D.B. Elkonin on the Development of a Child’s Skills: The Position of the Concept of Arbitrary Activity Reproduction

Abstract

In 2024, the attention of Russian scientific community is focused on the most important date, the 120th anniversary of the birth of Daniil Borisovich Elkonin, the author of the psychological theory of children's play, co-author of the theory of educational activity. The article analyzes the views of D.B. Elkonin on the development of children’s skills from the standpoint of the author’s concept of reproduction of an activity. Arbitrary activity reproduction is a purposeful reconstructive-reproductive process, relatively independent from memorization, characterized by individual originality, manifested in the quantity and quality of recall of previously memorized information for the purpose of future activity based on a certain level of its understanding and comprehension. We consider mnemonic abilities as tools for memorizing, reproducing, forgetting, recognizing and preserving any material. It is shown that the concept of arbitrary activity reproduction of educational material implement an activity-based approach to the development of skills. The research results prove the importance of developing children’s cognitive skills and abilities through the pupil’s mastery of educational activities — associative-indicative, analytical-synthetic, control-evaluative.