Based on field studies in five East Asian societies, the paper has three research agendas of portraying mass tutorial schools. The first is to depict those similarities and differences between functioning, infrastructure and popularity of East Asian tutorial schools by means of a 3-layered cultural model and six descriptive indicators. The second…

This study forms the initial stage of a larger study that will examine the underlying reasons why Grade 10 students often produce equations that are inaccurate interpretations of mathematical word problems into algebraic relationships. Four case studies were undertaken to establish a socio-cultural perspective of the influences that could be…

In their review, Cole, Martin, and Dennis (this issue) relied on a valuable set of empirical examples of emotion regulation in infancy, toddlerhood, and the preschool period to make their case. These examples can be extended to include an emergent body of published research examining normative emotional regulatory processes among low-income and…

Through a feminist agenda that seeks to redress gender inequities through remedies of redistribution and recognition, this paper draws on Fraser's work (1997) to articulate a framework of transformative justice. In moving beyond the competing logics underpinning such remedies, this framework adopts a transformative theory and politics in…

The author of this article looks back at television advertising from the last 50 years. He observes the position of women in American society as creatures who served at men's pleasure and for men's pleasure. When future anthropologists examine today's television advertising, one significant change they will note is that the culture is more…

This article is based on a comparative study of French and English infant schools. The first section examines the understanding of "mistakes" from a socio-cultural perspective, relating assessment to teachers' culturally situated practice and values. While mistakes and failure for some are an inevitable outcome of French pedagogic choices, they…

This study explores the use of Valsiner's zone theory as a way to interpret the zones of proximal development of three secondary teachers in mathematics and science. Specifically, we used classroom discourse to identify what the participating teachers promoted (zone of promoted action) or allowed (zone of free movement) in the classroom as a way…

The goal of this paper is to examine efforts to understand the developmental consequences, particularly the cognitive consequences, of children spending large amounts of time in formal schools where their activity is separated from the daily life of the rest of the community and mediated by technologies of literacy and numeracy as well as…

In this article we provide a review of theory and research on the use of peers to influence learning outcomes in physical education. First, we summarize the empirical literature on the use of peers in general education. Next, Piaget's equilibration theory, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, and Skinner's behavior analytic theory are discussed with…

Documenting collaborative knowledge construction is critical for research in computer-supported collaborative learning. Because this is a multifaceted phenomenon, mixed methods are necessary to construct a good understanding of collaborative interactions, otherwise there is a risk of being overly reductionistic. In this paper I use quantitative…

This study examined Vygotsky's theoretical notion that play creates the zone of proximal development by investigating the effects of peer interaction within the context of constructive play with blocks. The authors used the Play Observation Scale (Rubin, 1989) to observe 100 four-year-olds in naturalistic settings. Forty-eight children were…

Research has focused on four groups of factors and the achievement gap: (1) student characteristics (high school GPA, attendance patterns, courses taken in high school, participation in extra-curricular activities, etc.); (2) family characteristics (family structure, in home, parents' level of education, mobility, etc.); (3) school-based…

Writing on contemporary culture and social life, sociologists and cultural theorists have been describing new or changing forms of movement, variously described as cultural "flows," "liquid life," or a "networked society." The change in such movements or mobilities of people, media, material goods, and other social phenomena, including the reach…

The purpose of this study is to examine English as a second language (ESL) teachers' sensitivity to their students' social-cultural backgrounds and the kind of constraints they face as they translate sociocultural perspectives into practice. Through both quantitative (questionnaire surveys) and qualitative (interviews) analysis, the study reports…

This book depicts the evolution of American educational history from 1630 to the present. The book highlights how ideological managers have shaped society and, because schools mirror society, have thus had a profound impact on education and schooling. Five common areas of study - philosophy, politics, economics, social sciences, and religion -…