L. S. Vygotsky and His Theory as an Inspiration for Innovations in Education

Abstract

In recent years, preschool education has become an important topic in the Czech Republic. Since 1990, the system of preschool education has undergone a number of qualitative changes. A modern preschool curriculum has been created and is constantly being reviewed in line with the needs of society and educational policy objectives.
One of the problems of the past decade concerns the high number of pupils with postponed compulsory attendance. This has become a challenge for both teachers and researchers. One of the steps that could help was the enactment of compulsory preschool education in 2017. More attention should therefore be given to systematic preparation of children for starting compulsory education on the basis of individualization in education. However, this requires teachers to use high-quality educational diagnostics in order to ensure children’s development with respect to their capabilities, interests and needs. A team of experts at the Faculty of Education at Palacký University is currently developing and validating an online application as an educational diagnostic instrument that should systematically monitor children’s progress as well as highlight potential problems and eliminate them in time. In the development of the instrument, the team builds on the current trends in preschool education, a number of educational theories and the work of renowned authors (Rogers, Piaget, Bandura, etc.) An interesting and inspiring view of the development and education of preschool children is presented by social constructivism and its main proponent Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, whose ideas and legacy are outlined in the present study.