What Is Situated Cognition Theory

Does the world around us impact our ability to learn? Or do we acquire knowledge through self-will? Furthermore, what if knowledge begins at the start of our social interactions? Several theories have been conducted to explore the styles of learning. Three theorists, Bronfenbrenner, Piaget, and Vygotsky share differing views of how cognitive development is achieved.

Thoroughly rooted within constructivism is situation learning. “Situated learning theory posits that learning is unintentional and satiated within authentic activity, context, and culture” (Lave, 1988, p. 157). Situated learning is the product of authentic activities undertaken under the guidance of expert practitioners situated in a culture of practice (Shulman, 1986).

A second strength of the sociocultural perspective is the emphasis on the role of adults in childhood cognitive development through guided participation. Vygotsky introduced the idea that children learn in a zone of proximal development. Meaning the distance between what an individual can do alone and what they can do with guidance and assistance from a capable member of society (Mcleod, 2010). Any skills outside the zone would be already mastered or still too difficult to attempt alone. “To Vygotsky, learning in collaboration with more knowledgeable companions drives cognitive development (Sigelman).” This is true throughout the world. Children in many cultures learn from a teacher, from family members, and many others. In other cultures, children learn skills from relatives, members of their village or tribe, or from other skilled members in their group. This perspective satisfies the need to recognize the role of adults in

However, in a classroom setting, the teacher is responsible for structuring interactions and developing instruction in small steps based on tasks the learner is already capable of performing independently. The teacher is also charged with providing support until the learner can move through all tasks independently. In order, for teachers, to guide learners through the tasks associated with learning a concept, they must understand Vygotsky’s perspective, that explain how cognitive tasks fit into the child’s cultural activities (Woolfolk, 2014).

An example of “culturally embedded knowledge” that could be a part of a student’s cognitive skills is the example from the article where students are farming and herding sheep. From doing this daily as part of their routine, students may develop the cognitive skills of organizing and attending to detail. Therefore, a school should build upon these skills that the child has and acknowledge them, rather than assuming that person hasn’t developed these

The class reading “Lessons from a Native Hawaiian Classroom” and our group reading “A Middle School Intervention” lucidly intertwined. Not only did they both focus on specific geographic areas of education. The articles also emphasized the “Two way Teaching” technique that has surfaced in almost all our classes, ironically at the same time.  “Students informed and shaped the content…” Godinho explains in relation to the “Eight Aboriginal ways of Learning”. The purpose of this is to get the students engaged in topics they believe have value in their lives (p.3.) Wurdman proclaims in “They viewed literacy as a means for connecting themselves with one another and with the world”. By empowering the student to take pride in themselves they become excited to share their differences and begin to see them special qualities that they can teach to others (p.432). In my undergrad I explored the notion of “Flora” as an internal mental landscape, and I cant help but see its reflection in this topic. “Flora” is a homonym that connects the body to landscape. Both the articles emphasize the importance of heritage and place as is body being the self and landscape being the community. Navigating where one belongs in a community begins when discovering the self. Both articles emphasized the importance of sharing of one’s self to manifest a “Two way

In education, physical space of the classroom matters, but more importantly the impression imposed by the instructor and interactions determines how the space is perceived as. Creating a positive space is displayed as welcoming any student to the class, and every student can benefit from such an effort. International students come to the institution with overwhelming fear and stress, hoping to be able to connect with their instructors and colleagues. When first stepped into the classrooms, it is important for instructors to create a welcoming and inclusive space, to provide a positive impression of the classroom building a sense of belonging. To achieve such setting, Crose (2011) introduces step-by-step teaching methods, starting from understanding international learners to the ways of creating an inclusive, internationalized classroom to overcome the challenges of language barriers.

The cognitive theory argues that behavior is based on knowing about a situation in which the

Sociocultural perspective is based on the position that the environment, social and cultural influences affect a person’s behaviour. The main person is this school of thought is Lev S. Vygotsky (1896- 1934) who believed that schools, classrooms, and other environment played a key role in the cognitive development of children (Valenzuela, 2002). He thought that children were able to learn through interaction with their teachers because cognitive development precedes learning. Children are also able to learn through imitation of others. After this step is accomplished, they will go on to learning from intrinsic methods such as memory.

Many scholars and journalists (e.g., Bergin & Bergin, 2015; Boaler & Staples, 2008; Lareau & Horvat, 1999; Lareau, 2002; Lewin, 2005) insisted that culture initiated and possessed by different groups of people influences schooling and learning of children in distinctive ways. This paper aims to investigate students? cultural capital from home influencing schooling and learning. Regarding Bourdieu?s (1986) culture capital, group of people has been creating and living within their own habitus embedding believe, culture, cultural materials and activities, norm, and so on. Framed by Bourdieu?s cultural capital states, this paper demonstrates three aspects of cultural capital including the embodied, the objectified, and the institutionalized states. Generated within our habitus, these three aspects create us differently regarding our beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, and interaction. I interviewed several colleagues and fellows and selected five interviewees whose data is synthesized and presented in the following sections. In addition, the interviewees? personal and educational background will briefly be presented. In a conclusion section, I specifically suggest parents to support their children? cultural capital. However,

“We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher 's task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child.”

This essay will compare and contrast three key theories of learning; Behaviourism, Cognitive Learning Theory and Constructivism.

It combined new thinking in psychology, anthropology and linguistics. As for cognitivism, learning was seen as change in learner's schemata. Language came primarily though the maturation that the environment triggered off and not through the environment itself. (Brown, H.D. & Gonzo, 1995). Cognitive theorists may have wanted to understand how problem solving changed throughout childhood, how cultural differences affected the way we view our own academic achievement , language development, and much more. (Feldman,1995). Unlike behaviourism, cognitivism emphasized that learners were not a programmed animals or passive receivers that respond merely to environmental stimuli; contrarily learners are rational human being and require active participation to

Constructivism in the classroom usually means students are engaged in activities like experiments, or real-world problem solving to increase knowledge, followed by a reflection of how their understanding of the concept has changed (Brooks, Ed.D, n.d.). Cognitivism methods of instruction are commonly integrated with the levels found in Bloom’s Taxonomy: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation (Bloom, 1956). The instructor must understand the prerequisite knowledge possessed by the student, and the student is encouraged to use appropriate strategies to help make the learning meaningful.

Constructivism is connected to the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget believed that cognitive development occurred in four stages that have distinct developmental characteristics.  He theorised that all information is organised into ‘schemas’, and this refers to the manner in which a child organisesand stores information and knowledge received. As new information is received, it is either incorporated into existing schemas (assimilation) or new schemas (accommodation) are created (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).  Vygotsky’s theories compliment those of Piaget and place a greater importance on social interaction as he considered cognitive development predominately was achievedthrough social interaction.  Vygotsky believed that learning could be accelerated with the assistance of a more advanced peer or teacher.  This concept is referred to as the zone of proximal development (ZPD) and works in conjunction with the theory of ‘scaffolding’, where a teacher provides support to student and as proficiency increases the scaffolding is decreased (Marsh, 2008). Evidence of scaffolding is seen throughout the Maths video as Ms Poole provides an outline of the lesson and the goals to allow students to establish a focus.