This article examines sociocultural research on early literacy development in the digital age. The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of informational technology that has fundamentally shifted how we think about language and literacy in the early childhood years. Despite these trends, narrow and reductive views of literacy continue to…

A recurring theme in Indigenous affairs in Australia is a tension between maintenance of Indigenous culture and achievement of socio-economic "equity": essentially "self-determination" versus "assimilation". Implicit in this tension is the view that attachment to traditional cultures and lifestyles is a hindrance to…

Addressing the influence of sociocultural theory, current views of second language acquisition situate language learning in a much broader context than the isolated box of the classroom. There is need to consider second language (L2) acquisition practices more broadly. This study addresses differences between girls and boys of Kurdish ethnic…

The emphasis on socio-cultural theories of learning has required the understanding of multi-dimensional, dynamic and social nature of acquiring the scientific knowledge and practices. Recent policy documents suggest a focus on formative and dynamic assessment practices that will help understand and improve the complex nature of scientific learning…

A key factor in learning to teach during student teaching is the cooperating teacher, who supports and mentors prospective teachers. In the apprenticeship that is student teaching, the cooperating teacher serves as a gatekeeper to the experiential learning of pre-service teachers. Although several studies indicate the significant influence…

This study reconceptualizes the native/nonnative dichotomy and provides a powerful lens to examine linguistic identities. In a study of 25 linguistically diverse teacher candidates in Canada, the respondents' native and nonnative self-ascription and self-assessed level of proficiency was juxtaposed with the judgment of their instructors. This…

The successful participation of students with disabilities in a general education classroom is generally presumed to be contingent on the creation of classroom communities that can nurture the qualities of equity and care and where different forms of diversity are valued. However, there has been less scholarship that documents the production of…

Current research on e-learning that focuses predominantly on instructional programming, and on various hardware and software, essentially neglects the more socio-cultural perspectives on e-learning. With this in mind, this article proceeds from a social theory perspective with a more socio-culturally engaged look at e-learning for workplace…

Background: Grounded in sociocultural theories of language development and use, this paper explores the concept of dialogic voice. Building on the term "dialogue", dialogic voice points to the fundamentally social nature of language-in-use. From this perspective, language emerges from specific histories and thus carries the multiple voices of…

The dissertation investigates the effect of a concept-based approach to teaching the Chinese temporal system to English-speaking university learners at the elementary level. The pedagogical framework, Systematic-Theoretical Instruction (STI), adopted in this study was proposed by Piotr Gal'perin and originated from Vygotsky's…

The purpose of this interpretive case study was to explore--through a close analysis of one class project--students' use of audio signs and the teacher's scaffolding of the use of audio signs. Two research questions guided this study: (a) In what ways did the fifth-grade students use audio signs, specifically transitions sounds, when constructing…

Murals have become a powerful art form for portraying antiwar, human rights, social justice, and human dignity issues. Educators and artists have conducted mural workshops with adolescents in international settings to educate them about peace, human rights, and cultural tolerance. Learning with murals has been shown to be pedagogically meaningful…

As a lens through which to read and understand a subject area and its curriculum content and issues, a sociocultural perspective is a recent and arguably significant change for the Health and Physical Education (HPE) Key Learning Area (KLA) in Australia. Its significance lies, first, in the fact that it seems to represent a notable departure from…

Using a constructionist framework in music, specifically through an emphasis on composition, is revolutionizing the field of music and education by bridging the gap between the novice and professional. Much of the research has been spearheaded by Jeanne Bamberger and others, who noted the computer's potential to highlight what it means to be a…

In Australia, information and communication technologies (ICT) are a significant element of a multicultural and multilingual society. However, some people (in particular, international students, immigrants, refugees) may experience many challenges because they use technology in English as their second language (ESL) and in a new sociocultural…