Social Justice,Democratic Education and the Silencing of Words that Wound

In recent years, research within the sociocultural perspective on moral learning has contributed important knowledge about how individuals develop their moral ability by participating in sociocultural activities. To a lesser extent, sociocultural research has focused on the role of individual continuity in these processes. The purpose of this article is to contribute to the progress of the sociocultural perspective by suggesting an approach that allows for an in situ analysis of how individuals' prior experiences take part in the processes of moral meaning‐making, which also takes sociocultural activity into consideration. The philosophical and methodological basis for this approach consists of a combination of Dewey's transactional perspective on meaning‐making and Wittgenstein's first‐person perspective on language use. The article contains an empirical example that illustrates this approach. This analysis shows how prior experiences are re‐actualised in an event and thus participate in the process of moral meaning‐making, as well as contributing to the substance of the meanings made.     

Influences on Young Children's Knowledge: The case of road safety education

Recent commentators on early education have noted a need to combine the strengths of constructivist and sociocultural theoretical perspectives in the early childhood curriculum. Road safety education in the early childhood years rarely reflects a coherent theoretical base. This article argues that effective road safety education for young children needs to incorporate both constructivist and sociocultural perspectives on learning. Interviews with preschool children highlight the variety of influences that affect children's road safety knowledge and illustrate the interface of constructivist and sociocultural interpretations of learning about road safety. The value of a dual perspective is explored further with reference to a road safety curriculum intervention, which used reflective dialogue procedures, derived from Pramling's (1990) phenomenographic perspective on learning. The curriculum project demonstrates that adult interactions that clarify and make explicit children's informal learning about road safety are an important part of road safety education in the early years.     

Towards a collaborative,interactionist model of teacher change

The aim of this article is to extend the scope of the models of teacher change to an interactionist view which co-ordinates sociocultural and constructivist perspectives. Accordingly our focus will be on the cultural and situational factors and processes of social interaction, as well as on the development on an individual level. First we study how roles, statuses, expectations as well as social and socio-mathematical norms were formed in the group of four student teachers, when they were co-planning, teaching and assessing mathematics lessons during their teaching practice. Finally, we attempt to construct a collaborative, interactionist model of teacher change integrating sociocultural and constructivist perspectives.     

Participating in Classroom Mathematical Practices

In this article, we describe a methodology for analyzing the collective learning of the classroom community in terms of the evolution of classroom mathematical practices. To develop the rationale for this approach, we first ground the discussion in our work as mathematics educators who conduct classroom-based design research. We then present a sample analysis taken from a 1st-grade classroom teaching experiment that focused on linear measurement to illustrate how we coordinate a social perspective on communal practices with a psychological perspective on individual students' diverse ways of reasoning as they participate in those practices. In the concluding sections of the article, we frame the sample analysis as a paradigm case in which to clarify aspects of the methodology and consider its usefulness for design research.     

Students’ Argumentation Skills across Two Socio-Scientific Issues in a Confucian Classroom: Is transfer possible?

This paper argues the possible simultaneous development and transfer of students' argumentation skills from one socio-scientific issue to another in a Confucian classroom. In Malaysia, the Chinese vernacular schools follow a strict Confucian philosophy in the teaching and learning process. The teacher talks and the students listen. This case study explored the transfer of argumentation skills across two socio-scientific issues in such a Form 2 (8th grade) classroom. An instructional support to complement the syllabus was utilised. The teaching approach in the instructional support was more constructivist in nature and designed to introduce argumentation skills which is uncommon in a Confucian classroom. The two socio-scientific issues were genetically modified foods and deforestation. This paper presents a part of the bigger case study that was conducted. Data collected from written arguments were analysed using an analytical framework built upon Toulmin's ideas. The whole class analysis indicated progression in students' argumentation skills in their ability to give more valid grounds and rebuttals during the transfer. The individual analysis suggests progression in the majority of students' performance, while several students demonstrated non-progression when they faced a different socio-scientific issue.     

