The book describes methods of working with children preschool age on organizing project activities. This form The interaction between a child and an adult allows for the development of cognitive abilities, the personality of a preschooler, as well as relationships with peers.

The book is intended primarily for teachers preschool institutions, but will undoubtedly be useful to students, teachers of psychological and pedagogical specialties, as well as to all those who are interested in the possibilities of enhancing the development of children.

Nikolai Evgenievich Veraksa, Alexander Nikolaevich Veraksa - Project activities of preschool children. Manual for preschool teachers 1

Nikolay Evgenievich Veraksa, Alexander Nikolaevich Veraksa
Project activities for preschoolers. A manual for preschool teachers

Library "Programs of education and training in kindergarten" under general edition M. A. Vasilyeva, V. V. Gerbova, T. S. Komarova

Veraksa Nikolay Evgenievich- doctor psychological sciences, professor, head of department social psychology Development of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Head of the Laboratory of Pedagogy and Psychology of Abilities, Institute for the Development of Preschool Education, Russian Academy of Education, editor-in-chief magazine "Modern preschool education. Theory and practice".

Personal website address – www.veraksaru

Preface

The book offered to the reader is devoted to the issues of supporting children's cognitive initiative in conditions of the preschool educational institution and families. This topic is very relevant for a number of reasons. Firstly, a person must receive a positive test as early as possible social experience realizing your own plans. The uniqueness of a person is manifested not in his appearance, but in what a person brings to his social environment. If what seems most significant to him is also of interest to other people, he finds himself in a situation of social acceptance that stimulates him personal growth and self-realization. Secondly, the ever-increasing dynamism of economic and social relations requires the search for new, non-standard actions in a variety of circumstances. Non-standard actions are based on originality of thinking. Thirdly, the idea of ​​harmonious diversity as a promising form social development also involves the ability to take productive initiative.

This skill must be cultivated from childhood. However, there are certain difficulties on the way to its formation. One of them is related to the fact that society is strict regulatory system, in which a person must act according to certain rules, that is in a standard way. Initiative always involves going beyond the framework defined by tradition. At the same time, this action must be culturally adequate, that is, fit into existing system norms and rules. A child who shows initiative must navigate the reality around him, understood as a certain culture that has its own history. It is intended to provide such orientation general abilities. We understand abilities in the context of L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and activity theory. Abilities act as a psychological tool that allows the child to move in the space of culture. At the same time, we emphasize once again that the cognitive initiative represents a step beyond the boundaries of culture. But how can one demonstrate transcendence of culture in a culturally appropriate way? Project activities will help solve this problem. It is precisely this that makes it possible not only to support children’s initiative, but also to formalize it in the form of a cultural significant product, that is, in the form of some cultural pattern (or norm).

This interpretation of children's initiative and its implementation in project activities is based on research conducted under our leadership (since 2000). It was carried out in preschool educational institutions Novouralsk and on the basis of the resource center " Little genius"Moscow. The results of the work showed that preschoolers can successfully carry out project activities. At the same time, clear positive changes V cognitive development children, personal growth of preschoolers is observed, which is expressed in the desire to fulfill original creative works. Change significantly interpersonal relationships preschoolers, children gain experience of productive interaction, the ability to hear others and express their attitude towards to various parties reality. There are changes in the relationship between children and parents. Children become interesting to parents as partners in joint activities.

Children's cognitive initiative

One of effective methods Working with children of senior preschool age is a method of project activity, which is based on an understanding of the role of the child’s personality in the preschool education system. Typically, a person is understood as a person with his/her inherent individual characteristics(often psychophysiological, for example, aggressiveness, mobility, etc.). However, the concept of personality is associated not so much with psychophysiological qualities, but with how a person manifests himself among other people. Consequently, personality is a socio-psychological category, it is a social assessment of a person as a member of society. However, a person does not always manifest himself as an individual. In some cases, he acts in accordance with accepted norms and traditions. For example, when one person listens to another, he is adhering to a social norm. It is clear that if a person does not follow social norms, then those around him direct all their efforts to subordinate his actions to generally accepted rules. For example, if a child eats sloppily or fastens buttons incorrectly, then adults try to make sure that the child learns the appropriate rules. But when a preschooler learns to eat soup with a spoon, it can hardly be considered a unique personality.

Personality is special social characteristic a person who has two characteristics. The first is related to the fact that a person does something that distinguishes him from other people. The second feature is that this difference turns out to be important and useful to other people.

Main feature of this or that achievement lies in its novelty and connection with the need sphere. Let's give an example. The famous domestic inventor A. S. Popov created a device called “radio”. This device made it possible to wirelessly transmit information to long distance. This invention turned out to be extremely useful for large number people. In the same way, V. Van Gogh, who painted the painting “The Lilac Bush,” created a work that continues to delight and thereby satisfy the aesthetic needs of visitors to the Hermitage. Of course, both A. S. Popov and V. Van Gogh are extremely significant for society unique personalities.

