Topics discussed in this issue include the cognitive education of the preschooler, general problems in aesthetic education and child development, educating children through play, family influence on the preschooler's personality, and the preparation of children for school. (RM)

These articles represent an interdisciplinary discussion to characterize a maximally favorable setting for education, upbringing, and development. (DE)

Explored the relationship between knowing how to think and teaching students to think. The findings indicated that development of pupil's intellectual capacities depend on an adequate assimilation of general methods of thinking and that psychology, logic, and pedagogy can today provide the teacher with the technical resources necessary to make…

The author examines current techniques used to teach elementary school children how to analyze and compare. Emphasis is placed upon developing these modes of mental activity while teaching biological concepts. (DE)

The case for integrating the problem-solving approach to learning with traditional explanatory and demonstrative approaches, but not replacing them, when teaching biology is presented. (ND)

This issue, devoted to early childhood education, including day-care centers and kindergartens, contains an historical review, a statement on the current controversy over the status of sixth graders as preschoolers and several articles from two child psychologists on child development. (JH)

Reasons are provided that show the goal-directed study of subject material through the problem-solving approach which results in sounder learning. (Author/ND)

Three articles compare the development and achievement of Russian elementary students in an experimental program with those in a conventional program. Results show an intensive inner motivation toward cognitive activity on the part of pupils in the experimental classes that was lacking in pupils in the conventional classes. (Author/RM)

Presents chapter one of V. V. Davydov's 1986 monograph, "Problems of Developmental Teaching." Examines the dialectical-materialist sources of the psychological concept of activity; and activity, the mind, and consciousness. Building from Lev S. Vygotsky's work and within a Marxist-Leninist framework, explores relationships among…

Examines self-assessment as a personality structure that changes in its development as individuals mature. Explains prognosticative, actual (or correcting), and retrospective self-assessment. Develops a structural-dynamic explanatory model, characterizing self-assessment as a systemic formation. Relates self-evaluation to achievement, volitional…

Chapter two from V. V. Davydov's "Problems of Developmental Teaching" (1986) is excerpted. Analyzes Piagetian theory, finding it neglects the influence of teaching and child rearing on mental development. Builds from Lev S. Vygotsky's theories to delineate stages in personality and mental development during childhood. (CH)

Presents the fifth chapter ("Learning Activity in the Younger School-age Period") of V. V. Davydov's "Problems of Developmental Teaching," published in 1986. Covers the history of learning activity issues and the content and structuring of learning activity. Argues elementary level developmental teaching should promote a…

Provides chapter six from V. V. Davydov's "Problems of Developmental Teaching." Discusses research done on the link between learning activity theory and the structuring of elementary level curricula. Reviews teaching methods for mathematics and the Russian language based on Davydov's theories. (CH)

Concludes the excerpts from Ele Monoszon's "The Establishment and Development of Soviet Pedagogy." Notes research done in the Soviet Union on preschool instruction, special education, adult, vocational, and technical education, and briefly mentions comparative research on modern foreign pedagogy. (CH)