Sociocultural Perspective
Explain using specific research examples how learning has been studied from the cognitive perspective and the sociocultural perspective.
Learning, in its broadest sense, involves a process of change in behaviour, knowledge or any other type of understanding as a result of experience. While both the cognitive and sociocultural perspectives address the means by which the human organism makes sense of its world, the conclusions they reach as to how this is achieved bear little resemblance. Proponents of the cognitive approach, such as Burner, delineate the mechanistic functions and process of learning; an individualistic acquisition of organising structures and models through categorisation. By contrast, sociocultural theory, as first proposed by Vygotsky, emphasises the interactive, culturally-based nature of knowledge formation, where the learner participates in existent structural frameworks or communities of practice. Whether such differences arise from a fundamental theoretical conflict or contrasting emphases on the types of learning they describe will be addressed by this essay.
Emerging from a growing dissatisfaction with the limitations of Behaviouri8sm 's stimulus-response connections, the cognitive perspective has sough to address more complex functions of the mind such as language and thinking. In contrast to the former 's emphasis on …show more content…
The importance of adopting particular discourses for precise communication in specific settings can be seen in Mercer 's observational research (2000, cited in Littleton et al., 2002) into classroom discursive practices. Qualitatively analysing 50 hours of children 's talk in 10 primary schools, he and his colleagues identified three distinct strains: disputational, cumulative and exploratory work, the last deemed to be the most influential in creating a shared sense of
Learning, in its broadest sense, involves a process of change in behaviour, knowledge or any other type of understanding as a result of experience. While both the cognitive and sociocultural perspectives address the means by which the human organism makes sense of its world, the conclusions they reach as to how this is achieved bear little resemblance. Proponents of the cognitive approach, such as Burner, delineate the mechanistic functions and process of learning; an individualistic acquisition of organising structures and models through categorisation. By contrast, sociocultural theory, as first proposed by Vygotsky, emphasises the interactive, culturally-based nature of knowledge formation, where the learner participates in existent structural frameworks or communities of practice. Whether such differences arise from a fundamental theoretical conflict or contrasting emphases on the types of learning they describe will be addressed by this essay.
Emerging from a growing dissatisfaction with the limitations of Behaviouri8sm 's stimulus-response connections, the cognitive perspective has sough to address more complex functions of the mind such as language and thinking. In contrast to the former 's emphasis on …show more content…
The importance of adopting particular discourses for precise communication in specific settings can be seen in Mercer 's observational research (2000, cited in Littleton et al., 2002) into classroom discursive practices. Qualitatively analysing 50 hours of children 's talk in 10 primary schools, he and his colleagues identified three distinct strains: disputational, cumulative and exploratory work, the last deemed to be the most influential in creating a shared sense of