2026, 5

On the unity of affect and intellect in the scientific and personal life of L.S. Vygotsky

2026, 5 p. 4-12

Zavershneva E.Yu.

Background. The problem of the unity of affect and intellect is central to cultural-historical psychology. However, the biographical and personal context of the formation of this idea in L.S. Vygotsky’s thought, as well as his practical application of Spinoza’s principles of transforming passions in his own life and scientific activity, warrant further exploration based on underexplored archival data.

Objective. To trace the evolution of L.S. Vygotsky’s personality through the prism of the unity of affect and intellect, demonstrating how B. Spinoza’s philosophical principles formed the foundation of his “peak psychology” and were applied by the scholar to overcome his own existential and personal crises.

Methods. Historical-psychological analysis, the biographical method, and content analysis of archival materials, including early poetic works, notebooks (such as the 1926 hospital notebook), and the correspondence of L.S. Vygotsky (with E. Kheifets, N.G. Morozova, A.R. Luria, and R.E. Levina).

Results. It has been established that the early (pre-psychological) period of Vygotsky’s life was characterized by the dominance of spontaneous, “Hamletian” affect and melancholy. The period of 1925–1926 at the Zakharyino hospital marked a turning point; there, hovering between life and death, the scientist achieved a feat of overcompensation: he subordinated his intense emotional state to a lofty scientific goal, thereby enabling him to lay the foundations of cultural-historical psychology by introducing the principle of sign mediation. In his mature years, Vygotsky interpreted will not as forceful suppression or mere arbitrariness, but as an “intelligent emotion” that uses the energy of affect as fuel for the intellect. This is vividly reflected in his strategies for helping loved ones overcome personal crises through the conscious articulation of thoughts and aspirations.

Conclusions. L.S. Vygotsky’s life path served as practical confirmation of his own theory. By transforming natural affect into a conscious “conceptualized affect,” he realized the Spinozist ideal of the “free man.” He achieved mastery over his own nature not through coercion, but through the development of “intelligent emotion,” love, and friendship. This allowed the scholar to attain inner freedom and courage in the face of severe illness, remaining faithful to his scientific and life mission until his final days.

Keywords: L.S. Vygotsky B. Spinoza cultural-historical psychology unity of affect and intellect will mastery of behavior overcompensation archival research crisis

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-5-4-12

Project activity in kindergarten as a form of psychological support for older preschoolers

2026, 5 p. 13-27

Shatskaya A.N. , Plotnikova V.A. , Veraksa A.N.

Background. Contemporary preschool children encounter various sources of emotional strain, highlighting the need to develop forms of psychological support that can be integrated into everyday kindergarten activities. Creative project activity may represent one such form, combining independent problem-solving, symbolic expression of emotional experiences, and social support.

Objective. To evaluate the potential of project activity as a form of psychological support aimed at reducing stress and maintaining subjective well-being in older preschool children.

Sample. The study involved 97 children aged 5–6 years with high levels of stress who were randomly assigned to either a project activity group or a control group (mean age = 63 months; standard deviation = 4.66 months).

Methods. Children in the experimental group participated in 20 creative project activity sessions held twice a week in small groups of 6–8 children. The control group continued to follow the regular educational program. Children’s perceived stress and well-being were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale for Children (PSS-C). Teacher-rated child stress was measured using the PSS-6, while teachers’ own stress was assessed using the PSS-4.

Results. After controlling for baseline scores, children in the project activity group demonstrated lower levels of perceived stress than children in the control group. Teacher ratings also indicated lower levels of stress among children in the project activity group. Teachers working with children from the project activity group reported lower stress levels than teachers working with children from the control group. No statistically significant differences between the groups were found in children’s subjective well-being.

Conclusions. Project activity contributes to reducing stress among older preschool children and may be used as a form of psychological support in the kindergarten educational environment. Its implementation should include support for children’s initiative, engagement with emotionally meaningful problem situations, the creation of tangible products with personal meaning, symbolic expression of emotional experiences, reflection, and social presentation of the outcomes. Children’s participation in project activity may also indirectly contribute to reducing teachers’ stress.

Keywords: project activity preschool age psychological support perceived stress subjective well-being

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-5-13-27

Dialogical interaction as a challenge to act under uncertainty

2026, 5 p. 28-38

Shiyan O.A. , Iakshina A.N.

