Perezhivanie is a concept that was defined in Vygotsky’s work ^[1][2][1,2]. In its most general sense, it is a concept that has been used to describe the reasons for individual differences, in what people focus on and how they then interpret this information [3]. Despite its potential importance for educational theory, the concept was only recently revived in contemporary research literature.

Today, the concept is used for holistic analysis of learning and development, as it provides a way to move beyond the dualism between the individual and the community ^[4][5][6][7][4,5,6,7]. This is a concept that could place focus on subjectivity in both learning and development but may also hold the promise of far more overarching conclusions of what may affect learning over the course of a lifetime [8]. The concept provides the logic to describe personalised learning outcomes, something that not only may help us gain insight regarding what children learn today, but also provide a rationale for analysing past and future learning [8]. The concept has been interpreted, developed and used by many researchers over the last decade, and in this process, it has diversified [9]. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the contemporary literature that includes the concept of perezhivanie. The aim is to find the diversity of applications and what the concept has to offer to educational research in general and to early years education in particular.

As with many concepts, perezhivanie has been altered along the way, but in all its diversity, there are two characteristics which are generally accepted. The first one is that perezhivanie is generally used to understand individual differences in what people focus on and how they then interpret this information. Perezhivanie means to understand “how a child becomes aware of, interprets and emotionally relates to a certain event” [10]. These individual interpretations are not seen as merely reflections of the external world, but instead as transformations, that is, products of creative internal activity, as refractions [11]. The concept can be used for describing why the same situations are interpreted in different ways by different people.

The second aspect relates to the processes through which perezhivanie itself changes. Changes in perezhivanie are suggested to be the result of emotionally charged experiences leading to changes in the way in which we relate to the surrounding environment. In current literature, various expressions have been used to refer to these emotionally charged experiences, such as “dramatic perezhivanie” [12], “predicament” [8] and “experiencing-as-a-struggle” [13]. The origin of these emotionally charged experiences may be both coincidental and consciously planned as in education or through psychoeducation, psychotherapy and art. Examples of coincidental perezhivanie are found in unplanned, life-changing events, such as living in exile or growing up with alcoholic parents [8]. Conscious perezhivanie can be planned activities that become the driving force of children’s motivation [14].

3. Contributions of Perezhivanie to Contemporary Research in General

There are two general aspects of perezhivanie that appear in the literature: (a) perezhivanie is used for understanding differences in what we focus on and how this event is interpreted, and (b) perezhivanie itself is changed by intentionally creating emotionally connected experiences. Indeed, perezhivanie is used in connection to learning, seen as a change, within all articles. The difference between the different theoretical perspectives in the operationalisation of perezhivanie provides means for focusing on various aspects, such as changes in social relations, changes by cultural mediations, or changes in the individual.

Research influenced by the social perspective situates perezhivanie within the context of social dynamics and places focus on social positioning or the development of pedagogical methods intentionally designed to create positive experiences of learning ^[15][16][17][24,25,28]. Here, the concept of perezhivanie provides a logic for intentionally affecting learning over a lifetime.

The sociocultural and subjective perspectives are sources of inspiration for experimental research, which lead to the result that the significance of perezhivanie was not to identify an experience, but rather to train all relevant actors in the educational context to be self-aware of their perezhivanie processes ^[18][19][59,61]. This line of research blurs the border between education and psychology, in the sense that it suggests that teachers and students should learn methods for self-exploration. The learning in focus here is emotional exploration, which may help in facing the challenges that education in general poses nowadays.

4. Perezhivanie in Research Concerning Early Childhood Education

Perezhivanie can be considered as a theoretical concept that allows the study of a broad array of aspects surrounding the child’s development in general and science education in particular. It is a concept that re-establishes a connection between early years education and psychology, building a bridge between the two disciplines. This connection raises a series of questions regarding emotional and professional care, as well as questions regarding emotional development in general.

The concept has indeed become an important analytical tool to apply in early childhood research. The diversity of perspectives shows that the scientific community is still making progress toward understanding the notion of perezhivanie and experience. Considering this discussion with regard to early childhood education, the concept of perezhivanie is opening up a wide variety of research questions and problems ^[20][43]. There is extensive growth especially in early childhood education, signifying a turn towards processes of individual learning and subjectivity ^[21][47]