Vygotskian Perspectives on Literacy Research

The authors in this collection use Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory of human development to frame their analyses of schooling, with particular emphasis on the ways in which literacy practices are mediated by social interaction and cultural artifacts. This volume extends Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theoretical framework to embrace nuances of learning and development that are influenced by culture as instantiated through the experiences of race, ethnicity, and language variation. Rather than seeking to provide definitive answers to social questions using Vygotsky’s core principles, the authors wrestle with educational problems through the mediation of Vygotsky’s theory. In doing so, they both sharpen their focus on the problems and speak back to Vygotsky, helping to extend the foundation of his work to address modern problems. This collection serves as a form of collaborative inquiry that itself will stimulate further consideration of these topics.

• Provides empirical grounding for Vygotskian theory • Includes big names (e.g. Jim Wertsch, Luis Moll) • Addresses race, ethnicity, and language variation in learning and development

Part I. Paradoxes in Vygotsky’s Account of Development: 1.Vygotsky’s two minds on the nature of meaning James V. Wertsch; 2. Creativity and collaboration in knowledge construction Vera John-Steiner and Teresa Meehan; Part II: 3. Dialogic inquiry in education: building on the legacy of Vygotsky Gordon Wells; 4. Consequential progressions: exploring collective-individual development in a bilingual classroom LeAnn Putney, Judith Green, Carol Dixon, Richard Duran, Ana Floriani and Beth Yeager; 5. Linking writing and community development through the children’s forum Anne Haas Dyson; 6. Synchronic and diachronic dimensions of social practice: an emerging methodology for cultural-historical perspectives on literacy learning Kris Gutierrez and Lynda Stone; 7. Idiocultural diversity in small groups: the role of the relational framework in collaborative learning Peter Smagorinsky and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen; 8. Signifying in the zone of proximal development: literate cultural competencies in language minority classrooms Carol D. Lee; 9. Teachers’ developing philosophies on literacy and its use in public schools: a Vygotskian perspective on internal activity and teacher change Arnetha F. Ball; 10. Inspired by Vygotsky: ethnographic experiments in education Luis C. Moll.