Important Features personality is the thinking and imagination of a person, which allows one to figuratively first imagine the idea of ​​a work, consider its various options and find the best one, and then bring it to life. In fact, by creating a work, an inventor, artist, teacher embody their idea of ​​an ideal, which at the same time becomes an ideal for the people around them. Thus, personality always involves the creation of something new, the acceptance of this new by others.

What contributes personal development person?

One of the main conditions is to support the activity of the individual. Such support is impossible without positive social assessment activities aimed at creating something new. As a rule, something new is the result of solving a problem in which one is interested. creative person. Therefore, we can say that exactly creative activity is main feature personality. No less an important condition, promoting personal development is an adequate social presentation of the results of human activity.

The book describes a methodology for working with preschool children to organize project activities. This form of interaction between a child and an adult allows for the development of cognitive abilities, the personality of a preschooler, as well as relationships with peers.

The book is intended primarily for teachers of preschool institutions, but will undoubtedly be useful to students, teachers of psychological and pedagogical specialties, as well as to all those who are interested in the possibilities of enhancing the development of children.

Nikolai Evgenievich Veraksa, Alexander Nikolaevich Veraksa - Project activities of preschool children. Manual for preschool teachers 1

Nikolay Evgenievich Veraksa, Alexander Nikolaevich Veraksa
Project activities for preschoolers. A manual for preschool teachers

Library "Programs of education and training in kindergarten" under the general editorship of M. A. Vasilyeva, V. V. Gerbova, T. S. Komarova

Veraksa Nikolay Evgenievich– Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Social Developmental Psychology of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Head of the Laboratory of Pedagogy and Psychology of Abilities at the Institute for the Development of Preschool Education of the Russian Academy of Education, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine "Modern Preschool Education. Theory and Practice."

Personal website address – www.veraksaru

Preface

The book offered to the reader is devoted to the issues of supporting children's cognitive initiative in preschool educational institutions and families. This topic is very relevant for a number of reasons. Firstly, a person must gain positive social experience in realizing his own plans as early as possible. The uniqueness of a person is manifested not in his appearance, but in what a person brings to his social environment. If what seems most significant to him is also of interest to other people, he finds himself in a situation of social acceptance, which stimulates his personal growth and self-realization. Secondly, the ever-increasing dynamism of economic and social relations requires the search for new, non-standard actions in a variety of circumstances. Non-standard actions are based on originality of thinking. Thirdly, the idea of ​​harmonious diversity as a promising form of social development also presupposes the ability to show productive initiative.

This skill must be cultivated from childhood. However, there are certain difficulties on the way to its formation. One of them is due to the fact that society is a strict normative system in which a person must act according to certain rules, that is, in a standard way. Initiative always involves going beyond the framework defined by tradition. At the same time, this action must be culturally adequate, that is, fit into the existing system of norms and rules. A child who shows initiative must navigate the reality around him, understood as a certain culture that has its own history. General abilities are designed to provide such orientation. We understand abilities in the context of L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and activity theory. Abilities act as a psychological tool that allows the child to move in the space of culture. At the same time, we emphasize once again that the cognitive initiative represents a step beyond the boundaries of culture. But how can one demonstrate transcendence of culture in a culturally appropriate way? Project activities will help solve this problem. It is precisely this that allows not only to support a child’s initiative, but also to formalize it in the form of a culturally significant product, that is, in the form of some cultural model (or norm).

This interpretation of children's initiative and its implementation in project activities is based on research conducted under our leadership (since 2000). It was carried out in preschool educational institutions in Novouralsk and on the basis of the resource center “Little Genius” in Moscow. The results of the work showed that preschoolers can successfully carry out project activities. At the same time, there are clear positive changes in the cognitive development of children, personal growth of preschoolers is observed, which is expressed in the desire to perform original creative works. The interpersonal relationships of preschoolers change significantly, children gain experience of productive interaction, the ability to hear others and express their attitude to various aspects of reality. There are changes in the relationship between children and parents. Children become interesting to parents as partners in joint activities.

Children's cognitive initiative

One of the effective methods of working with children of senior preschool age is the method of project activity, which is based on understanding the role of the child’s personality in the preschool education system. Typically, a personality is understood as a person with his own individual characteristics (often psychophysiological, for example, aggressiveness, mobility, etc.). However, the concept of personality is associated not so much with psychophysiological qualities, but with how a person manifests himself among other people. Consequently, personality is a socio-psychological category, it is a social assessment of a person as a member of society. However, a person does not always manifest himself as an individual. In some cases, he acts in accordance with accepted norms and traditions. For example, when one person listens to another, he is adhering to a social norm. It is clear that if a person does not follow social norms, then those around him direct all their efforts to subordinate his actions to generally accepted rules. For example, if a child eats sloppily or fastens buttons incorrectly, then adults try to make sure that the child learns the appropriate rules. But when a preschooler learns to eat soup with a spoon, it can hardly be considered a unique personality.

