Position
Major Publications
- Activity and installation. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1979;
- Principles of organization of human memory: a system-activity approach to the study of cognitive processes: a teaching aid. Moscow: Academy, 1985;
- Cultural-historical psychology and construction of worlds. M.: MPSI; Voronezh: NPO "MODEK", 1996;
- Beyond Consciousness: Methodological Problems of Non-Classical Psychology. M.: Meaning, 2002;
- Psychology of personality: cultural and historical understanding of human development. 3rd ed., rev. and additional M.: Meaning; IC "Academy", 2007;
- Optics of Enlightenment: Sociocultural Perspectives. M.: Education, 2015;
- Asmolov A. G., Shekhter E. D., Chernorizov A. M. What is life from the point of view of psychology: a historical and evolutionary approach to the psychophysical problem // Questions of Psychology. - 2016. - No. 2. - S. 3–23;
- Asmolov A. G., Guseltseva M. S. Psychology as a craft of social change: technologies of humanization and dehumanization in society // World of Psychology. - 2016. - No. 4;
- Asmolov A. G. Psychology of modernity: challenges of uncertainty, complexity and diversity // Psychological research (electronic journal). - 2015. - V. 8, No. 40.
School goes digital
On November 1, Moscow became the venue for the largest international educational summit of the Global Education Leaders Partnership (GELP) for the first time. The world's leading experts gathered to figure out what and how a modern school should teach in order to prepare children for life in a fundamentally new - digital - world. However, on the very first day of work, it became clear that all countries are in an equal position, because no one knows a reliable answer to this question.
The education system works the way it has been accustomed to for decades, if not centuries. Especially in Russia, Dmitry Peskov, director of the Young Professionals department of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, emphasized: the same curricula, the same methods, the same exams. Meanwhile, the “digital era” has set in, and “up to 20 million Russians do not have the skills necessary to be included in the digital economy. We need quick and cheap ways to equip them with these skills. And where to get such programs, it is not clear!
Furthermore. In addition to purely professional training, today's employer expects additional competencies from graduates of the education system: the ability to work in a team, the ability to take responsibility for solving a task, innovative skills, etc. “We are confident that the world is entering an era of teamwork,” they say. And the education system does not teach this type of work either.
It does not contribute to another challenge of the "digital age", - stated the educational summit. The attractiveness of the virtual world today is so much superior to the possibilities of the real one that even people of the "analog generations", not to mention the representatives of the "digital", more often prefer the virtual to the real, and, having made this choice, stop developing, gradually turning into a living flash appendage to electronic devices.
So how should children be taught today?
Previously, we talked about what context and what technologies should be used when teaching. But we were blind, - the director of the Federal Institute for the Development of Education, Alexander Asmolov, formulated the main problem. - We did not see the main question: why, in fact, do we need education? Now this question is raised for the first time. And I would even formulate it harshly, in Russian: "What the hell is education in the modern world."
The main thing in today's education is not competencies and not only skills with technologies, he explained. - The key drama of today's education is the lag of teachers and parents behind children. We are blind to what and how to teach, because the age has changed: the era of diversity has come. And today, just as at one time the world was moving from the system of Ptolemy to Copernicus, so we are moving from the model of the teacher Kamensky (average student, average person) to the world of personalization and individualization. Thus, the main concept of education is fundamentally changing. Previously, education was a transmission of knowledge, skills and abilities. Support for diversity has become the main ideology of modern education; today it is an understanding of what needs to be done. And the main motive of the education cycle was the readiness for change.
Accordingly, the role of the teacher has also changed, Asmolov emphasized: “Today it is a motivator, navigator, communicator, and, most importantly, an expert in supporting diversity.” After all, the question is whether our school is ready for this.
Asmolov Alexander Grigoryevich was born on February 22, 1949. He graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University in 1972. Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Doctor of Psychological Sciences. Professor. He has been working at Moscow State University since 1972, as a professor at the Department of General Psychology since 1992. Chief Psychologist of the State Education of the USSR (1988-1992); deputy Minister of Education of Russia (since 1992); Vice-President of the Society of Psychologists of the USSR under the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (since 1989); member of the Presidium of the Russian Society of Psychologists (since 1996), corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Education (since 1995); member of 5 editorial boards and 2 expert boards; awarded with honorary badges of the State Education of the USSR and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation; Head of the Department of Personality Psychology.
Research interests: general psychology, personality psychology, historical psychology and ethnopsychology. The doctoral dissertation was completed on the topic: "Historical and evolutionary approach in the psychology of personality." At the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University A.G. Asmolov teaches a section of the fundamental course of general psychology "Psychology of Personality and Individuality", as well as a special course "Historical Psychology of Personality".
