Per Linell

Roger Säljö

Åsa Mäkitalo

Memory and learning are seen as mental phenomena and generally studied as brain processes, for example, within various branches of psychology and neuroscience. This book represents a rather different tack, based on sociocultural theory, cultural psychology and dialogism. Authors from many different disciplines and countries study memory and learning as practices adopted by people in different interactional and institutional contexts. Studies range from detailed analyses of situated activities to broad sociohistorical studies of cultural phenomena and collective memories such as national narratives and physical symbols for commemorating events and traditions. By focusing on how people engage in remembering and learning, this book provides a necessary complement to currently popular neuroscientific approaches.

Interactional, Institutional and Sociocultural Perspectives

Memory Practices and Learning

A Study of Differences in Constructing Meaning from a Text

Learning and Understanding

sotsiokultuuriline käsitlus

Õppimine tegelikkuses

The written word has taught a way of being. Since the written version of language is visible and permanent, many of our attitudes to and normative assumptions about language - and human communication in general - derive from our experiences of written language. In recent years, scholars from such disciplines as history, anthropology, education and linguistics have joined forces to readdress issues surrounding the problems of the relationship between oral and written language. The lessons to be learnt are fascinating and imply that many of the assumptions we hold concerning language and the human condition are neither "natural" nor universal; rather, they build on highly specific norms and attitudes introduced through a certain literate tradition. Furthermore, these norms have come to dominate many modern social institutions such as schools, the legal system and bureaucracies of various kinds that influence and determine our lives. The present volume analyzes in detail the impact of written language on a broad range of issues that relate to human development in both an ontogenetic and a phylogenetic perspective, together with the relationship of written language to oral and literate practices. The articles cover empirical studies as well as theoretical analyses of literate practices in diverse settings.

Studies in Literate Thought and Action

The Written World

Christoph Wulf

Gunther Kress

Staffan Selander

This book studies learning as a social enterprise, contextually situated, organized and assessed. It gives a broad theoretic grounding for an understanding of learning which goes beyond a common reductionist approach. The book discusses four related approaches to learning which share a social perspective: social semiotics and multimodality; a design-theoretic approach to learning; a socio-cultural perspective; and a perspective of mimetic learning. Contributing authors consider the theoretical question of how to understand educational systems, learning and social communication as historically situated practices. The chapters in this book analyze key working practices including: analyzing what learning, remembering and cognitive work is like in a practice involving different kinds of expertise; problem-solving and engaging through collaboration; learning and teaching in different formal, semi- and non-formal environments; a design-theoretic approach to learning; social semiotic perspectives on learning; the mimetic and ritual dimension of learning; how social learning can be organized to support students; how learning has been conceptualized in psychology and neighbouring research areas. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers interested in learning and meaning-making, multimodal representations and communication, designs for learning, education and teaching, and social achievement in different formal and non-formal contexts.

Beyond Education as an Individual Enterprise

Learning as Social Practice

Roger Säljö

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