Personality is a special social characteristic of a person, which has two features. The first is related to the fact that a person does something that distinguishes him from other people. The second feature is that this difference turns out to be important and useful for other people.

The main feature of this or that achievement lies in its novelty and connection with the need sphere. Let's give an example. The famous domestic inventor A. S. Popov created a device called “radio”. This device made it possible to transmit information wirelessly over long distances. This invention turned out to be extremely useful for a large number of people. In the same way, V. Van Gogh, who painted the painting “The Lilac Bush,” created a work that continues to delight and thereby satisfy the aesthetic needs of visitors to the Hermitage. Of course, both A. S. Popov and V. Van Gogh are extremely significant unique personalities for society.

Important characteristics of a person are a person’s thinking and imagination, which allow him to first visualize the idea of ​​a work, consider its various options and find the best one, and then bring it to life. In fact, by creating a work, an inventor, artist, teacher embody their idea of ​​an ideal, which at the same time becomes an ideal for the people around them. Thus, personality always involves the creation of something new, the acceptance of this new by others.

What contributes to a person’s personal development?

One of the main conditions is to support the activity of the individual. Such support is impossible without a positive social assessment of activities aimed at creating something new. As a rule, something new is the result of solving some problem in which a creative person is interested. Therefore, we can say that creative activity is the main personality trait. An equally important condition promoting personal development is adequate social presentation of the results of human activity.

Library “Programs of education and training in kindergarten” under the general editorship of M. A. Vasilyeva, V. V. Gerbova, T. S. Komarova

Veraksa Nikolay Evgenievich– Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Social Developmental Psychology of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Head of the Laboratory of Pedagogy and Psychology of Abilities at the Institute for the Development of Preschool Education of the Russian Academy of Education, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Modern Preschool Education. Theory and practice".
Personal website address – www.veraksaru
Veraksa Alexander Nikolaevich– postgraduate student at the Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosova, lecturer at the Faculty of Social Psychology of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Master of Science in Psychological Counseling (University of Manchester, UK).

Preface

The book offered to the reader is devoted to the issues of supporting children's cognitive initiative in preschool educational institutions and families. This topic is very relevant for a number of reasons. Firstly, a person must gain positive social experience in realizing his own plans as early as possible. The uniqueness of a person is manifested not in his appearance, but in what a person brings to his social environment. If what seems most significant to him is also of interest to other people, he finds himself in a situation of social acceptance, which stimulates his personal growth and self-realization. Secondly, the ever-increasing dynamism of economic and social relations requires the search for new, non-standard actions in a variety of circumstances. Non-standard actions are based on originality of thinking. Thirdly, the idea of ​​harmonious diversity as a promising form of social development also presupposes the ability to show productive initiative.
This skill must be cultivated from childhood. However, there are certain difficulties on the way to its formation. One of them is due to the fact that society is a strict normative system in which a person must act according to certain rules, that is, in a standard way. Initiative always involves going beyond the framework defined by tradition. At the same time, this action must be culturally adequate, that is, fit into the existing system of norms and rules. A child who shows initiative must navigate the reality around him, understood as a certain culture that has its own history. General abilities are designed to provide such orientation. We understand abilities in the context of L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and activity theory. Abilities act as a psychological tool that allows the child to move in the space of culture. At the same time, we emphasize once again that the cognitive initiative represents a step beyond the boundaries of culture. But how can one demonstrate transcendence of culture in a culturally appropriate way? Project activities will help solve this problem. It is precisely this that allows not only to support a child’s initiative, but also to formalize it in the form of a culturally significant product, that is, in the form of some cultural model (or norm).
This interpretation of children's initiative and its implementation in project activities is based on research conducted under our leadership (since 2000). It was carried out in preschool educational institutions in Novouralsk and on the basis of the Little Genius resource center in Moscow. The results of the work showed that preschoolers can successfully carry out project activities. At the same time, there are clear positive changes in the cognitive development of children, personal growth of preschoolers is observed, which is expressed in the desire to perform original creative works. The interpersonal relationships of preschoolers change significantly, children gain experience of productive interaction, the ability to hear others and express their attitude to various aspects of reality. There are changes in the relationship between children and parents. Children become interesting to parents as partners in joint activities.

