Specific Features of Cognition and Learning in the School Context by Stanislav Stech - Article Example

Cultural and Social Theories, Vygotsky Introduction: In the article Specific Features of Cognition and Learning in the School Context: Paradoxes of the Emphasis on Cultural Practices of Cognition Close to the Child, the author Stanislav Stech, attempts to provide an understanding of the contributions of the cultural psychological approach to learning and cognition, and through this approach provide the differentiation between learning and apprenticeship, by exploring the ideas put forth by Vygotsky, Leontiev, and Luria. On the basis of this, the author goes on to criticize the use of everyday apprenticeship as a model for learning in school (Stech, 2005). Summary: The core idea around which situational learning is focused is that learning taken to be a part of the knowledge acquisition process becomes realistic in given situations. Apprenticeship learning in comparison to formalized learning from Lave and Wenger involves participation, which is the peripheral engagement of the learner in social practices, and as such is the special trait of apprenticeship learning. The interaction between the learner and individuals, and the individuals in the situation are a part of the practical activities involved in apprenticeship learning. Due to this, the elements of Vygotsky’s cultural-psychological approach of the significance of social activities become important and by extension the Leontiev’s concept of activity and the question of the unit of analysis in evaluating psychological phenomenon gain prominence. As such then these theories should be used at schools along with the socially mediated approach to learning. However there are issues that make these theories deficient. These theories make learning an exclusive process of everyday experience neglecting the reflection and abstraction elements of the learning process. These theories give too much importance to the amount of influence artifacts and situational configurations have on mental functions. Finally they fail to remove the feeling that in their psychology of situations, the psyche of the learners belongs to the situation and there is only a mechanical shifting the “mental gestalis” from the minds of the learners into the situations. The theory of learning from the practical context is in variance with Vygotsky’s concept of school with its requirement for unit of analysis and mediation. Units of analysis provides for isolation of units of enquiry for “objectivation of psychological facts in their inter- and intra- psychological dimensions. Practical learning does assist a better understanding than mere mechanical internalization, but intra-individual activity calls for reliance on the most probable in a given context. In schools children are taught languages and the use of words that the acquire is with the objective of communicating in an understandable manner and not with reference to the context and hence the word is evaluated for all its probable meanings rather than with reference to a given situation. Such an attitude leads to the compartmentalization of practical learning as a separate object of knowledge, from the manner in which the child has been used to acquiring knowledge till then. Instead one is an extension of the other. This is best understood by evaluating the manner in which spoken language is apprehended in comparison to acquiring language with the help of writing. Spontaneous learning occurs through practical usage. The child acquires the use of the mother tongue with no deliberate intention to learn the language, and as a result though the child uses the rules of grammar of the language, the child does so without actually knowing the rules. The child conjugates verbs without realizing it consciously. In comparison in formal learning the emphasis is on phonetic, lexical, syntactic structure and grammar rules, when the there is an attempt to teach the child a new language. Thus in formalized learning a child learns from a fixed program of acquiring knowledge and given form of thought process, with the environment of the school and teacher ensuring it. There are significant differences between spontaneous learning and formalized learning, to the detriment of spontaneous learning. The primary and most significant aspect of spontaneous learning is the efficient performance o function with clearly defined limits. This constitutes more in the form of information rather than in the form of knowledge and hence is more of a pre-requisite than the essential acquiring of knowledge through conceptual works. This limits spontaneous learning with the lack of apprehension of concepts that lead to development, as spontaneous learning does not provide an understanding of the cognitive activity itself. Spontaneous learning limits the learning of the child to personal experiences without expanding it to interact with the historical experiences of humankind, and in this prevents the child from making sense of these personal experiences. Spontaneous learning prevents too early or too much intellectualization of cognition and through this restricts children from enacting their true roles in society (Stech, 2005). Criticism: The title of the article is so worded as to make it not easy to comprehend what the article is all about. Starting from the article to all of the text of the article the language used makes it not easy to assimilate. The article is couched in too technical terms to make for easy reading and understanding. In case the article was written to be read and understood only by those very conversant with the technical aspects of learning and well read in the matter then the verbosity and technical use of language is acceptable, but for those that aspire to learn from the study of this article, it makes for heavy reading and there is the likelihood of missing out key information that the author wishes to present. The article is however well laid and the arguments presented in a logical manner and reinforced with suitable theoretical framework and references. The examples provided for a clearer understanding are also well thought out. Reading this article does provide an understanding of spontaneous learning and formalized learning, and includes the information on the positions taken by several important authorities on the subject of education and the psychological processes involved in it. Through this the article has been able to establish the limitations of spontaneous learning, while providing an understanding the cognitive aspects in the process of learning The author concludes by acknowledging that formalized learning by itself need not be ideal and that spontaneous learning is meaningless. Instead while emphasizing the significance of formalized learning, the author acknowledges and provides a provides a place for spontaneous learning in the process of learning, and through this gives the reader the understanding that both formalized and spontaneous learning do have roles to play within the learning process, with however greater emphasis placed on formalized learning. Literary References Stech, S. (2005). SPECIFIC FEATURES OF COGNITION AND LEARNING IN THE SCHOOL CONTEXT: PARADOXES OF THE EMPHASIS ON CULTURAL PRACTICES OF COGNITION CLOSE TO THE CHILD. Transylvanian Journal of Psychology, 2 (1), 64-75. Read More