Dialogic Inquiry

For more than a quarter century, the polemics surrounding educational reform have centered on two points of view: those that favor a "progressive" child-centered form of education, and those that would prefer a return to a more structured, teacher-directed curriculum that emphasizes basic knowledge and skills. Vygotsky's social constructivist theory offers an alternative solution, placing stress on coconstruction of knowledge by more and less mature participants engaging in joint activity. This theory offers semiotic mediation as the primary means of obtaining knowledge, whereby the less mature participants can seek solutions to everyday problems by using resources existing in society. In addition to using illustrative examples from classroom studies, this book provides a comparative analysis of the theories and complementary developments in works by Vygotsky and the linguist M.A.K. Halliday. This unique volume will be of tremendous benefit to researchers in the fields of education, sociolinguistics, and psychology.

For more than a quarter of a century, the polemics surrounding educational reform have centered on two points of view: those who favor a "progressive" child- centered form of education, and those those would prefer a return to a more structred, teacher-directed curriculum, which emphasizs basic knowledge and skills. This volume on Vygotskypresents the alternative solutions that he explored to reach a compromise. In addition to using illustrative examples from classroom studies, a comparative analysis of the theories and complementary developments in works by Vygotsky and the linguist M.A. K. Halliday are provided.