DETERMINANTS OF OPPOSITION TO MODERN CULTURAL DIFFUSION IN THE THEORY OF L. VYGOTSKY

Abstract

The article deals with the essence and meaning of the cultural-historical theory of L. Vygotsky, who revealed the social nature of formation of a personality's mental qualities. The main objective of the study is to analyze the trends of multiculturalism as a counterbalance to the process of cultural diffusion. The study highlights the elements of pedagogical technology, which should be based on a cultural and historical basis and, in turn, provides support for the formation of a general concept of education in society. The psychological features of understanding the patterns of the pedagogy development and the formation of methodological basis of the pedagogical science in the modern socio-cultural space are stated. According to L. Vygotsky's concept, the cultural development of a child involves a process in which biological characteristics (ability to remember and think) are transformed into social ones, and the social ones are transformed into psychological ones, modifying the mechanisms of cognitive processes of manifestation and development of memory and thinking. L. Vygotsky substantiates that with this development, the reflex mechanisms fade into the background, but the socio-cultural ones become a priority. The sources characterizing social relations and social interaction, which can become an internal higher mental function, are analyzed. In the act of experiencing, their dramatic collision is melted down and results in a change of the personality structure, becoming an act of development. The topic of social relations that form patterns and models of behaviour is actualized. The emphasis is made on the fact that social relations are not always reduced to collective ones, the sociality can serve as a source of personal experience. The concept of a sign is considered, where consciousness manipulates symbols and concepts. Thus, the cultural-historical theory of L. Vygotsky as an example of cultural relativism can be opposed to modern processes of cultural diffusion.