Lev vygotsky and the new performative psychology: Implications for business and organizations (open access)
by Lois holzman, ph.d.Hosking, DM and McNamee, S. (Editors).
in The Social Construction of Organization: CBS Press, 2006.
All rights reserved.

The Journey
Fifteen years ago, when I was working with long-time Harlem educator Barbara Taylor to create an experimental school in the heart of one of New York City's poorest communities, we used to say that we were "bringing Vygotsky to Harlem." That's Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist who lived and worked in the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 30s. Vygotsky's work was suppressed until the 1960's and little known in the West until the late 1970s, and then only among a select group of educators and developmental psychologists. Hardly a household name. Barbara and I wanted every kid and parent in Harlem to get to know Vygotsky because we believed an approach to teaching children based in his ideas could revolutionize our educational system (and much else).

Vygotsky's theoretical and empirical work passionately affirms the socialness of human beings. It provides an understanding of growth and development as an ongoing creative and collaborative process - to us, a welcome change from the stagist and individualistic understanding that dominates in psychological and educational theory. Vygotsky's ideas seemed to point the way to a cultural transformation of education that would make it possible for all people to learn actively, creatively and growthfully, no matter the age or circumstance. (…)