Children's cognitive initiative

One of the effective methods of working with children of senior preschool age is the method of project activity, which is based on understanding the role of the child’s personality in the preschool education system. Typically, a personality is understood as a person with his own individual characteristics (often psychophysiological, for example, aggressiveness, mobility, etc.). However, the concept of personality is associated not so much with psychophysiological qualities, but with how a person manifests himself among other people. Consequently, personality is a socio-psychological category, it is a social assessment of a person as a member of society. However, a person does not always manifest himself as an individual. In some cases, he acts in accordance with accepted norms and traditions. For example, when one person listens to another, he is adhering to a social norm. It is clear that if a person does not follow social norms, then those around him direct all their efforts to subordinate his actions to generally accepted rules. For example, if a child eats sloppily or fastens buttons incorrectly, then adults try to make sure that the child learns the appropriate rules. But when a preschooler learns to eat soup with a spoon, it can hardly be considered a unique personality.
Personality is a special social characteristic of a person, which has two features. The first is related to the fact that a person does something that distinguishes him from other people. The second feature is that this difference turns out to be important and useful to other people.
The main feature of this or that achievement lies in its novelty and connection with the need sphere. Let's give an example. The famous domestic inventor A. S. Popov created a device called “radio”. This device made it possible to transmit information wirelessly over long distances. This invention turned out to be extremely useful for a large number of people. In the same way, V. Van Gogh, who painted the painting “The Lilac Bush,” created a work that continues to delight and thereby satisfy the aesthetic needs of visitors to the Hermitage. Of course, both A. S. Popov and V. Van Gogh are extremely significant unique personalities for society.
Important characteristics of a person are a person’s thinking and imagination, which allow him to first visualize the idea of ​​a work, consider its various options and find the best one, and then bring it to life. In fact, by creating a work, an inventor, artist, teacher embody their idea of ​​an ideal, which at the same time becomes an ideal for the people around them. Thus, personality always involves the creation of something new, the acceptance of this new by others.
What contributes to a person’s personal development?
One of the main conditions is to support the activity of the individual. Such support is impossible without a positive social assessment of activities aimed at creating something new. As a rule, something new is the result of solving some problem in which a creative person is interested. Therefore, we can say that creative activity is the main personality trait. An equally important condition promoting personal development is adequate social presentation of the results of human activity.
Personal support is largely related to the attitude of society towards the presented creation. As soon as creative product completed and presented to society, it ceases to be new. This phenomenon can be seen especially clearly in the example of songs written by composers. Quite often, a new song, which at first struck with its novelty, loses popularity and may be completely forgotten. Support for the composer's personality is ensured by the fact that the song continues to be performed, that is, it becomes some traditional content of various social situations. In fact, the song becomes institutionalized and becomes the norm. For example, the song of Gena the Crocodile from the cartoon about Cheburashka is quite often performed at children's birthdays, although it has clearly lost its novelty.
Main task related to support creativity personality who stands in front of preschool education, is to search for forms in which such support can be provided.
Cognitive activity children is carried out in a specific cultural space, which is a system of norms set by adults. This implies the need to consider the child’s activity in a normative situation.
A child who finds himself in a normative situation can act both in accordance with the given norm and in accordance with the possibilities determined by external circumstances. Several types of child activity in a normative situation can be distinguished. First of all, all the child’s actions can be aimed at identifying the opportunities that exist in the given circumstances. This form of activity is typical for creative personality. In addition, it is easy to identify cases of direct imitation, when a child follows the norm set by an adult. Such child behavior is formal in nature and is not always successful. Its main feature is that the child strives to repeat the action in accordance with a given pattern without entering the space of possibilities. For a child, there is only a strictly defined cultural norm. Another type of activity can be distinguished in the case when the activity takes place in the space of possibilities, but at the same time it is mediated by a cultural norm, that is, it is carried out in the context of a task set by an adult. In this case, the child himself looks for cultural norm How special opportunity.
Intellectual development preschoolers can be activated during educational work, aimed at creating normative situations that support children’s initiative in the space of possibilities and ensure the assimilation of culturally specified means and methods of analyzing reality.
An analysis of the educational work carried out in preschool institutions shows that the entire system falls into two directions. In accordance with one of them, children are given maximum freedom of action, and in accordance with the other, on the contrary, the actions of preschoolers are greatly limited; they must follow the instructions of adults. Both of these approaches have significant drawbacks. In the first case, it would seem that the child moves in the space of possibilities and develops creativity. However, this does not guarantee that level child development, which is necessary for learning at school, where the child finds himself in a situation of extreme normativity caused by the rigid logic of constructing subject content. An extreme solution to this problem is the widespread imposition school programs preschool education. In another case, the child is deprived of the opportunity for self-realization and personal growth in the forms available to him. In this regard, a special problem arises of the formation of a child’s personality in the preschool education system. Free movement of the child in the space of possibilities and acquisition school knowledge do not allow the preschooler to present himself as an individual in the world around him. In one case, all his activity, although individual character, does not find adequate cultural forms of expression, in another - although it is cultural, it is deindividualized. That is why it is necessary to provide the child with the opportunity in a meaningful way show your individuality in cultural form. To do this, the child must not only move in the space of possibilities, but also be able to formalize the results of this movement, creating his own cultural products.
