Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Series Foreword
- Introduction: Sociocultural Theory and Education: Students, Teachers, and Knowledge
- PART I CONCEPTS AND PARADIGMS
- PART II DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING
- 6 Periods in Child Development
- 7 Development Through the Lifespan
- 8 Learning and Development of Preschool Children from the Vygotskian Perspective
- 9 The Learning Activity in the First Years of Schooling
- 10 Remediation Through Educationw
- PART III SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY APPLICATION IN THE CLASSROOM
- PART IV DIVERSE LEARNERS AND CONTEXTS OF EDUCATION
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Titles in the series
- References
9 - The Learning Activity in the First Years of Schooling
The Developmental Path Toward Reflection
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Series Foreword
- Introduction: Sociocultural Theory and Education: Students, Teachers, and Knowledge
- PART I CONCEPTS AND PARADIGMS
- PART II DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING
- 6 Periods in Child Development
- 7 Development Through the Lifespan
- 8 Learning and Development of Preschool Children from the Vygotskian Perspective
- 9 The Learning Activity in the First Years of Schooling
- 10 Remediation Through Educationw
- PART III SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY APPLICATION IN THE CLASSROOM
- PART IV DIVERSE LEARNERS AND CONTEXTS OF EDUCATION
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- Titles in the series
- References
Summary
The notion learning activity in its broad meaning comprises the educational practices that treat the student as not only a performer of a teacher's instructions but, more important, as the agent of cognitive actions that are distributed between the teacher and the student. With the emphasis on activity of the learner, the term learning activity refers to a diverse set of educational practices that are consistent with constructivist theories. The educational philosopher John Dewey and the developmental psychologists Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, and Jerome Bruner, among others, propose that children actively construct knowledge, and that this knowledge is constructed in a social context. Accordingly, it is the student who sets the goals, searches for the means and methods to achieve them, and engages in self-control and self-evaluation of the achievements that result.
The term and the concept of learning activity, in its narrow sense, were developed in the late 1950s by Daniil Elkonin (1904–1984). A student and associate of Lev Vygotsky, this prominent Russian developmental and educational psychologist strongly influenced several generations of educators and researchers in his country. Elkonin and his immediate associate Vassily Davydov (1930–1998) worked out an innovative theory of education along with the associated educational practices that both embody and exemplify the theory. This system of education helps the child to become the agent of self-change aimed at transcending the limits of one's own experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities and at acquiring methods for self-learning (Davydov, 1988; Elkonin, 1988).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural Context , pp. 177 - 199Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
References
Amano, K. (1999). Improvement of schoolchildren's reading and writing ability through the formation of linguistic awareness. In Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen, & R.-L. Punamäki (Eds.), Perspectives on activity theory (pp. 183–205). Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCrossRef
, & (2000). The quality of cultural tools and cognitive development: Gal'perin's perspective and its implication. Human Development, 43, 69–92CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M. M. Bakhtin (M. Holquist, Ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press
(1992). Design experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in classroom settings. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2, 141–178CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A. L., & Campione, J. C. (1994). Guided discovery in a community of learners. In K. McGilly (Ed.), Classroom lessons: Integrating cognitive theory and classroom practice (pp. 229–270). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Carpay, J., & Van Oers, B. (1999). Didactic models and the problem of intertextuality and polyphony. In Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen, & R.-L. Punamäki (Eds.), Perspectives on activity theory (pp. 298–313). Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCrossRef
Davydov, V. V. (1988). Problems of developmental teaching: The experience of theoretical and experimental psychological research. [Published as a series of papers: The basic concepts of contemporary psychology. Soviet Education, 30(8), 15–43; Problems of the child's mental development. Soviet Education, 30(8), 44–97; Learning activity in the younger school age period. Soviet Education, 30(9), 3–47; The mental development of younger schoolchildren in the process of learning activity. Soviet Education, 30(9), 48–83 and (10), 3–36.]