The Cognitive-Situative Divide and the Problem of Conceptual Change

In this article we argue that both the cognitive and situative perspectives need to be modified to account for the empirical evidence on learning, taking as a central example the problem of knowledge transfer. Our proposal is that we need an approach that takes as a unit of analysis the individual in a constructive interaction with the world through a variety of mediated symbolic structures, some internal and some external, in rich sociocultural settings. This should be done without denying that knowledge can be represented in some form in the memory system. While internal mental structures are acceptable in this framework, concepts should not be seen as stable and unchanging but, rather, as flexible, malleable, and distributed. To explain conceptual change, we should allow for the possibility that what is already known can be radically restructured and that new, qualitative different structures emerge. Teaching for conceptual change, we argue, should utilize but cannot solely rely on cognitive apprenticeship types of methods. Attention must be paid to the appropriate design of curricula and to the acquisition of subject matter knowledge, together with the development of instructional methods that utilize socio-cultural processes, like classroom discussion, to develop students' metaconceptual awareness and the ability to engage in intentional learning.     

Implications of differentiating and understanding constructivist approaches

Sources of confusion are identified among interpretations off information-processing, cognitive constructivist, social constructivist, and sociocultural approaches to understanding classroom learning. Attention to subtle differences among perspectives indicates areas in which particular approaches provide more incisive understanding of different aspects of classroom learning and suggest different ways of setting up learning environments. Several alternative research paradigms are suggested to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying processes and the broad contexts that support or constrain classroom learning.     

Studying Children's Learning in Context: Problems and Prospects

In this article, I present a framework for the study of children's learning in cultural practices and educational activities. The framework consists of three analytic components, each of which is grounded in a constructivist treatment of cognitive development: (a) a model for the analysis of emergent cognitive goals in practices, (b) a model for the analysis of cognitive developments linked to emergent goals, and (c) a model for the analysis of the interplay between cognitive developments linked to one practice or activity to accomplish emergent goals in another. The article describes the early history of the framework and its current application to the design and analysis of a classroom practice in the United States involving arithmetical problem solving in third and fourth grade inner-city classrooms. I close with a discussion of the framework with reference to Schoenfeld's (1992) standards for methodological innovations.     

The effects on students' emotional and behavioural difficulties of teacher–student interactions,students' social skills and classroom context

Children's emotional and behavioural difficulties are the result of multiple individual, social and contextual factors working in concert. The current paper proposes a theoretical framework for interpreting students' emotional and behavioural difficulties in classrooms, by taking into consideration teacher–student interactions, students' social skills and classroom context. Based on Bronfenbrenner's model, according to which process, person and context are the main sources of children's development, the current paper combines three theoretical approaches: firstly, in terms of process, the systems communication approach, which refers to teacher–student interactions; secondly, in terms of person, social and emotional learning, which refers to children's social skills; and thirdly, in terms of classroom context, the achievement goal theory, with its emphasis on the mastery of classroom goal structure. Empirical support for the framework resulted in the administration of four instruments to 962 primary students: (a) QTI for teacher–student interactions, (b) MESSY for students' social skills; (c) CGS for classroom context; and (d) SDQ for students' emotional and behavioural difficulties. It was found that students' possession of social skills had a prominent role in the prediction of emotional and behavioural difficulties, while teacher–student interactions and classroom context also affected students' emotional and behavioural difficulties. This perspective provides educators with a theoretical and practical tool for understanding emotional and behavioural difficulties.     

Finnish students' multiliteracy profiles

Finnish students' multiliteracy profiles are examined from the perspectives of both traditional printed reading and Internet activities in the light of the data collected as a national option integrated into the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 study. After reciting some previous findings on reader profiles as revealed by the initial international analyses of PISA data, the perspective is widened to encompass multiliteracy, which is defined according to the sociocultural view. Based on responses to a survey questionnaire, students were grouped by cluster analysis into six distinct clusters according to the frequency with which they read diverse printed materials and were involved in various Internet activities. The multiliteracy profiles are described, first from the perspective of literacy activities and further examined in relation to students' gender, reading literacy performance, socio‐economic background as well as access to books and computers. Finally, some pedagogical suggestions are made with a view to different groups of student readers.     