Background. The development of thinking in preschool age is regarded as one of the key objectives of modern education. In this context, the readiness of educators to provide dialogical interaction that corresponds to children’s possibilities and stimulates the development of their thinking becomes fundamentally important. Tolerance of uncertainty is viewed as a significant internal resource for professional activity in conditions of growing complexity and unpredictability.

Objective. To analyze teacher-child dialogical interaction during free activity and to identify the nature of its interrelation with tolerance of uncertainty.

Sample. 68 preschool teachers fr om 12 kindergartens in Moscow, the Moscow Region, and Kostroma

Methods. To assess dialogical interaction, continuous video recording of teacher-child interaction during free play was conducted, followed by video analysis using indicators from the “Creativity Environment Rating Scale”. Tolerance of uncertainty was measured using the “New Tolerance of Uncertainty Questionnaire”.

Results. The level of dialogical interaction is negatively associated with the level of interpersonal intolerance of uncertainty (Spearman’s correlation coefficient: -0.24, P-value = 0.048). However, no significant correlation was found between dialogical interaction and general tolerance or general intolerance of uncertainty. For dialogical interaction between teacher and children, what proves significant is not the inclination toward change and novelty or toward clarity and order, but rather the acceptance or rejection of uncertainty in interpersonal relationships.

Conclusions. Teachers relatively often demonstrate interest in children’s expressed ideas and respond to them emotionally and substantively. However, they are significantly less likely to take actions that involve productive work with emerging uncertainty: posing hypothesis-testing questions and questions that require justification of a position, helping children to identify differences in perspectives, and problematizing play-based and spontaneously arising situations. Teachers who are better at organizing dialogue with children show less striving for clarity and control in relationships and experience less discomfort with unpredictability in interpersonal contexts. Openness to interpersonal uncertainty may be one of the common personal resources for a pedagogy of responsiveness and dialogical interaction with children – that is, in those forms of interaction wh ere the teacher’s actions cannot be fully predetermined and must be shaped in response to children’s initiatives.

Keywords: dialogue creative thinking tolerance of uncertainty kindergarten preschool age

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-5-28-38

“My choice” technology in pedagogical support of moral development in older preschool children: A study of choice strategies and their justification

2026, 5 p. 39-54

Semenaka S.I. , Miklyaeva N.V.

Background. In older preschool age, children actively acquire moral norms, rules of peer interaction, and ways of resolving conflicts. However, knowledge of a rule does not always develop into the ability to act in accordance with it in an emotionally significant situation. Educational practice should create conditions in which a child can not only reproduce a socially approved answer but also reflect on the conflict, articulate personal boundaries, take another person’s perspective, consider the consequences of possible actions, and verbally formulate a constructive way of interacting.

Objective. To identify the characteristics of pedagogically mediated selection and justification of behavioural strategies by older preschool children in simulated interpersonal-conflict situations using the “My Choice” technology.

Sample. The study involved 24 older preschool children aged 5 to 6 years; the mean age was M=5.8 years.

Methods. The study employed a qualitative pilot design. The material comprised 40 video recordings of individual play-based sessions using the “My Choice” technology. During the sessions, children were presented with simulated interpersonal-conflict situations and a visual play field with three roads symbolizing confrontation, avoidance, and cooperation. The pedagogically organized dialogue involved discussing possible consequences of actions, participants’ feelings, and constructive modes of interaction. Qualitative analysis of video recordings and transcripts, thematic analysis of children’s utterances, and analysis of the teacher’s prompts aimed at expanding the child’s moral reasoning were employed.

Results. The “My Choice” technology was found to function not as a neutral procedure for recording spontaneous moral choice but as a setting for pedagogically mediated discussion of alternative modes of action. Children’s utterances revealed relational-normative, boundary-oriented normative, and pragmatic-cooperative modes of decision justification. Of particular importance were episodes of pedagogically supported transformation of the child’s initial response, in which a child moved from an uncertain, impulsive, or insufficiently elaborated reaction to verbal expression of emotion, personal boundaries, circumstances of the peer’s action, and a possible constructive solution.

Conclusions. The “My Choice” technology has potential as a pedagogical tool for supporting the moral development of older preschool children. Its value lies not in directing a child toward a predetermined “correct” strategy but in organizing a dialogue that promotes self-regulation, decentration, verbal formulation of a moral position, and the ability to assert personal boundaries nonviolently. The findings are preliminary and require further investigation in a larger sample using a standardized protocol and external criteria for assessing moral development.