Development cognitive abilities determines the further process of formation child intelligence. As already noted, cognitive activity the child is carried out in a specific cultural space, which can be considered as a system of normative situations that support or, conversely, inhibit cognitive initiative. Stimulating a child’s initiative or suppressing it can be carried out in the most different situations.
Let's consider next example. The teacher conducts a lesson aimed at developing the elements logical thinking. At the same time, he assumes that at the end of the lesson, after about 25 minutes, children will be able to classify the presented set of objects into three groups. However, in practice the lesson proceeded as follows. The teacher showed the children objects and was going to formulate a problem. At this time, the preschooler stated: “I know. All items can be divided into three groups.” The teacher is discouraged. Instead of supporting the child’s initiative and discussing his reasons for such a conclusion, the teacher pretended that nothing was happening. He continued the lesson, at the end of which, as the preschooler said, all objects were successfully divided into three subgroups, but the child’s initiative was suppressed.
The very phrase “creative initiative” implies going beyond established limits. It is clear that in a preschool institution, during educational process the child must master a certain system of norms. For example, he must learn to interact without conflict with peers, create buildings according to the model, master various techniques visual activities, etc. In all these cases, there is practically no space for the manifestation of children's initiative, if by initiative we mean an attempt to create something new.
Many believe that a preschooler is essentially helpless: physically weak, his thinking is not developed, he cannot engage in any type of activity for a long time, etc. Therefore, the tasks that can be offered to children should be extremely simple and understandable. This position is to a certain extent justified. In infancy, the child is truly completely dependent on the adult. In this case, the child is mostly at home, and all meetings with other children and adults are episodic. The situation changes dramatically when the child goes to kindergarten. Now it begins to open up before him social life. In his mind, the image of a peer appears as an equal partner in joint activities and the image of a teacher as a bearer of certain social norms and rules of behavior. It is important to note that it is in interaction with a peer that a child can show genuine initiative and receive genuine assessment of his actions (which the peer may or may not like). It is this irreplaceable experience that will further influence the child’s personal development. Unfortunately, it is difficult for adults to change their attitude towards a child as an object of their own love and care and see him as an independent developing personality. This is why adults often treat children condescendingly.
However, the child faces real life challenges: he must enter a peer group for the first time, take a certain, worthy place there, learn to negotiate with others, he must be interesting to others. In other words, the child must learn to be successful, which will help him gain confidence and pride in his own achievements and serve as the basis for a trusting, friendly attitude towards the world. But the completion of any task requires an appropriate attitude on the part of an adult. If a child feels that he is not perceived as an active participant in social interaction, then he refuses this role due to the meaninglessness of his own activity. Therefore, it is very important to communicate with the child as an individual, trying to clarify his position and promote the expression of his own. A formal (rather than personal) attitude towards a child is manifested, for example, in a situation where parents do not want to transfer the child to another preschool institution, despite the fact that the reasons for the preschooler’s reluctance to attend kindergarten may be quite compelling (for example, conflictual relationships with peers) . This fact once again convinces us that adults often do not perceive serious problems and the desires of a preschool child, do not strive to establish relationships with them “on equal terms”. In the event of any conflicts, the parents of the child who is guilty, in the opinion of the teacher, are called to conduct an appropriate conversation. This implies that the child is not able to adequately describe the situation, so the teacher solves this problem at the level of the parents, who, in turn, only demand submission from the child (assuming that this is the main condition for successful upbringing). This strategy of interaction between adults and a child leads to the fact that, in the end, his initial natural activity is inhibited, he becomes passive, obedient and, in this regard, convenient for an adult.
However, the time comes for entering first grade, and adults (both parents and teachers) face the following problem: the child is not truly ready to take on the responsibility associated with entering school. This result is the result of the imperfection of the upbringing strategy chosen by adults, in which the child obeys them and therefore cannot achieve anything independently without instructions from an adult. In the future, any new situation will be obviously difficult for the child, because he has not been able to master forms of independent behavior. The child will constantly wait for help and seek support from a person who will tell him “how to do it.” Even if a child manages to find such a person at school, any achievement obtained with his help will never be the child’s own achievement.
The condescending and regulatory behavior of others does not allow the child to express himself in solving adult problems that he encounters already in preschool age. Teachers are well aware that children discuss the same problems as adults (problems of life, death, love, having children, work, etc.). The adult, as it were, pushes the child out of the circle of his problems, creating a kind of artificial, schematic space of life. Adults should support the initiative of a preschool child.
