Nikolay E. Veraksa

Background. The article presents the results of a longitudinal study of the cognitive-emotional development of children from the standpoint of the structural-dialectical approach. The authors consider the indicators of the formation of dialectical and formal-logical thinking and their relationship with emotion understanding in the children of preschool and primary school age.

Objective of the study was to test the hypothesis about the relationship between the development of dialectical and formal operations and emotion understanding in the children aged 5–9 years.

Methods. To assess the formation of mental operations and emotion understanding in 5–9-year-old children, a special toolkit was developed. The structural-dialectical method of analysis was implemented to study the features of dialectical thinking and emotion understanding in the children of senior preschool and primary school age. Assessment of the formal thinking development was carried out in the context of the operational theory of intelligence developed by J. Piaget.

Sample. The study involved 50 children aged 5–9 years (56% boys and 44% girls), who were tested in the senior and preschool groups of kindergarten and then in the second grade of school.

Results. Two forms of dialectical transformations were found to exist: substantive and structural. The obtained results have shown that already at preschool age there are mechanisms which allow children to apply dialectical thinking operations together with formal-logical operations when solving tasks related to understanding of mixed emotions.

Conclusions. The results obtained confirmed the hypothesis about the existence of correlation of the dialectical and formal thinking with emotion understanding in the children of senior preschool and primary school age. In the course of studying the cognitive-emotional development of children in primary school, a trend was found associated with the transition from dialectical to formal-logical thinking. This result needs further investigating.

Abstract

Background. The problem of development, dating back to ancient philosophy (Plato, Aristotle) and continued in the works of medieval authors (Acts Augustine) and German classical philosophy (primarily G.W.F. Hegel), has long been explored through the prism of questions about the relationship between part and whole, matter and form, as well as the idea of causality and the hierarchy of forms. An analysis of the works of Russian authors such as L.S. Vygotsky, A.N. Leontiev, and D.B. Elkonin, who continued research in this area, revealed that they understood development as a process of formation, conditioned by the assimilation of cultural achievements.

Objective. An analysis of the emergence of the concept of "development" and the associated limitations in its modern interpretation in relation to the currently established educational practice.

Results. It has been shown that the key flaw in understanding development as a process of formation in childhood is its reproductive and predetermined nature. The acquisition of ideal models through adult guidance sets not only the direction but also the limits of development. The consequence of this position is a focus on educational efforts on mastering the cultural plane and a lack of targeted interaction with the natural plane. Drawing on Aristotle's ideas, this article provides a theoretical justification for understanding development as the realization of a child's own potential, i.e., self-development.

Conclusions. The provided theoretical foundations for a shift from the study of development as an interaction of natural and cultural forms of the psyche to its understanding as a complex system of processes of formation and self-development open up new possibilities for the organization of educational practices in childhood. These practices should be aimed at supporting not only children's creativity, but also forms of interaction that allow them to explore existing possibilities and search for new ones.