How would we like to see the school of the future? The answer to this question is searched in many countries, including Russia. The proposed conceptual solutions are based on different theoretical foundations, and this determines the key differences between them. The scientific school of developmental education has produced a model of the school of the future for primary school age, known as the “Elkonin-Davydov system”. The adolescent school model is still under development. Having based on the key provisions of the developmental education’s theory, the article proposes a vision of what the goals, content and forms of education in a adolescent school should be. The formation of the ability to be the subject of various types of socially significant activities is defined аs the central line of adolescent development. Thus the principal new psychological formation shaped by adolescent school is practical consciousness and the corresponding reasonable (meaningful) practical thinking. It is argued that in adolescent school, socially significant activity is implemented though project activity (designing). Project activity can become a form of development for students if, in the process of its implementation, they master this very activity. It means that the content of education should include both subject and meta-subject elements. Accordingly, the structures of action in learning activity should unfold in two dimensions: subject and meta-subject.

The article presents a study of one of the most important qualities of the subject of activity, the ability to define practical problems. The purpose of the study is to find answers to two questions: what determines the ability of a person to define problems and how can we promote the development of this ability? The research hypothesis is based on L.S. Vygotsky’s theory of sign mediation of mental functions and of the mechanisms of psychological development, as well as on V.V. Davydov’s activity theory of thinking and its development. The hypothesis of the study is that, firstly, the differences in the operational structure of the action of problem-setting and its performance are determined by whether it is mediated by the empirical or theoretical concept of the problem; secondly, it is possible to develop the ability to define problems through specially organized training which ensures the activity-based acquisition of the cultural methods of problem-setting. We developed a training program and a test for assessing an individual’s ability to define problems. The experiment was conducted on the basis of the Surgut State Pedagogical University and involved 61 third-year students: 31 in the experimental group (30 females and 1 male) and 30 in the control one (all females). The study shows that, depending on the nature of mediation of the action of the problem, its operational structure and performance differ qualitatively. Besides, it is possible to qualitatively improve the ability of the person to define problems through the implementation of the activity-based training program.

The author analyses the possibilities of transforming human mind in connection with the appearance of “digital civilization” and the development of human sciences, in particular, cognitive and neural ones. The article argues that human sciences can promote human perfection (and will not be used as a means of its degradation) only if they take into account the principal fact: the human being is a natural/artificial creature engaged in activity and culture. In this context the author studies the relationship between individual and collective activity and analyzes different forms of the latter: relative independence of participants, distributed activity, and cooperative activity. Cooperation requires constant communication between the participants. Therefore activity and communication cannot be opposed to each other, as the act of communication matters only in the context of activity, and also because communication itself can be understood as a specific kind of activity. In this connection social constructionism in psychology and other human sciences is criticized.

On July 10, 2018 a discussion seminar "From Joint Activity to the Construction of New Social Communities: Jointness. Creativity. Education. School" was held at the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education dedicated to the 70th birthday of professor Vitaly Rubtsov, Rector of MSUPE. Some of the discussed topics were: "Sociogenesis and the productive nature of joint action", "From co-operation to co-creation: new forms of community in joint activity", "Jointness in play, learning and design activity", "School as the place for developing various forms of child-adult communities and activities". Among the participants of the seminar were representatives of the leading research and educational organizations: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and others. Here we present the full text of the discussion.

On July 10, 2018 a discussion seminar “From Joint Activity to the Construction of New Social Communities: Jointness. Creativity. Education. School” was held at the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education dedicated to the 70th birthday of professor Vitaly Rubtsov, Rector of MSUPE. Some of the discussed topics were: “Sociogenesis and the productive nature of joint action”, “From co-operation to co-creation: new forms of community in joint activity”, “Jointness in play, learning and design activity”, “School as the place for developing various forms of child-adult communities and activities”. Among the participants of the seminar were representatives of the leading research and educational organizations: Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Psychological Institute of the Russian Academy of Education, Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and others. Here we present the full text of the discussion.