Learning is always a core activity in forming cognitive abilities and personality traits in people's growth process, and motivation is the key psychological mechanism that drives learning behaviour. Therefore, motivation in learning is an important area of research in educational psychology. It not only determines the initiation and continuation…

Developing "Thinking and Understanding in Young Children" presents a comprehensive and accessible overview of contemporary theory and research about young children's developing thinking and understanding. Throughout this second edition, the ideas and theories presented are enlivened by transcripts of children's activities and conversations taken…

Based on the papers presented at the 1996 Symposium of the Jean Piaget Society and highlighting the extent to which Piaget's ideas have served to scaffold contemporary thinking about every aspect of conceptual development, this volume examines the nature of conceptual development, its foundations, and the sources of its novelties. The chapters…

Noting that sociocultural approaches to cognitive development provide valuable insights into the influences on learning of relationship and cultural variables, this book discusses recent theory and research on the social context of cognitive development. The book takes the view that the social settings in which children live and grow provide both…

Drawing from national and city-based sources, Volume 1 reports the empirical evidence concerning the relationship between children and community. The chapters are: (1) "Neighborhoods and Communities as Contexts for Development" (Martha A. Gephart); (2) "Development in Context: Implications for Studying Neighborhood Effects" (J. Lawrence Aber,…

LogoLearning represents a philosophy and a strategy that centers on enabling students to find meaningfulness in their education. In LogoLearning it is the major task of the teacher to broaden students' perceptions so that meaning becomes visible and the purpose of learning becomes immediately understandable. This book proposes that without…

Noting that an examination of play from diverse perspectives deepens understanding and opens up new avenues for research and educational practice, this book brings together studies, research syntheses, and critical commentaries that examine play-literacy relationships from cognitive, ecological, and cultural perspectives. Each set of chapters is…

This book presents an integrated theory of cognitive development in infancy and early childhood, emphasizing the role of language in memory, processing narratives, forming concepts, and understanding others' intentions. Chapter 1, "Language, Cognition, and Culture in Developmental Perspective," presents the experiential theoretical…

This collection of essays illustrates various aspects of the recent trend to situate accounts of cognitive development. The essays examine contextual sensitivity in relation to ecological theories of perception and cognition, and contrast intuitive reasoning in mathematical and other scientific domains with the child's difficulty with reasoning in…

Sociocultural theory has challenged existing notions of cognitive development by suggesting that psychological functioning is specific to its social context and is dependent on the mastery of culturally defined modes of speaking, thinking, and acting. This book provides a representative sample of work on the social and cultural foundations of…

Stressing that children's development in diverse cultures follows different paths, this book describes children's development in its cultural context. The book illustrates that the everyday work, school, and play activities provided for children vary from one culture to another depending on the social and economic structure of the cultures and…

In this updated landmark book, the authors have gathered the seminal work and most current thinking on adult learning into one volume. This book addresses a wide range of topics including: Who are adult learners? How do adults learn? Why are adults involved in learning activities? How does the social context shape the learning that adults are…

This book describes an ethnographic study of cultural routines involved in enculturating children into Kpelle society in West Africa. The study focused on: (1) playforms such as pretend play; and (2) adult-guided activities such as apprenticeship. Chapter 1 of the book, "Studying Child Development in Kpelle Society," introduces the…