Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was a Russian Marxist educational philosopher and psychologist who was born in 1896 and died of tuberculosis under Stalin's repressive regime in 1934. During this short life he was exceptionally productive in his research into how children learn and develop. His ideas are extremely relevant today, as testing dominates education, with governments demanding higher standards from schools and teachers, but having little understanding of how children learn. Vygotsky shows us that learning is a more complex process, that it is above all social, interactive and cultural. Vygotsky is often cited in academic circles, but it is less well-known that his ideas about education and development were linked to a commitment to revolutionary social change, such as he witnessed in the early years of the Russian Revolution. This book is an attempt to show the background and development of his ideas, and to explain them accessibly for students, teachers, parents and others who are interested in language, communication, special educational needs, the development of the individual, and the relationship between learning, culture and society.