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Asia-Pacific
Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 7, Issue 1, Article
5 (June, 2006) Beverley JANE Online reflections about tinkering in early childhood: A socio-cultural analysis
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Asia-Pacific
Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 7, Issue 1, Article
5 (June, 2006) Beverley JANE Online reflections about tinkering in early childhood: A socio-cultural analysis
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Socio-cultural theory
For more than two decades, constructivism has been the dominant view of learning held by science educators. Constructivism is a particular view of learning, whereby learners actively generate meaning from experience. Over the years there have been further developments in different domains, such as radical constructivism (popular in mathematics education) and social constructivism (with supporters in science education), but the focus has remained on the individual acquiring knowledge. In recent years there has been a paradigm shift, from learner-centred constructivism to socio-cultural theory. This shift is particularly evident in research in the field of early childhood, where a socio-cultural perspective has been strongly embraced by leading early childhood educators such as Fleer and Robbins (2003). However, as Fleer and Richardson (2004) found in their study, early childhood teachers require extensive time if they are to change from an individualistic approach to a socio-cultural approach.
From a socio-cultural perspective, development is viewed as a cultural process that involves people’s changing participation in the cultural activities of their communities (Rogoff, 2003). In socio-cultural theory (derived from research by Vygotsky and others), learning is more complex than merely the discovery of knowledge by an individual. "Learning is seen as a function of ongoing transformation of roles and understanding in the sociocultural activities in which one participates" (Rogoff, 1994, p. 210). Here 'Transformation of participation' means that knowledge is continually enacted through human participation in a changing environment (Rogoff, Matusov & White, 1996). "People change through transforming their participation in sociocultural activities - in which both the individual and the rest of the world are active" (Rogoff, 1997, p. 266).
Copyright (C) 2006 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 7, Issue 1, Article 5 (June, 2006). All Rights Reserved.
