ВЕСТНИК # 5. IN FRIEND`S MEMORY. Stephen T. Kerr.

IN FRIEND`S MEMORY

V.V. Davydov was a giant among psychologists, and among educators. As an American scholar watching the developments in Russian education from the outside during the 1980s and 1990s, it struck me as remarkable that Davydov, although a researcher and scholar in the truest sense, was always among those linked to basic change in the work of teachers, and he was accepted and respected by them for his work. This combination – of deep, scientific and scholarly research, together with realistic practical suggestions for the everyday work of teachers, was what set him apart, and made his writings and methods the landmarks that they are.

In 1993, Davydov visited Atlanta, Georgia, to make a presentation to the American Educational Research Association (the largest research association of scholars and educators in the USA). Those of us who organized his trip were uncertain how much interest there would be – Americans are not as aware as Europeans or Russians about developments in other countries. We predicted (and told Davydov) that there might be 20 or 30 people who would want to talk with him. But on the day of his

presentation, the auditorium was overflowing with more than 400 listeners. He was typically modest, but then proceeded to make a wonderful presentation that drew together his own work, the work of his intellectual predecessors (Vygotsky, Luria, Elkonin), and the contemporary work of younger Russian psychologists of his school. It was a memorable talk, and one that (in its published form) has served as a kind of «guide» for American scholars interested in the work of Davydov and his school.

On several occasions, I interviewed Vasily Vasilevich about his own career and the problems he faced at various time. Suffice it to say that his life was not an easy one, as is the case for so many Russian intellectuals and scholars of the past century. But he managed to prevail, and to see his ideas circulated far more broadly (and what is more, accepted and put to use) than those of his opponents. He always impressed me with the depth of his convictions, the intensity of his beliefs and passions, and the firmness of his desire to see the right course of action prevail. And of course, Vasily Vasilevich was a man, a delightful human being, who enjoyed being with friends and colleagues. After a festive dinner, he liked nothing better than to break into a powerful chorus of «Slavnoe more, svyashchennyi Baikal», a song that he sang with spirit and pleasure. Its Russian essence stands in my mind as a marker for this passionate, thoughtful, creative scholar who did so much to create a new, distinctively Russian model for educational psychology, and who lived to see the effects of that model spread throughout the world. We will all miss him very much.