Socio-cultural theory and the "New Man"

From post-revolutionary Russia of 1917 to the challenges of contemporary times

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the influences that the Soviet historical context of the Russian post-revolution of 1917 had on the construction of cultural historical theory, mainly in the perspective of the creation of a new society and a new man.. The predominance of the Marxist-Leninist vision inspired the thoughts of Lev Vygotsky, Alexander Luria and Alexei Leontiev on human development and learning. We also discuss some applications to the process of teaching learning that historical cultural theory, elaborated in the Soviet historical context, has managed to achieve. For example, the importance of mediation for the learning teaching process; the development of defectology and its influence on inclusive education and the contributions to the neurosciences that had repercussions in the school education.  The methodology used was the bibliographic review. We conclude that understanding the context in which this theory emerges can bring significant contributions to the understanding of the cultural historical approach in our day, such as its potential, its limitations, its challenges and perspectives. The thesis on the importance of speech in social interaction as a promoter of development and the prospective approach of man as a come to be with the mediation of the other, opens a hopeful path for the education of present and future generations.