The relations of Learning and Student Social Class – toward re-socializing Sociocultural Learning Theory

Although social groups have long been the subject of Vygotskian-inspired research, as in Luria’s early study of urban, rural and homeless children, there has been little work on low-income learners as a social group within the activity context of the school, particularly with the school understood as a social field in which social relations mediate learning.  As Dewey began urging over a century ago, educators must take more account of the social dimension in schooling, and a place to focus is on the social relations between students and teachers.  Similarly, feminists and many social scientists have criticized the absence of social considerations in numerous domains of study.  Although Vygotskian inspired approaches aim to situate the individual in social, cultural and historical context, I suggest that sociocultural approaches to learning give greater consideration also to the social conception of the learner and to the relations of learning if a fully adequate theory of learning is to be constructed for education.

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The transformation of learning: advances in Cultural-Historical Activity Theory

Learning is a changing phenomenon, depending on the advances in theory and research. This book presents a relatively new approach to learning, based on meaningful human activities in cultural practices and in collaboration with others. It draws extensively from the ideas of Lev Vygotsky and his recent followers. The book presents ideas that elaborate this learning theory and also gives recent developments and applications of this approach in a variety of educational situations in and outside of school. A core issue in the research presented in this book consists of the way people learn to make sense of and give meaning to cultural instruments and practices in collaboration with others.

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Perspectives on Activity Theory

Activity theory is an interdisciplinary approach to human sciences that originates in the cultural-historical psychology school of thought, initiated by Vygotsky, Leont’ev and Luria.  Activity theory takes the object-oriented, artifact-mediated collective activity system as its unit of analysis, thus bridging the gulf between the individual subject and the societal structure. This volume is the first comprehensive presentation of contemporary work in activity theory, with twenty-six original chapters by authors from ten countries. The first part of the book discusses central theoretical issues, and the second part is devoted to the acquisition and development of language. Part Three contains chapters on play, learning, and education, and Part Four addresses the meaning of new technology and the development of work activities. The final section covers issues of therapy and addiction.

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Cultural psychology: a once and future discipline

This book is an attempt to answer two questions: “Why do psychologists find it so difficult to keep culture in mind?” and “If you are a psychologist who believes that culture is a fundamental constituent of human thought and action, what can you do that is scientifically acceptable?” The answer to the first question involves an excursion into the history of psychology, exploring the way in which experimental science became divorced from the historical sciences. In addressing the second question, Michael Cole builds upon the “cultural-historical” school of Russian psychology and advocates a methodology based upon field studies. In an increasingly diverse society, the neglect of cultural differences or their banishment as “extraneous variables” should be troubling to psychologists, and Cole’s prescriptions for a new “cultural psychology” are most welcome. Culture is back in psychology. Michael Cole, one of the most significant contributors to this movement, gives a thoughtful synthesis of his three decades of theoretical and empirical research in this book. Though mild-mannered in his writing, Cole’s proposal amounts to nothing less than a radical restructuring of the entire discipline of psychology as a scientific enterprise. Whether one agrees with him or not, anyone interested in the culture–mind relation should read it cover to cover. In fact, any psychologist, basic or applied, will be richly rewarded by a close reading of it…Cole’s cultural psychology is an impressive achievement with a promising future.

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