On December 18, Evgeni Krasheninnikov, a leading research fellow of Laboratory of Child Development at MCU’s Institute of System Projects, presented his open lecture “Development Dialogue as a Tool for Cognitive Capabilities Development.” The speaker introduced the concept of dialectic thinking by Professor Nikolay Veraksa, which proposes to use a specific kind of dialogue occurring between the parent and the child.
Some personality qualities form naturally — others require efforts to develop. All of them are important and desirable for a mature person. However, one of them is crucial, and its absence can overshadow the presence of others. This is the ability to think. It is often confused with consciousness, which comprises, inter alia, good memory, perception, and emotions. In contrast, thinking is about analysis, synthesis, planning, and reflection. It implies problem-solving, not necessarily mathematical.
Time- and energy-consuming problems may contribute to the development of thinking.
How the ability can be developed in a child? For the research, the author introduces the concept of development dialogue, which is a mutually engaging communication act between a child and an adult, in which both search for an answer for the question interesting for them and not answered yet. Notwithstanding experience and age, both participants to the communication are equal. Evgeni Krasheninnikov suggests:
Questions perfect for the development dialogue are philosophic. They do not imply complicated terms but efforts to comprehend the essence of the occurring to us. The questions which the child tries to answer may be allegedly simple. How to draw a moving car? How to find a mother among her friends in an old photo? Does a human move when he is on the plane?
Essentially, the child understands that movement and development are unalienable from contradiction. The child finds himself in a situation of contradiction when drawing, acting, playing, discussing. Contradiction is the key term as the program by Evgeni Krasheninnikov is aimed at developing not just thinking but dialectic thinking. This is what reconciles contradictions between events, subjects, and persons. Dialectic thinking is a base for creativity, development, and creation. It is pivotal for the child but may be lost if ignored. To prevent it, Evgeni Krasheninnikov and Olga Kholodova wrote the book “Development dialogue as a tool for cognitive capabilities development.” It features a comprehensible and consistent program for dialectic thinking development.