Abstract Accepted 12 November 2024 In this essay I reflect on James P. Lantolf's contributions to cultural-historical theory and second language learning. I begin with my personal subjectivity and experiences as a limited learner of additional languages beyond English. This anecdotal opening introduces the tension between formal learning in school…

Parents want to work with their children's teachers to help them succeed in school. "What Brain Research Says about Student Learning" provides parents and teachers the most recent findings in brain research and learning theory in a very approachable way. The reader will see how the child's brain develops, learns, remembers, and creates…

This paper addresses a problem that greatly complicates the implementation of dialogic educational approaches in schools: the dilemma between driving children's talk towards normatively accepted conceptions and, at the same time, avoiding the introduction of these normative conceptions into the dialogue by the teacher. I argue that this dilemma is…

Second language acquisition (SLA) is a complex, interdisciplinary field of study which has its roots in subjects as varied as cognition and psychology to social applications and actions in anthropology and sociology (Han & Nassaji, 2019). Nearly a century ago, Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky attempted to connect the seemingly disparate areas…

Students tend to comprehend little and lose focus of classroom instruction when their teachers fail to use instructional strategies that match students' learning styles. Differentiated instruction can alleviate or eliminate this disengagement. This article describes a case involving a child having difficulty learning and shows how…

Piaget's theories of the structure of knowledge, constructivist learning, and stages of development in thinking have been a cornerstone of cognitive psychology and teacher education for half a century (Piaget, 1983). More recently, his ideas about stages of cognitive development have received criticism from many quarters (Weiten, 1992), including…

Background and Context: Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasises the importance of language, mediation, and the transfer of skills and knowledge from the social into the cognitive plane. This perspective has influenced the development of PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make), a structured approach to teaching programming. Objective:…

There have been debates on the right age to start learning a foreign language, especially, English. A great number of researchers have revealed evidence to support the notion, 'the younger to start, the better'. In contrast, others argue and advocate for implementing instruction of English a little later in life. Studies also have revealed that…

Children's learning of early number bonds is a significant issue in South African schools because evidence shows that flexible and efficient (fluent and reasoned) knowledge of number bonds to 20 correlates with success at the end of primary schooling, yet the evidence is that many South African students are over-reliant on inefficient counting…

Instructional management focuses on planning, execution and evaluation of learning experiences. For teachers in pre-secondary schools to plan, execute and evaluate learning experiences effectively, they need to have good understanding of the process of cognitive development in children. Piaget has postulated that children progress through a series…

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of 37 first-graders' solutions to addition problems were conducted to re-examine inconsistencies in children's progress from counting-all to counting-on. The authors applied the constructivist's participatory-anticipatory stage distinction as a tool for fine-grained assessment. Among solutions given by…

Stage theory represents a concise explanation for change in teacher professional development with gained experience in the classroom. This study examines the "self-task-impact" stage chronology proposed by concerns-based theory within the framework of longitudinal research on beginning teaching. The study investigated developmental change in a…

The author is concerned that teaching strategies based on the values clarification approach (VCA) and on Kohlberg's stage theory of moral development might be premature. The VCA has been adopted widely despite concerns about threats to privacy of participating students, infringement on rights of parents to shape their children's values, and…

The Plowden Report drew heavily on Piaget's theories of cognitive development, especially his concepts of activity and discovery learning and readiness. But Piaget's theory is not a pedagogical one and it has little to say about teaching content and methods. Recently, criticism of his theory has grown. (Author/SJL)

Presents Jean Piaget's theory of genetic recognition, one of the first constructivist learning theories. Examines critically the relationship of the theory to present-day teaching and learning research, pedagogical practice, and other forms of constructivism. Asserts that one practical application of Piaget's learning theory would be to teach by…