Why did few people hear of Vygotsky prior to the 1960's?

Answer 1

Few people heard of Lev Vygotsky prior to the 1960s primarily due to the political climate in the Soviet Union, where his work was largely overlooked and suppressed after his death in 1934. His theories, which emphasized the social context of learning and the importance of cultural tools, were not widely disseminated outside the USSR until the Cold War era when Western scholars began to explore and translate his ideas. Additionally, the focus of educational psychology during the mid-20th century was predominantly on behaviorism, overshadowing Vygotsky's constructivist approach. It wasn't until the rise of interest in cognitive development and constructivist theories that his contributions gained recognition in the West.