]	Gelmont, A. M., "Za marksistsko-leninskuju pedologiju". [For the Marxist-Leninist pedology]. Pedology, 3. 63-66. 1931.
[14]	Gindes, E.A., Perehodny vozrast. [Adolescence], Narkompromtorg, Baku, 1923.
[15]	Joravsky, David., Russian Psychology, A Critical History. Mass.,Basil Blackwell, Oxford and Cambridge, 1989.
[16]	Kapustina, V. & Levina, M., V bor’be za marksistsko-leninskuju pedologoju. Diskussija po rabote M.J. Basova [In the struggle for the Marxist-Leninist Pedology. Discussion on the work of M J Basov.], OGIZ, Moscow-Leningrad, 1932.
[17]	Kornilov, K.N., Sovremennaja psihologija i marksizm. [Modern psychology and Marxism.] Gosudarstvennoje isdatel’stvo, Leningrad, 1924.
[18]	Lazursky, A.F., Estestvennii eksperiment i ego shkol’noje primenenije. [A natural experiment and its school application], Tipographija Rikkera, Petrograd, 1918.
[19]	Leontjev, A.N., Voprosi detskoi psihologii. [Questions of child psychology], Tip. Akademii pedagogicheskih nauk RSFSR, Moscow-Leningrad, 1948.
[20]	Leventuev, P., "Politicheskie izvrashenija v pedologii". [Political distortions in pedology]. Pedology, 3. 61-62. 1931.
[21]	Petrovsky, A.V., Psihologija i vremja. [Psychology and time], Izdatel’stvo “Peter Press”, St. Petersburg, 2007.
[22]	Rudin, E.P., Dushevnoe nastroenie sovremennoi uchasheisa molodezhi po dannim Peterburgskoi obshestudencheskoi anketi 1912 goda. [Emotional state of mind of today's youth according to the results of the student's questionnaire in St. Peterburg, 1912], Tipographija Karbasnikova, St. Petersburg, 1913.
[23]	Ruskin, L.E., Pedologicheskije izvrashenija v voprosah vtorogodnichestva. [Pedological errors in questions of grade retention].Protiv pedologicheskih izvrashenii.[Against pedological errors] Sb.st. I.F. Svadkovskogo, Tip. "Pechatny dvor", Leningrad-Moscow, 1937.
[24]	Rossolimo, G.I., Psihologicheskij profil’. Kolichestvennoje issledovanije psihicheskih prozessov v norme i patologii. Metodika. [A psychological profile. Quantitative study of mental processes in health and disease. Methods] ,Tipographija Kushnereva, St. Petersburg, 1910.
[25]	Rubinshtein, S.L., K kritike metodov testov [To the critique of the testing methods]. Protiv pedologicheskih izvrashenii. [Against pedological errors]. Sb.st. I.F. Svadkovskogo, Tip. "Pechatny dvor", Leningrad-Moscow, 1937.
[26]	Rudneva, E.I., Pedologicheskie izvrasheniya Vigotskogo.[Vigotsky's pedological errors], Gos. uchebno-pedagogich. izd., Moscow, 1937.
[27]	Svadkovsky, I.F., Krizis burzhuaznoi pedagogiki i lzhenauka pedologia [The crisis of bourgeous Pedagogy and Pedology as a pseudoscience]. Protiv pedologicheskih izvrashenii. [Against pedological errors]. Sb.st. I.F. Svadkovskogo, Tip. "Pechatny dvor", Leningrad-Moscow, 1937.
[28]	Van der Veer, R., & Yasnitsky, A., Vygotsky in English: What still needs to be done. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 475-493. 2011.
[29]	Van der Veer, R., & Valsiner, J., Understanding Vygotsky: A quest for synthesis. Blackwell, Oxford, 1991.
[30]	Van der Veer, R., & Valsiner, J. (Eds.), The Vygotsky Reader. Blackwell, Oxford, 1994.
[31]	Veresov, N. N., Undiscovered Vygotsky: Etudes on the pre-history of cultural-historical psychology. Peter Lang, New York, 1999.
[32]	Vygodskaya, G. L., & Lifanova, T. M., Life and works. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 37(3), 3-31. 1999.
[33]	Vygodskaya, G. L., & Lifanova, T. M., Through the eyes of others. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 37(3), 32-80. 1999.
[34]	Vygotsky, L.S., Osnovi pedologii. [Fundamentals of Pedology], Izdatel’stvo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo instituta, Leningrad, 1935.
[35]	Vygotsky, L.S. "Pedologia i psihotehnika". [Pedology and Psychotechnics]. Journal kul'turno-istoricheskoi psihologii, Izdatel'stvo gorodskogo psihologo-pedagogicheskogo universiteta, 2. 2010.
[36]	Vygotsky, L.S., "Psihotehnika i pedologija". [Psychotechnics and Pedology]. Journal Psychotechnika and Psychophisiology of work. 2,3. 1931.
[37]	Yaroshevsky, M.G., Marksizm v sovetskoi psihologii.[Marksizm in the Soviet Psychology], Repressirovannaya nauka. Vipusk 2, Nauka, St.-Peterburg, 1994.
[38]	Yasnitsky, A., Guest editor's introduction: "Archival revolution" in Vygotskian studies? Uncovering Vygotsky's archives. Journal of Russian & East European Psychology, 48(1), 3-13. 2010.
[39]	Yasnitsky, A., Lev Vygotsky: Philologist and defectologist, A socio-intellectual biography. In W. Pickren, D. Dewsbury,& M. Wertheimer (Eds.), Portraits of Pioneers in Developmental Psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 109-134). Taylor & Francis Group, New York, 2011.
[40]	Yasnitsky, A., Vygotsky circle as a personal network of scholars: Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. 2011.
[41]	Zalkind, A.B., Pedologija v SSSR. Doklad na I pedologicheskom s’ezde. Po stenogramme. [Pedology in the Soviet Union. Report on the First Pedological Congress]. (Transcript), Tipographija Gracheva, Moscow, 1929.
[42]	Zaluzhny, A.S., Lzhenauka pedologia v trudah Zalkinda. [Pedology as a pseudoscience in works by Zalkind], Izd. “Poligrafkniga”, Moscow, 1937.