Vygotsky and Education - Instructional Implications and Applications of Sociohistorical Psychology

The seminal work of Russian theorist Lev Vygotsky (18961934) has exerted a deep influence on psychology over the past 30 years. Vygotsky was an educator turned psychologist, and his writings clearly reflected his pedagogical concerns. For Vygotsky, schools and other informal educational situations represent the best cultural laboratories to study thinking. He emphasized the social organization of instruction, writing about the unique form of cooperation between the child and the adult that is the central element of the educational process. Vygotskys emphasis on the social context of thinking represents the reorganization of a key social system and associated modes of discourse, with potential consequences for developing new forms of thinking. This volume is devoted to analyzing Vygotskys ideas as a means of bringing to light the relevance of his concepts to education. What does Vygotskys approach have to offer education? Distinguished scholars from various countries and representing several disciplines discuss the essence and significance of Vygotskys work, analyze the educational implications of his thoughts, and present applications in practice, addressing educational issues such as school organization, teacher training, educational achievement, literacy learning and development, uses of technology, community-based education, and special education. Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction Luis C. Moll
Part I. Historical and Theoretical Issues: 1. Vygotsky: the man and his cause Guillermo Blanck
2. The historical context of Vygotskys work: a sociohistorical approach Alberto Rosa and Ignacio Montero
3. Congitive development and formal schooling: the evidence from cross-cultural research Michael Cole
4. The voice of rationality in a sociocultural approach to mind James V. Wertsch
5. The social origins of self-regulation Rafael M. Diaz, Cynthia J. Neal and Marina Amaya-Williams
6. Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development, and peer collaboration: implications for classroom practice Jonathan Tudge
Part II. Educational Implications: 7. Teaching mind in society: teaching, schooling, and literate discourse Ronald Gallimore and Roland Tharp
8. A ygotskian interpretation of Reading recovery Marie M. Clay and Courtney B. Cazden
9. Vygotsky in a whole-language perspective Yetta M. Goodman and Kenneth S. Goodman
10. The development of scientific concepts and discourse Carolyn P. Panofsky, Vera John-Steiner and Peggy J. Blackwell
Part III. Instructional Applications: 11. Changes in a teachers views of interactive comprehension instruction Kathryn H. Au
12. Learning to read and write in an inner-city setting: a longitudinal study of community change Gillian Dowley McNamee
13. Writing as a cosial process Joan B. McLane
14. Creating zones of possibilities: combining social contexts for instruction Luis C. Moll and James B. Greenberg
15. The zone of proximal development as basis for instruction Mariane Hedgegaard
16. Detecting and defining science problems: a study of video-mediated lessons Laura M. W. Martin
17. Assisted performance in writing instruction with learning-disabled students Robert Rueda
Name index
Subject index.