Davydov, V. V. (1990). Types of generalization in instruction: Logical and psychological problems in the structuring of school curricula. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
, & (1982/83). A concept of educational activity for schoolchildren. Soviet Psychology, 21(2), 50–76Google Scholar
Doise, W., & Mugny, G. (1984). The social development of the intellect. Oxford: Pergamon Press
Donaldson, M. C. (1978). Children's mind. New York: Norton
(1972). Toward the problem of stages of the mental development of the child. Soviet Psychology, 10(3), 225–251Google Scholar
Elkonin, D. B. (1988). How to teach children to read. In J. A. Downing (Ed.), Cognitive psychology and reading in the USSR. Advances in Psychology, 49, 387–426CrossRef
Forman, E. A., & McPhail, J. (1993). Vygotskian perspectives on children's collaborative problem-solving activities. In E. A. Forman, N. Minick, & C. A. Stone (Eds.), Contexts for Learning (pp. 213–229). New York: Oxford University Press
(1992). Stage-by-stage formation as a method of psychological intervention. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 30 (4), 60–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1990). How instruction influences children's concepts of evolution. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 3, 11–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1990). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Lehrer, R., & Schauble, L. (2000). Modeling in mathematics and science. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Advances in instructional psychology. Vol. 5. Educational design and cognitive science (pp. 101–159). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
(2000). Use of theory of developmental education in German school (to the 70th birthday of V. V. Davydov). Voprosy Psikhologii, 4, 97–106Google Scholar
Perret-Clermont, A-N. (1980). Social interaction and cognitive development in children. London, New York: Academic Press
(1994). Developing understanding of the idea of communities of learners. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 1 (4): 209–229Google Scholar
(1981). The role of cooperation in the development of intelligence. Soviet Psychology, 19(4), 41–62Google Scholar
, & (1984–1985). Psychological characteristics of the methods pupils use to organize joint activity in dealing with a school task. Soviet Psychology, 23(2), 65–84Google Scholar
Schifter, D., & Fosnot, C. T. (1993). Reconstructing mathematics education: Stories of teachers meeting the challenge of reform. New York: Teachers College Press
Siegal, M. (1991). Knowing children: Experiments in conversation and cognition. Howe, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Slavin, R. E. (1995). Cooperative learning: Theory, research, and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon
, & (1992). The genesis of reflective consciousness at early school age. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 30(1), 6–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steen, L. A. (1990). Pattern. In L. A. Steen (Ed.), On the shoulders of giants: New approaches to numeracy (pp. 1–10). Washington, DC: National Academy Press
Tsukerman, G. A., Elizarova, N. B., Frumina, M. I., & Chudinova, E. V. (1995). Learning cooperation in school lessons. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 33(1), 65–81CrossRef
(1992). Processes and consequence of peer collaboration: A Vygotskian analysis. Child Development, 63, 1364–1379CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1963). Learning and mental development at school age. In B. Simon, & J. Simon (Eds.), Educational Psychology in the U. S. S. R. (pp. 21–34)
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & Souberman, Eds.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Waddington, C. H. (1957). The strategy of the genes: A discussion of some aspects of theoretical biology. New York: Macmillan
Wells, G. (1999). Dialogic inquiry: Towards a sociocultural practice and theory of education. New York: Cambridge University Press
Wertsch, J. V. (1991). Voices of the mind: A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Zuckerman, G. A. (1994a). A pilot study of a ten-day course in cooperative learning for Russian first-graders. Elementary School Journal, 94, 405–420
Zuckerman, G. A. (1994b). The child's initiative in building up cooperation: the key to problems of children's independence. In J. J. F. ter Laak, P. G. Heymans, & A. Podol'skij (Eds.), Developmental tasks: Towards a cultural analysis of human development (pp. 125–140). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic
(1997). The transition from preschool to school activity: A Vygotskian perspective. Tijdschrift voor Ontwikkelingspsychologie, 23, 205–229Google Scholar
, , & (1998). Inquiry as a pivotal element of knowledge acquisition within Vygotskian paradigm: Building a science curriculum for the elementary school. Cognition and Instruction, 16, 201–233CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 23
- Cited by