The sound of music: Constructing science as sociocultural practices through oral and written discourse

In this article, we examine the oral and written discourse processes in a high school physics class and how these discourse processes are related to sociocultural practices in scientific communities. Our theoretical framework is based on sociological and anthropological studies of scientific communities and ethnographies of classroom life. We review the use of discourse analysis as a methodological orientation in science education and provide a logic‐of‐inquiry framing how we used discourse analysis in our ethnographic research. Our ethnographic analysis showed that, through students' participation in creating scientific papers on the physics of sound, their appropriation of scientific discourse was related to the framing activities of the teachers and the social practices established over time in the classroom. Our textual analysis of the student papers focused on how they used evidence to make claims. We explore the lessons learned from participating in the classroom of these students. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 883–915, 1999     

Teaching probability: a socio‐constructivist perspective

There is a considerable and rich literature on students' misconceptions in probability. However, less attention has been paid to the development of students' probabilistic thinking in the classroom. This paper offers a sequence, grounded in socio‐constructivist perspective for teaching probability.     

A reaction to “mathematics education: A vision of its evolutio” by Ricardo Cantoral and Rosa M. Farfán

The present article compares Cantoral and Farfan's socio-epistemological approach to mathematics education research (MER) with approaches of other current constructivist schools (such as emergent and sociocultural constructivism), in which interactionist and realistic approaches blend together. The theoretical problems of all these perspectives seem to center on the role that cultural tools are to play in future discourse of the different approaches to MER and identifying a set of problems with common ground in order to make comparisons possible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Using a metaphor for learning to improve students' metacognition in the chemistry classroom

A constructivist framework was used in conjunction with an interpretive methodology to investigate the effect of an intervention using the metaphor “learning is constructing” on students' metacognition and learning processes. The metaphor was used to communicate with students regarding learning processes consistent with constructivism. Students were initially found to be generally non‐metacognitive regarding their learning processes. Despite some students possessing metacognitive knowledge consistent with a constructivist learning orientation, their pre‐intervention views and preferences in relation to teaching and learning were predominantly consistent with transmission models. The effect of the intervention on students' metacognition was variable. Some students became increasingly metacognitive and reported evidence of revision of their learning processes. Others reported little or no effect. The effects of the intervention can be partially explained by considering changes to students' metacognition as conceptual change. However, this study also shows that contextual factors are key determinants of students' propensity to enhance their metacognition and learning processes. This study highlights the potential of using metaphor as a means to assist teachers and students develop a shared language of learning in classroom settings. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 222–259, 2001     

社会建构主义教学观及其对我国课程改革的启示

社会建构主义教学观认为，个体获得知识不仅是个人建构的过程，也是内在的社会化过程，文化活动和语言活动等社会因素影响个体的学习。社会建构主义教学观有两种代表观点：皮亚杰的社会认知冲突理论和维果斯基的社会文化理论。社会建构主义从课堂教学、同伴间相互作用以及言语角度分析知识建构过程；在当代课程改革的实际应用方面，包括合作学习与交互式教学、情境性教学、跨学科学习、教育评估和教育改革。这种教学观在理论、实践和方法论上影响了未来的教育发展方向。     

Sociocultural approaches to learning and development: A Vygotskian framework

Sociocultural approaches emphasize the interdependence of social and individual processes in the coconstruction of knowledge. This article uses three central tenets of a Vygotskian framework to examine the relation between learning and development: (a) social sources of individual development, (b) semiotic (signs and symbols, including language) mediation in human development, and (c) genetic (developmental) analysis. The role played by culture and language in human development is an essential aspect of the Vygotskian framework and provides an overarching theme for this article. The methodological foundation of this framework is examined, particularly as it contrasts with other perspectives on the process of internalization of social interaction in the construction of knowledge. The article concludes by surveying sociocultural research on and applications to classroom learning and teaching, particularly that which examines the role of collaboration.     

Understanding teaching or teaching for understanding: Alternative frameworks for science classrooms

We came to this study with a set of beliefs about good science teaching that had been heavily influenced by the constructivist literature of the past decade. In this article we reexamine some of our own assumptions about good teaching by exploring the classroom practices of an experienced physics teacher. This teacher did not fit the mold of the constructivist teacher and, yet, there was much to suggest that he was meeting the needs of the students in his class. His methods were almost entirely whole class—focusing mainly on physics content, examination technique and algorithm practice. Our close observation of this teacher in his Grade 11 classroom over several months suggests an alternative framework for examining his work. We examine this framework through a number of themes: teacher confidence, the structure of the discipline, student motivation, trust, and the cultural context of learning. We argue for a broader view of good science teaching than that proposed by the constructivist literature, one that takes into account teachers' and students' understandings of science in relation to their social and cultural contexts.