Alexander Grigoryevich published over 140 scientific papers, among them the main scientific works: “Personality as a subject of psychological research”, “Principles of organizing human memory: a system-activity approach to the study of cognitive processes”, “Psychology of individuality. Methodological Foundations of Personality Development in the Historical and Evolutionary Process”, “Psychology of Personality: Principles of General Psychological Analysis. Textbook for universities”, “Cultural-historical psychology and construction of worlds”.
Books (4)
Cultural-historical psychology and the construction of worlds
This book of selected works of the famous psychologist includes his works devoted to the development of the methodology of modern psychology, as well as the use of the possibilities of psychology in the social reformation of reality.
The book is intended for psychologists, teachers and students preparing for psychological and pedagogical activities.
On the way to tolerance
The book contains specific methodological developments and programs aimed at shaping high school students' attitudes of tolerant consciousness - a tolerant attitude towards themselves and others, regardless of personal characteristics, beliefs, ethnicity.
In the first part of the book, programs of special courses of study at school are given. The second part is a methodological guide for organizing and conducting tolerance training. It outlines the thematic plan and a detailed scenario of classes.
On the other side of consciousness
Beyond Consciousness: Methodological Problems of Non-Classical Psychology
The textbook, summarizing 25 years of the author's scientific work, is devoted to the non-classical methodology for analyzing the reality of the unconscious, activity, mental processes, personality and non-verbal communication. Addressed to psychologists, philosophers, all those who are interested in the methodology of knowledge of history, society and man.
At a meeting of the working group on the civilizational heritage of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya said that the Ministry of Education needs to reconsider its approach to the introduction of psychologists in Russian schools, since schools do not need psychologists, and their functions should be performed by class teachers and educators.
“The Ministry of Education proposes to allocate a lot of money for psychologists, but I will allow myself to say that we need not psychologists, but educators.
Children do not need psychiatrists and psychologists, children need educators, and money should be spent in the country on educators!” — quotes the Yarovaya edition of IA REGNUM.
Alexander Asmolov. Photo: Nikolay Galkin/TASS
The head of the Department of Personality Psychology of Moscow State University, Academician of the Russian Academy of Education agreed to comment on this proposal of the deputy. Alexander Asmolov.
— I am very impressed with the idea of Irina Yarovaya to save money on specialists in anxiety, prevention of childhood suicides, personality development, on masters of diversity and support of individuality — on practical educational psychologists.
The practical psychology of education has entered Soviet life, I emphasize - in Soviet, and not in Russian - since 1988, and this was the decision of the chairman of the USSR State Committee for Education, the unique Gennady Alekseevich Yagodin.
But, perhaps, now, when it is so difficult for the country, when it is necessary to save everywhere, Yarovaya's logic is an important logic. If a country is in crisis and it's hard for it, let's remove duplicating structures. Psychologists at school are people who, in fact, conduct a kind of analytics, I would say, supervision over the development of the child. To minimize the risks of this development, create maximum safety for the mental health of children.
There are far more local prosecutors than there are practical psychologists in schools. Let's continue Yarovaya's initiative: we remove school psychologists - we also remove prosecutors.
The analogy is direct: one of the tasks of the practical psychology of education is insurance against the mistakes of socialization and individualization in the development of the child's personality. One of the tasks of the prosecutor's office is insurance against certain errors of the investigation.
The psychology of education has already been destroyed once. Those were the dark 30s.
- In 1936, there was a decree on pedological perversions in the system of the People's Commissariat of Education. At the same time, the service for diagnosing the development of a child was destroyed.
reference "new"
Pedology (from the Greek παιδός - child and λόγος - science) is a direction in science that aimed to combine the approaches of various sciences (medicine, biology, psychology, pedagogy) to the development of the child.
All pedologists and psychologists were anathematized, Aleksey Gastev, an outstanding scientist, the creator of the scientific organization of labor (NOT), was shot, the great Vavilov died in the dungeons. The diversity of life in the country, everywhere was broken, mortified: in politics, in culture, in education.
And today we have a number of agents of barbarism. They are again collapsing diversity, leading Russia back. They are much more dangerous than foreign agents.
- When Irina Yarovaya says that children in schools do not need psychologists and psychiatrists, but they need educators, the feeling is that she simply does not see the difference between these three completely different professions.
— Absolutely. A psychologist, a psychiatrist and an educator have different functions and different tasks. Lack of competence should be compensated by consultation with specialists. It can be assumed that as consultants to Irina Yarovaya there was the same “colleague” of mine who
confuses pedologists with pedophiles. He wrote that pedophilia came to school from the pedologist Vygotsky.
- Are you joking?
- No Unfortunately. There were moments of this kind, and they are beyond comment, because we are dealing with a vivid manifestation of barbarism. Barbarians always want not one together with the other, but one instead of the other - to destroy something.