Keywords: moral development older preschool children pedagogical support moral choice interpersonal conflict self-regulation decentration personal boundaries “My Choice” technology qualitative research

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-5-39-54

Froebel as a «known stranger»: The gap between theory and practice in contemporary preschool education

2026, 5 p. 55-64

Kozhevnikova V.V.

Background. A paradox is increasingly documented in contemporary international early childhood research: the pedagogical legacy of Friedrich Froebel continues to shape everyday preschool practice — through play-based methods, didactic materials, and value orientations — while its theoretical and philosophical foundations remain largely unrecognised by practitioners themselves.

Objective. To systematise contemporary international research documenting the gap between theoretical and practical dimensions of Froebel’s legacy; to characterise institutional forms of its study abroad; and to identify the specifics of the Russian context.

Sample. The theoretical analysis draws on publications from 1991–2026 addressing the reception of Froebel’s pedagogical system in preschool education practice in Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Australia, as well as materials from the official websites of research centres and professional associations.

Methods. Comparative-historical and problem-thematic analysis of scholarly literature; the method of institutional analysis in comparing organisational forms of Froebel’s legacy study across different countries.

Results. Three mechanisms for reproducing the theory–practice gap are identified: professional socialisation (occupational mastery through practical experience), instrumental reduction (the separation of didactic material from its conceptual system), and institutional asymmetry (the influence of the presence/absence of research centres on the reflection of practice). International research centres studying Froebel’s legacy (Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland) are systematised and compared with the Russian context.

Conclusion. The image of Froebel as a “known stranger” (Bekannter Unbekannter) accurately captures the current state of the field: his name and individual tools are widely recognised, while the coherent conceptual system behind them remains understudied. In the Russian context, the following are necessary: the inclusion of a historical-theoretical component in teacher education programmes; the development of research infrastructure; and the strengthening of the professional community with a transition to sustainable institutional forms.

Keywords: Friedrich Froebel early childhood pedagogy preschool education Froebel’s gifts theory–practice gap historical and pedagogical heritage teacher professional identity

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-5-55-64

The concept of developing the professionalism of early childhood educators in the context of non-formal education

2026, 5 p. 65-80

Namsink E.V.

Background. The relevance of this study stems from the contradiction between the growing demand for the development of young children (aged 1–3) and the insufficient preparedness of educators to address their specific needs. Preschool teachers lack competence in areas such as pre-verbal communication, emotional regulation in toddlers, and working with parents, yet standard professional development courses fail to account for these specific aspects. This necessitates the development of a comprehensive personnel training concept, new educational programs, and flexible formats for non-formal education.

Objectives. To theoretically substantiate and empirically verify a holistic concept of developing professionalism among early childhood educators in the context of non-formal education, revealing its essence, structure, and dynamics as a nonlinear process of qualitative transformation of the specialist’s personality and activity.

Sample. The study sample consisted of 445 specialists from four regions of the Russian Federation, including 282 early childhood educators and 163 experts from psychological-pedagogical and methodological services. A subsample of 45 educators participated in the formative and control experiments.

Methods. A questionnaire survey with self-assessment and expert assessment of deficits, 18 focus groups (182 teachers), and analysis of activity products. A pedagogical experiment (N=45) based on the implementation of a non-formal learning community program, followed by verification of its effectiveness.

Results. A stable discrepancy was found between teachers’ self-assessment and the expert assessment of their professional deficits (p < 0.05), the most acute being in the methodological sphere (mean scores of 6.2 and 4.8, respectively). Professional deficits of teachers were recorded. Qualitative analysis of interview data showed that teachers are aware of their difficulties but do not have a sufficiently diverse set of tools to overcome them. The developed concept posits non-formal education as a special environment that generates professional new formations through the mechanisms of social learning, kinesthetic attunement, and collective creativity.

Conclusions. A holistic concept is presented that defines non-formal education as a possible resource for developing the professionalism of early childhood educators. Empirical evidence of its validity was obtained: statistically significant positive dynamics across all diagnosed indicators (p < 0.05), with the greatest increase in pedagogical sensitivity (32%) and pedagogical tactility (28%). Prospects for use are associated with the development of variable regional models of learning communities for specialists working with young children in different types and kinds of institutions.

Keywords: early childhood educators non-formal education professional deficits professionalism of personality professionalism of activity pedagogical gentleness pedagogical tactility pedagogical sensitivity

DOI: 10.24412/2782-4519-2026-20-5-65-80

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