Teacher Thinking in Cultural Contexts


Book Description

Francisco Rios' book sheds light on current scholarship around teacher thinking in cultural contexts and identifies promising practices that take into account context specific influences. He provides a theoretical and conceptual framework for understanding why teacher cognition as a context specific phenomenon is important, how it is studied, what can be learned, and how these learnings inform the preparation of culturally responsive educators. The contributors look at how teachers think about students of color and/or a multicultural curriculum and explore opportunities for reconstructing teacher knowledge of the cultural context. Rather than focusing on ways in which the students are "deficient," or on the behavioral elements of effective teaching, this book starts with the how and what of teacher thinking as a central element in the teaching-learning relationship. It places the teacher at the center of instructional activity. While teacher thought influences what happens in instructional settings, teacher thought is also influenced by the people and activity critical to those settings.




How People Learn II


Book Description

There are many reasons to be curious about the way people learn, and the past several decades have seen an explosion of research that has important implications for individual learning, schooling, workforce training, and policy. In 2000, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition was published and its influence has been wide and deep. The report summarized insights on the nature of learning in school-aged children; described principles for the design of effective learning environments; and provided examples of how that could be implemented in the classroom. Since then, researchers have continued to investigate the nature of learning and have generated new findings related to the neurological processes involved in learning, individual and cultural variability related to learning, and educational technologies. In addition to expanding scientific understanding of the mechanisms of learning and how the brain adapts throughout the lifespan, there have been important discoveries about influences on learning, particularly sociocultural factors and the structure of learning environments. How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures provides a much-needed update incorporating insights gained from this research over the past decade. The book expands on the foundation laid out in the 2000 report and takes an in-depth look at the constellation of influences that affect individual learning. How People Learn II will become an indispensable resource to understand learning throughout the lifespan for educators of students and adults.










Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural Context


Book Description

This 2003 book comprehensively covers all major topics of Vygotskian educational theory and its classroom applications. Particular attention is paid to the Vygotskian idea of child development as a consequence rather than premise of learning experiences. Such a reversal allows for new interpretations of the relationships between cognitive development and education at different junctions of the human life span. It also opens new perspectives on atypical development, learning disabilities, and assessment of children's learning potential. Classroom applications of Vygotskian theory are discussed in the book. Teacher training and the changing role of a teacher in a sociocultural classroom is discussed in addition to the issues of teaching and learning activities and peer interactions. Relevant research findings from the US, Western Europe, and Russia are brought together to clarify the possible new applications of Vygotskian ideas in different disciplinary areas.