As already noted, such support can be provided in two forms - in the form of creating conditions for activity and in the form of appropriate social acceptance of the creative product. However, along this path it is easy to fall into formalism. For example, an adult, seeing that a child is busy with something, does not interfere with him and says: “Well, do it, do it, well done.” At the same time, the adult does not seek to analyze the child’s activities. You can also often see that children's works (for example, crafts made from plasticine) gather dust on the shelves, that is, they remain unclaimed for a long time. In both cases, we are faced not with support for creative activity, but with a formal attitude towards the child’s activities.
The child's subjectivity is best manifested in play activity, which is leading in preschool age. From the point of view of A. N. Leontyev, leading activity has a decisive influence on the development of the psyche at a given age.
A preschooler perceives the social environment through play, which reveals to the child the meaning of interaction between people in different situations. Special role in the development of social relations is given to role-playing games - a special form of cognition of social reality. It occurs when a child is able to imagine the actions of adults and imitate them. However, due to limited capabilities, a child cannot accurately reproduce the actions of an adult. A contradiction arises between the desire to act like an adult and the capabilities of the child himself, which is resolved in role-playing play. For the occurrence role-playing game it is necessary that the child be able to use substitute objects that allow him to model the social actions of adults. Child mastering various social roles(doctor, military man, etc.), masters those social motives that characterize the behavior of adults (a doctor is the one who treats people, a military man is the one who protects, etc.). At the same time, the preschooler retains own initiative and gains experience in social partnerships with participants in gaming activities.
The main feature of the game is the conditional, symbolic mastery of reality, and therefore is not considered by adults as a serious attempt to penetrate into the essence of social relations. It is this circumstance that determines the nature of the demands that an adult makes on a preschool child. In fact, the child is allowed to show his own initiative only during the game. In all other cases, he must obey the demands of adults. In other words, only in play can a preschooler be a subject social action.
It should be noted that although play is a space in which the child acts as an author own behavior, the results of its activities are procedural in nature. This means that a preschooler cannot present the product of play activity to others, that is, he cannot enter into an equal relationship with an adult. social interaction.
A different picture is observed when analyzing productive activities, such as design, visual activity etc. During such activities, preschoolers, as a rule, according to the teacher’s instructions, create various works. These products can be presented to others, but they are not an expression of the creative ideas of preschoolers, but are the result of mastering program content. They are characterized not so much by the search for a new solution or the expression of the child’s own vision of the surrounding reality, but by the embodiment of the teacher’s plans. Of course, preschoolers can achieve a level of development of productive activities that will reflect their vision of reality. However, in this case, the results of the activities of preschoolers are assessed conditionally, that is, as results obtained within the framework of children's activities, and therefore have limited conditional value.
As we have already said, preschool children willingly express their personality, going beyond established norms and relationships. However, such an exit is not welcomed by others. In preschool educational institutions there is a system of norms that in some cases prohibits children's activity. It's about about the so-called prohibitive norms. For example, quite often you can hear the following addresses from teachers to children: “you can’t run up the stairs,” “you can’t walk alone in kindergarten,” “you can’t offend your friends,” etc. The presence of such prohibitions is largely due to adults’ fear for the lives of children . In the 80s of the 20th century, T. A. Repina studied the prohibitions that adults impose on children in the family. As a result, four groups of prohibitions were identified: 1) prohibitions aimed at preserving things and maintaining order in the house (do not touch the TV, do not climb into the wardrobe, do not draw on the windowsill, do not open desk drawers, etc.); 2) prohibitions designed to protect the child (do not take scissors, matches, do not jump off the sofa, do not go out alone, do not go near the stove, do not watch TV closely); 3) prohibitions aimed at protecting the peace of adults (do not shout when dad comes home from work, do not run, do not make noise, etc.); 4) prohibitions of a moral nature (do not tear books, do not break trees, do not speak rudely, etc.).
The first group of prohibitions turned out to be the most widespread; in second place were prohibitions related to the safety of the child, followed by prohibitions related to protecting the peace of adults. The fourth group of prohibitions turned out to be the smallest (8% of total number). The prohibitions of the first group came mainly from mothers (48%). In the second group of prohibitions relating to child safety, the lion's share belonged to grandparents (56%). If all the prohibitions aimed at protecting the peace of adults are taken as 100%, then 70% of them are prohibitions coming from fathers, and only 30% from mothers.
Thus, we see that there is a kind of prohibitive culture. The product of this culture are children who become passive, since any of their initiatives faces a ban from an adult. A more favorable situation is when the prohibition is translated into an instruction: instead of the statement “you can’t run,” the teacher says “walk at a pace and hold on to the railing,” instead of “you can’t offend a friend,” “you need to help a friend,” etc. However, even in this case, the result may be the same as when implementing prohibitions. Thus, spontaneous prosocial reactions of a preschooler (when, for example, he himself offers a toy to a neighbor, that is, he actually voluntarily refuses the desired object in favor of another, although he did not ask him for it) in a number of cases cause negative behavior peers. This phenomenon is explained not so much by the erroneous interpretation of prosocial behavior (behavior focused on the benefit of others) by peers, but rather egocentric position the child demonstrating it - after all, the peer did not ask for, and therefore did not expect, such actions. As a result, behavior that is regarded by the teacher as positive and, of course, prosocial, is perceived by peers as an invasion of their personal space. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that in the case of “requested” prosocial behavior, the level of positive responses from peers to the child’s corresponding actions almost doubles.

