Paul Light

George Butterworth

Originally published in 1993, the study of cognitive development in children had moved from a focus on the intellectual processes of the individual studied in relative isolation, as in the classic work of Piaget, to a concern in the 1970s and 1980s with social cognition characterized by Vygotsky's views. In the years following, the trend toward an understanding of the situated nature of cognition had evolved even further and the extent to which thinking and knowing are inextricably linked to contextual constraints was at last being defined. Experts of international repute, the authors of this important book examine the recent literature on situated cognition in children. They explain contextual sensitivity in relation to ecological theories of cognition, and contrast intuitive reasoning in mathematical and other scientific domains with the failure of such reasoning in formal school contexts. Centrally concerned with the question of generalizability and transfer of knowledge from one situation to another, the contributors point to practical implications for understanding how intellectual competence can be made to generalize between "informal" and "formal" situations.

Ways of Learning and Knowing

Context and Cognition

Sue Sheldon

Martin Woodhead

Analyses the shift in thinking from seeing the child as a solitary thinker to one in which learning is seen as being embedded in social relationships. This can come through close cultural understandings with parents and teachers.

Learning to Think

Karen Littleton

This book, first published in 2000, is an investigation of the social processes of children's learning (including computer-based learning) and problem-solving behaviour.

Paul Light

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