Children, of course, need a psychologist, a class teacher, a teacher, and in certain cases a defectologist. Together with colleagues, we have written about this in detail in several books, they are published.
The Service of Practical Psychology of Education is a unique childhood risk insurance service. This service performs, first of all, human science tasks. It prepares the child to face the situations of uncertainty of our difficult time, works with motivation, with values. I revived this service, created it, for me this is a vocation and a mission. And I am happy that this service, with all the difficulties, has led to the return of unique comprehensive programs for the development of the child's personality. Programs developed by great, unique pedologists, such as Lev Vygotsky, thanks to whom the figure of a psychologist in Russia ceased to resemble the smile of a Cheshire cat. And the psychologization of educators and class teachers began. This is my life's work since 1988. It continues today. And it is extremely important that the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Olga Vasilyeva supports the psychology of education as a development perspective.
- It is difficult to imagine how a teacher will work with a suicidal child. Or with a teenager who is attracted to the topic of columbine. The psychologist has his own diagnostic tools. True, Irina Yarovaya also subjected this fact to strange criticism, stating that “the ideas of psychological tests for children and parents are similar to“ insanity ”.
— Testing is a special case of diagnostics recognized all over the world. There are a huge number of other ways of diagnosis, also recognized throughout the world. What is diagnostics? This is an assessment of various options for typological and individual development. To oppose it means to oppose the development of the child, to bring his crisis closer.
Well-known Russian psychologist and scientist.
He studied at the Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute. N. K. Krupskaya (1966-1968). Graduated from the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University in 1972. Senior laboratory assistant, assistant of the Department of General Psychology (1972-1981), Associate Professor of the Department of General Psychology of the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University (1981-1988). PhD in Psychology (1976), Doctor of Psychology (1996), Professor (since 1996). He has been working at Moscow State University since 1972, as a professor at the Department of General Psychology since 1992. Head of the Department of Personality Psychology. Chief Psychologist of the State Education of the USSR (1988-1992); deputy Minister of Education of Russia (1992-1996); Vice-President of the Society of Psychologists of the USSR under the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (since 1989); member of the Presidium of the Russian Society of Psychologists (since 1996), corresponding member. Russian Academy of Education (since 1995); member of 5 editorial boards and 2 expert boards, member of the Public Council of the Russian Jewish Congress. Awarded with honorary badges of the State Education of the USSR and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Research interests: general psychology, personality psychology, historical psychology and ethnopsychology.
Doctoral dissertation completed on the topic: "Historical and evolutionary approach in the psychology of personality" (1996). The work implements a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to personality psychology, combining biogenetic, sociogenetic and personogenetic orientation on the basis of intercultural interaction.
An original concept of personality is presented, which implements the system-wide principles of human analysis, emphasizing the role of culture, the historical and evolutionary meaning of the personality's activity, its pre-adaptive, non-adaptive and adaptive activity.
The universal patterns of personality development in biogenesis, sociogenesis and personogenesis are singled out, serving as the basis for understanding the evolutionary meaning of the emergence of various individual human properties and manifestations of individuality in the evolution of nature and society (the principle of increasing the variability of system elements as a criterion for progressive evolution; the principle of interaction of tendencies to preserve and change as a condition for the development of evolving systems, ensuring their adaptation and variability, the principle of the emergence of redundant pre-adaptive elements of evolving systems that can provide a reserve of their variability in uncertain critical situations, etc.).
These principles made it possible to reveal the specifics of evolution in the social history of mankind and the heuristic use of ideas about a special “dispersive selection” in personality psychology.
A. G. Asmolov predicts the emergence of scientific disciplines that consider psychology as a constructive science, acting as a factor in the evolution of society.
The concept of the level nature of personality attitudes as mechanisms for stabilizing behavior has been developed, a classification of unconscious mental phenomena, a semantic concept of individuality has been given.
The paradigm of developing variable education is substantiated, which contributed to the change in the social status of psychology in the field of education in Russia, as well as the general humanization of education.
At the Faculty of Psychology of Moscow State University, A. G. Asmolov teaches a section of the fundamental course of general psychology "Psychology of Personality and Individuality", as well as a special course "Historical Psychology of Personality".
Main scientific works
Activity and installation (1979)
Personality as a Subject of Psychological Research (1984)
Principles of Organization of Human Memory: System-Activity Approach to the Study of Cognitive Processes (1985)
Psychology of individuality. Methodological foundations of personality development in the historical evolutionary process (1986)
Cultural-Historical Psychology and the Construction of Worlds (1996).
Psychology of personality: principles of general psychological analysis. - M .: "Meaning", Information Center "Academy", 2002. - 416 p.
On the role of the symbol in the formation of the emotional sphere in younger schoolchildren with mental development difficulties. Voprosy psihologii. 2005. No. 1.