Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist (Reviews)

Quotes from the  book jacket of the Classic edition:

We need the ideas of practical revolutionaries more than ever. In this update of their original volume on Lev Vygotsky, Holzman and Newman invite educators and therapists to consider collaborative and creative ways of influencing learning and development. In a world that increasingly feels over-determined in dispiriting ways, Holzman and Newman inspire readers to find new ways to socially extend Vygotsky’s practical-critical approach to learning and change. Tom Strong, Ph. D., Professor and Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Education, University of Calgary

In 1993, Lev Vygotsky was embodied as a Revolutionary Scientist, by Newman and Holzman. Since then, LVRS has been an omnipresent figure, provoking academics into discussion on unity of learning and development in conference rooms, working as a community builder in various cities and countries for organization of developing therapeutic groups, and making stages with young people for opening their future in worldwide theaters. Yuji Moro, Ph.D., Professor, Institute of Psychology, University of Tsukuba, Japan

Lois Holzman and Fred Newman engage you into play with Vygotsky’s ideas of history, dialectics, materialism and subjectivity—the ideas that often remain outside of “zone of proximal development” of dualistic determination of the world by product—and while playing with these two dedicated “more knowledgeable others,” you are “a head taller,” you perform a revolutionary activity.  I have been reading everything I could find by and on Vygotsky in English and Russian, and found LVRS to be a truly rare, uplifting and hopeful piece in a Holzman-Newman-Vygotskian way.  Natalia Collings, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Teacher Education, Central Michigan University

Fred Newman and Lois Holzman present a unique vision of Vygotsky’s penetrating thought, and life-changing legacy. Their “own” Vygotsky is different than Vygotsky of different interpretations: it is Vygotsky of the community work, Vygotsky of the art, Vygotsky of performance and becoming, Vygotsky of human completion and agency. These unique ways of interpreting Vygotsky are as important today as they were at the time when the book was first published. Ana Marjanovic-Shane, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Education, Chestnut Hill College

This book was an essential contribution to Brazilian researchers in the Vygotskian perspective. Some of the main contributions of the book are the intense philosophical dialogue with other voices, supporting, clarifying and even contrasting with the pillars of Vygotskian theory. It provides the reader a thorough understanding of the research and work of Vygotsky, making relations with all the concepts involved in the process of child development and learning. Fernanda Liberali, Ph.D., Applied Linguistics and Language Studies, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo