Vygotsky and Creativity: A Cultural-historical Approach to Play, Meaning Making, and the Arts

by M. Cathrene Connery (Editor), Vera P. John-Steiner (Editor), Ana Marjanovic-Shane (Editor)

This text presents a Vygotskian perspective on children’s and adults’ symbolic engagement in play, multi-modal meaning making, and the arts. Psychologists, artists, and educators present research and practice in a variety of learning environments through the lens of Vygotsky’s cultural historical theory. The connections between creative expression, learning, teaching, and development are situated in a theoretical framework that emphasizes the social origins of individual development and the arts. The authors share a view of learning as an imaginative process rooted in our common need to communicate and transform individual experience through the cultural lifelines of the arts.
This book is suitable for readers or courses in the following art and aesthetics; art education; art therapy; cultural historical activity theory; communication; creativity studies; early childhood education; education; educational perspectives; educational psychology; emotional development; cultural and societal foundations; language, literacy, and sociocultural studies; learning and development; mental health and catharsis; multiliteracies; multimodal meaning making; play; play therapy; psychology; semiotics; social construction of meaning; trauma, resilience, and therapeutic processes and practices; and Vygotskian approaches to psychology.

245 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2010

Reviews

[Peaches · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really helpful read to understand what Vygotsky theorized about creativity, play, and art. All I remember about his work was from my undergrad, where we really just focused on the ZPD, so this was interesting. I do wish more examples extended past early childhood and elementary, but to be fair, that was what Vygotsky, at least to my knowledge, focused on a great deal as well.
Also, I love the cover. It's gorgeous!

[Zach]

This book overflows with practical yet transformative methodologies. If you already have a sense about the importance of play, meaning-making, and the creative act and would like to improve your theoretical underpinnings as well as add some new techniques, then this book is for you. It has helped take my naive curiosity on the subject and move it along towards an epistemological curiosity -- as Freire might put it.