Nikolay Evgenievich Veraksa, Alexander Nikolaevich Veraksa

Project activities preschoolers. A manual for preschool teachers

Library “Programs of education and training in kindergarten” under the general editorship of M. A. Vasilyeva, V. V. Gerbova, T. S. Komarova

Veraksa Nikolay Evgenievich– Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Social Developmental Psychology of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Head of the Laboratory of Pedagogy and Psychology of Abilities at the Institute for the Development of Preschool Education of the Russian Academy of Education, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Modern Preschool Education. Theory and practice".

Personal website address – www.veraksaru

Preface

The book offered to the reader is devoted to the issues of supporting children's cognitive initiative in preschool educational institutions and families. This topic is very relevant for a number of reasons. Firstly, a person must gain positive social experience in realizing his own plans as early as possible. The uniqueness of a person is manifested not in his appearance, but in what a person brings to his social environment. If what seems most significant to him is also of interest to other people, he finds himself in a situation of social acceptance, which stimulates his personal growth and self-realization. Secondly, the ever-increasing dynamism of economic and social relations requires the search for new, non-standard actions in a variety of circumstances. Non-standard actions are based on originality of thinking. Thirdly, the idea of ​​harmonious diversity as a promising form of social development also presupposes the ability to show productive initiative.

This skill must be cultivated from childhood. However, there are certain difficulties on the way to its formation. One of them is due to the fact that society is a strict normative system in which a person must act according to certain rules, that is, in a standard way. Initiative always involves going beyond the framework defined by tradition. At the same time, this action must be culturally adequate, that is, fit into the existing system of norms and rules. A child who shows initiative must navigate the reality around him, understood as a certain culture that has its own history. General abilities are designed to provide such orientation. We understand abilities in the context of L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and activity theory. Abilities act as a psychological tool that allows the child to move in the space of culture. At the same time, we emphasize once again that the cognitive initiative represents a step beyond the boundaries of culture. But how can one demonstrate transcendence of culture in a culturally appropriate way? Project activities will help solve this problem. It is precisely this that allows not only to support a child’s initiative, but also to formalize it in the form of a culturally significant product, that is, in the form of some cultural model (or norm).

This interpretation of children's initiative and its implementation in project activities is based on research conducted under our leadership (since 2000). It was carried out in preschool educational institutions in Novouralsk and on the basis of the Little Genius resource center in Moscow. The results of the work showed that preschoolers can successfully carry out project activities. At the same time, there are clear positive changes in the cognitive development of children, personal growth of preschoolers is observed, which is expressed in the desire to perform original creative works. The interpersonal relationships of preschoolers change significantly, children gain experience of productive interaction, the ability to hear others and express their attitude to various aspects of reality. There are changes in the relationship between children and parents. Children become interesting to parents as partners in joint activities.

Children's cognitive initiative

One of the effective methods of working with children of senior preschool age is the method of project activity, which is based on understanding the role of the child’s personality in the preschool education system. Typically, a personality is understood as a person with his own individual characteristics (often psychophysiological, for example, aggressiveness, mobility, etc.). However, the concept of personality is associated not so much with psychophysiological qualities, but with how a person manifests himself among other people. Consequently, personality is a socio-psychological category, it is a social assessment of a person as a member of society. However, a person does not always manifest himself as an individual. In some cases, he acts in accordance with accepted norms and traditions. For example, when one person listens to another, he is adhering to a social norm. It is clear that if a person does not follow social norms, then those around him direct all their efforts to subordinate his actions to generally accepted rules. For example, if a child eats sloppily or fastens buttons incorrectly, then adults try to make sure that the child learns the appropriate rules. But when a preschooler learns to eat soup with a spoon, it can hardly be considered a unique personality.

Nikolay Evgenievich Veraksa, Alexander Nikolaevich Veraksa

Project activities for preschoolers. A manual for preschool teachers

Library “Programs of education and training in kindergarten” under the general editorship of M. A. Vasilyeva, V. V. Gerbova, T. S. Komarova

Veraksa Nikolay Evgenievich– Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Social Developmental Psychology of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Head of the Laboratory of Pedagogy and Psychology of Abilities at the Institute for the Development of Preschool Education of the Russian Academy of Education, Editor-in-Chief of the magazine “Modern Preschool Education. Theory and practice".

Personal website address – www.veraksaru

Preface

The book offered to the reader is devoted to the issues of supporting children's cognitive initiative in preschool educational institutions and families. This topic is very relevant for a number of reasons. Firstly, a person must gain positive social experience in realizing his own plans as early as possible. The uniqueness of a person is manifested not in his appearance, but in what a person brings to his social environment. If what seems most significant to him is also of interest to other people, he finds himself in a situation of social acceptance, which stimulates his personal growth and self-realization. Secondly, the ever-increasing dynamism of economic and social relations requires the search for new, non-standard actions in a variety of circumstances. Non-standard actions are based on originality of thinking. Thirdly, the idea of ​​harmonious diversity as a promising form of social development also presupposes the ability to show productive initiative.

