V.V. Davydov – the founder of significant scientific school and director of the Psychological Institute

The article presents the stages of biography of the famous Russian psychologist Davydov, who was a brilliant leader of a large scientific group, director of the Psychological Institute of the RAE. The content of the work of Davydov’s scientific schools is based upon the three proverbial whales that define its theoretical, methodological and didactical boundaries: the theory of content generalization and con cept formation, psychological theory of learning activity and the system of developmental teaching. The article also outlines the results of researches conducted by V.V. Davydov’s scientific group. It is demon strated that for evaluating the effectivity of learning activity, the systems of assessment of theoretical thinking and its components (such as analysis, reflection, planning, systemic characteristics of thinking) were elaborated for different object matter. Also the scientific group elaborated the criteria for assessing the levels of learning activity development, as a whole as well as its separate components. The scientific school of V.V. Davydov is a living and evolving organism. The disciples and followers of Davydov conduct empirical research that bring his ideas to life. The article analyzes the philosophical, methodological and psychological foundations of Davydov’s scientific school. The content of Davydov’s debates with Vygotsky concerning the mechanisms of theo retical generalization is outlined. Davydov’s point of view is illustrated by large empirical evidenc