On the 120th anniversary of P.Ya. Galperin

Background. Studies have shown the great importance of early mathematical development as a predictor of subsequent success, which poses the question of how to organize preschool mathematical education with a view to the children’s age characteristics, including their cognitive development. In other words, mathematical concepts and actions should be formed with the help of teaching resources appropriate to the child’s development.

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of three teaching resources (examples, models, and symbols) in formation of the concept of magnitude in older preschoolers (ages 6–7) with different levels of executive function.

Design. Four training programs (with 15 twenty-minute lessons each) were developed and conducted in a formative experiment for older preschoolers with different levels of development of executive functions. The lessons addressed the concept of magnitude (length, area, volume), using different types of teaching resources: exemplars (in traditional and game variants), models, and symbols. The total sample of 116 subjects (44% boys) was divided into 4 groups for each of the programs, plus a control group in which no sessions were conducted. The groups were equalized according to the initial level of development of concepts of magnitude and the level of development of executive functions.

Results. There was a statistically significant increase in the quality of mastery of the concept of magnitude in three experimental groups (“symbolic,” “traditional,” and “traditional with game elements”) compared with the control group. The formative effect of the “model-building” program showed no significant differences from the effect of the child’s natural development (the control group). We also showed that children with a low level of regulation learned mathematical concepts more effectively with the “symbolic” program; children with a medium level of regulation with the “symbolic” and any variant of the “traditional” program; and children with a high level of regulation with the “symbolic” and “model-building” programs.

Conclusion. The findings underline the importance of both the type of teaching resources used and the level of development of voluntary regulation, when teaching mathematics to preschoolers.

Background. We apply the theory of step-by-step concept formation (Galperin) and the theory of learning activity (Davydov) to the practice of education and teacher training.

Objective. This paper describes a feasible way to teach the basics of Galperin’s theory to students studying pedagogical psychology, by involving them into an exemplary educational module on combining chemical formulas according to the elements’ valency values.

Design. We suggested that our students participate in an educational module which was designed as an example of how to materialize orientation components of action as the basis of concept formation. The “practical” action for mastering the valency concept was to combine the correct formula for a pair of elements, whose valency was provided, and correct the formulas made by someone else. However, the core “orientation” required an extended procedure of building a “molecule” structure with a special construction kit. The key challenge for the students was to coordinate their calculation of the number of bonds needed for the molecule, and name the exact total before they would receive their atom-tokens for constructing the model.

Results. Our workshop participants took on the role of students facing their first encounter with chemistry, and embarked on the formation sequence. At the same time they analyzed the mistakes they had made by ignoring some procedural steps. Considered through the lens of Galperin’s theory, these “adult” mistakes proved how vital his theoretical principles are for educational design.

Conclusion. Our workshop thus illustrated that the search for the proper action for concept formation within Galperin’s theory framework is a challenging task. The difficulties that our participants experienced while they worked as pupils revealed the divergence of didactic approaches. The effectiveness of the concept formation approach, even within our small exemplary educational module, once again confirmed the practical value of pedagogical psychology in general, and Galperin’s theory in particular.

Background. The 120th anniversary was celebrated in 2022 of the birth of the outstanding Soviet scientist P.Ya. Galperin (1902–1988), who made a significant contribution to the development of Russian psychology.

Objective. To analyze the significance of P.Ya. Galperin’s concept of “orienting activity” for the study of processes of mental development, learning and instruction.

Design. The concept of “the zone of proximal development” (L.S. Vygotsky) is interpreted in light of the doctrine of orienting activity, presenting three examples from different areas of research, where the concept of orienting activity is used to analyze the phenomena of mental development in children and adults.

Results. 1. The concept of orienting activity makes it possible to substantially concretize the psychological content and mechanisms of “the zone of proximal development.” 2. The subject’s orienting activity plays a key role, which is implicitly present in the method of “cognitive learning” developed in the Geneva psychological school and reproducing (according to the followers of J. Piaget) “an autonomous process of constructing new operational structures”. 3. The study examines the organization of orienting activity in the process of children’s mastery of the concepts of combinatorial thinking in a learning experiment based on Galperin’s method of stage-by-stage formation of mental actions and concepts. 4. The role of a client’s orienting activity is explicated, and its special organization by the psychologist who is counseling parents on the mental development and upbringing of children and adolescents.

Conclusion. P.Ya. Galperin’s discovery regarding the structure of human activity and introduction of the concept of “orientation,” and the creation of a method for studying the orienting component of action as distinct from the executive component, lead to a much deeper understanding of the central problem posed by L.S. Vygotsky: the interrelation and mechanisms of connection between the processes of learning, instruction (teaching) and development.

Background. The theoretical and applied works of Piotr Ya. Galperin have attracted the attention of scholars for more than 70 years. But what about the contemporary situation? Does the Galperin’s “System of Psychology” have only historical significance, or does it deal with crucial problems of contemporary psychology?   

Objective. This article explores several opportunities for applying Galperin’s System of Psychology and his theory of planned stage-by-stage formation of mental actions (PSFMA) as part of the System, in current conditions.

Design. There are three main areas where the concepts of P.Ya. Galperin’s System of Psychology can be applied. The first is the application of the method of planned stage-by-stage formation to studying the formation and development of human mental activity. The second is the study the theoretical and actual process of planned stage-by-stage formation as a psychological reality. The third area is the use of the provisions of the theory in the practice of teaching.

Results. We argue that the efficacy of the provisions of the main components of Galperin’s System, and especially the PSFMA, is closely related to the solution of a number of purely theoretical issues today.

Conclusion. The condition for the successful application of PSFMA principles is a harmonious combination of the basic psychological foundations of this process, taking into account the specifics of both the activity being formed, and of those socio-economic and technological parameters that create the space where such formation is carried out.

Background. This article is dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of Piotr Yakovlevich Galperin (1902–1988), an outstanding Soviet psychologist, the author of an original psychological concept and scientific school, and an organizer of psychological science.

Objective. To reconstruct the main stages of the scientific biography of Piotr Yakovlevich Galperin.

Results. The paper demonstrates the internal logic of P.Ya. Galperin’s developing scientific views in creating the theory of stage-by-stage formation of mental actions and concepts, which analyzes the process of formation of the main components of mental activity and develops a system of conditions for transforming an objective action into a psychological phenomenon.

This biography is based on Galperin’s publications and speeches, memoirs of associates and family members, and numerous archival materials.

All the periods of Galperin’s life are presented, reflecting his participation, starting from the mid-1920s, in scientific and scientific-practical events. Particular attention is paid to Galperin’s work at M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MGU): 55 years of Galperin’s professional and personal life (from 1943 until his death in 1988) were associated with the Philosophy Faculty, and then with the Psychology Faculty.

Conclusion. The importance of preserving P.Ya. Galperin’s scientific legacy is shown and steps taken in this direction are indicated.