This skill must be cultivated from childhood. However, there are certain difficulties on the way to its formation. One of them is due to the fact that society is a strict normative system in which a person must act according to certain rules, that is, in a standard way. Initiative always involves going beyond the framework defined by tradition. At the same time, this action must be culturally adequate, that is, fit into the existing system of norms and rules. A child who shows initiative must navigate the reality around him, understood as a certain culture that has its own history. General abilities are designed to provide such orientation. We understand abilities in the context of L. S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory and activity theory. Abilities act as a psychological tool that allows the child to move in the space of culture. At the same time, we emphasize once again that the cognitive initiative represents a step beyond the boundaries of culture. But how can one demonstrate transcendence of culture in a culturally appropriate way? Project activities will help solve this problem. It is precisely this that allows not only to support a child’s initiative, but also to formalize it in the form of a culturally significant product, that is, in the form of some cultural model (or norm).

This interpretation of children's initiative and its implementation in project activities is based on research conducted under our leadership (since 2000). It was carried out in preschool educational institutions in Novouralsk and on the basis of the Little Genius resource center in Moscow. The results of the work showed that preschoolers can successfully carry out project activities. At the same time, there are clear positive changes in the cognitive development of children, personal growth of preschoolers is observed, which is expressed in the desire to perform original creative works. The interpersonal relationships of preschoolers change significantly, children gain experience of productive interaction, the ability to hear others and express their attitude to various aspects of reality. There are changes in the relationship between children and parents. Children become interesting to parents as partners in joint activities.

Children's cognitive initiative

One of the effective methods of working with children of senior preschool age is the method of project activity, which is based on understanding the role of the child’s personality in the preschool education system. Typically, a personality is understood as a person with his own individual characteristics (often psychophysiological, for example, aggressiveness, mobility, etc.). However, the concept of personality is associated not so much with psychophysiological qualities, but with how a person manifests himself among other people. Consequently, personality is a socio-psychological category, it is a social assessment of a person as a member of society. However, a person does not always manifest himself as an individual. In some cases, he acts in accordance with accepted norms and traditions. For example, when one person listens to another, he is adhering to a social norm. It is clear that if a person does not follow social norms, then those around him direct all their efforts to subordinate his actions to generally accepted rules. For example, if a child eats sloppily or fastens buttons incorrectly, then adults try to make sure that the child learns the appropriate rules. But when a preschooler learns to eat soup with a spoon, it can hardly be considered a unique personality.

Personality is a special social characteristic of a person, which has two features. The first is related to the fact that a person does something that distinguishes him from other people. The second feature is that this difference turns out to be important and useful for other people.

The main feature of this or that achievement lies in its novelty and connection with the need sphere. Let's give an example. The famous domestic inventor A. S. Popov created a device called “radio”. This device made it possible to transmit information wirelessly over long distances. This invention turned out to be extremely useful for a large number of people. In the same way, V. Van Gogh, who painted the painting “The Lilac Bush,” created a work that continues to delight and thereby satisfy the aesthetic needs of visitors to the Hermitage. Of course, both A. S. Popov and V. Van Gogh are extremely significant unique personalities for society.

Important characteristics of a person are a person’s thinking and imagination, which allow him to first visualize the idea of ​​a work, consider its various options and find the best one, and then bring it to life. In fact, by creating a work, an inventor, artist, teacher embody their idea of ​​an ideal, which at the same time becomes an ideal for the people around them. Thus, personality always involves the creation of something new, the acceptance of this new by others.

What contributes to a person’s personal development?

One of the main conditions is to support the activity of the individual. Such support is impossible without a positive social assessment of activities aimed at creating something new. As a rule, something new is the result of solving some problem in which a creative person is interested. Therefore, we can say that creative activity is the main personality trait. An equally important condition promoting personal development is adequate social presentation of the results of human activity.

Personal support is largely related to the attitude of society towards the presented creation. Once a creative product is completed and presented to society, it ceases to be new. This phenomenon can be seen especially clearly in the example of songs written by composers. Quite often, a new song, which at first struck with its novelty, loses popularity and may be completely forgotten. Support for the composer's personality is ensured by the fact that the song continues to be performed, that is, it becomes some traditional content of various social situations. In fact, the song becomes institutionalized and becomes the norm. For example, the song of Gena the Crocodile from the cartoon about Cheburashka is quite often performed at children's birthdays, although it has clearly lost its novelty.

The main task related to supporting the creativity of the individual that preschool education faces is to find forms in which such support can be provided.

Children's cognitive activity is carried out in a specific cultural space, which is a system of norms set by adults. This implies the need to consider the child’s activity in a normative situation.