This book draws on extensive research to provide a ground-breaking new account of the relationship between dialogue and children’s learning development. It closely relates the research findings to real-life classrooms, so that it is of practical value to teachers and students concerned that their children are offered the best possible learning opportunities. The authors provide a clear, accessible and well-illustrated case for the importance of dialogue in children's intellectual development and support this with a new and more educationally relevant version of socio-cultural theory, which explains the fascinating relationship between dialogues and learning. In educational terms, a sociocultural theory that relates social, cultural and historical processes, interpersonal communication and applied linguistics, is an ideal way of explaining how school experience helps children learn and develop. By using evidence of how the collective construction of knowledge is achieved and how engagement in dialogues shapes children's educational progress and intellectual development, the authors provide a text which is essential for educational researchers, postgraduate students of education and teachers, and is also of interest to many psychologists and applied linguists.

This book draws on extensive research to provide a ground-breaking new account of the relationship between dialogue and children’s learning development. It closely relates the research findings to real-life classrooms, so that it is of practical value to teachers and students concerned that their children are offered the best possible learning opportunities. The authors provide a clear, accessible and well-illustrated case for the importance of dialogue in children's intellectual development and support this with a new and more educationally relevant version of socio-cultural theory, which explains the fascinating relationship between dialogues and learning. In educational terms, a sociocultural theory that relates social, cultural and historical processes, interpersonal communication and applied linguistics, is an ideal way of explaining how school experience helps children learn and develop. By using evidence of how the collective construction of knowledge is achieved and how engagement in dialogues shapes children's educational progress and intellectual development, the authors provide a text which is essential for educational researchers, postgraduate students of education and teachers, and is also of interest to many psychologists and applied linguists.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

This ground-breaking handbook provides a much-needed, contemporary and authoritative reference text on young children’s thinking. The different perspectives represented in the thirty-nine chapters contribute to a vibrant picture of young children, their ways of thinking and their efforts at understanding, constructing and navigating the world. The Routledge International Handbook of Young Children’s Thinking and Understanding brings together commissioned pieces by a range of hand-picked influential, international authors from a variety of disciplines who share a high public profile for their specific developments in the theories of children’s thinking, learning and understanding. The handbook is organised into four complementary parts: • How can we think about young children’s thinking?: Concepts and contexts • Knowing about the brain and knowing about the mind • Making sense of the world • Documenting and developing children’s thinking Supported throughout with relevant research and case studies, this handbook is an international insight into the many ways there are to understand children and childhood paired with the knowledge that young children have a strong, vital, and creative ability to think and to understand, and to create and contend with the world around them.

Dialogue is one of the best vehicles for learning how to think, how to be reasonable, how to make moral decisions and how to understand another person's point of view. It is supremely flexible, instructional, collaborative, and rigorous. At its very best, dialogue is one of the best ways for participants to learn good habits of thinking. There is also substantial evidence that teachers currently talk too much in classes, often only waiting .8 seconds after asking a question before jumping in with the answer if a student doesn't quickly volunteer. This book guides teachers through the different types of dialogue and how they can be used to enhance students' learning.

Provides researchers, practitioners and advisers working in the fields of psychology and education with an overview of research across a broad spectrum of work within the domain of psychology of education. This book focuses on typically developing school-age children, although issues relating to specific learning difficulties are also addressed.

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development in his own words—collected and translated by an outstanding group of scholars. “A landmark book.” —Contemporary Psychology The great Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky has long been recognized as a pioneer in developmental psychology. But his theory of development has never been well understood in the West. Mind in Society corrects much of this misunderstanding. Carefully edited by a group of outstanding Vygotsky scholars, the book presents a unique selection of Vygotsky’s important essays, most of which have previously been unavailable in English. The mind, Vygotsky argues, cannot be understood in isolation from the surrounding society. Humans are the only animals who use tools to alter their own inner world as well as the world around them. Vygotsky characterizes the uniquely human aspects of behavior and offers hypotheses about the way these traits have been formed in the course of human history and the way they develop over an individual's lifetime. From the handkerchief knotted as a simple mnemonic device to the complexities of symbolic language, society provides the individual with technology that can be used to shape the private processes of the mind. In Mind in Society Vygotsky applies this theoretical framework to the development of perception, attention, memory, language, and play, and he examines its implications for education. The result is a remarkably interesting book that makes clear Vygotsky’s continuing influence in the areas of child development, cognitive psychology, education, and modern psychological thought. Chapters include: 1. Tool and Symbol in Child Development 2. The Development of Perception and Attention 3. Mastery of Memory and Thinking 4. Internalization of Higher Psychological Functions 5. Problems of Method 6. Interaction between Learning and Development 7. The Role of Play in Development 8. The Prehistory of Written Language

The Routledge International Handbook of Research on Dialogic Education provides a comprehensive overview of the main ideas and themes that make up the exciting and diverse field of Dialogic Education. With contributions from the world’s leading researchers, it describes underpinning theoretical approaches, debates, methodologies, evidence of impact, how Dialogic Education relates to different areas of the curriculum and ways in which work in this field responds to the profound educational challenges of our time. The handbook is divided into seven sections, covering: The theory of Dialogic Education Classroom dialogue Dialogue, teachers and professional development Dialogic Education for literacy and language Dialogic Education and digital technology Dialogic Education in science and mathematics Dialogic Education for transformative purposes Expertly written and researched, the handbook marks the coming of age of Dialogic Education as an important and distinctive area of applied educational research. Featuring chapters from authors working in different educational contexts around the world, the handbook is of international relevance and provides an invaluable resource for researchers and students concerned with the study of educational dialogue and allied areas of socio-cultural research. It will interest students on PhD programmes in Education Faculties, Master's level courses in Education and postgraduate teacher-training courses. The accounts of results achieved by high-impact research projects around the world will also be very valuable for policy makers and practitioners.

Written in an accessible and engaging style, this second edition of The Psychology of Education addresses key concepts from psychology which relate to education. Throughout the text the author team emphasise an evidence-based approach, providing practical suggestions to improve learning outcomes, while fictional case studies are used in this new edition to provide students with a sense of what psychological issues can look like in the classroom. Activities around these case studies give students the chance to think about how to apply their theoretical knowledge to these real-world contexts. ‘Key implications’ are drawn out at appropriate points, and throughout the book students are provided with strategies for interrogating evidence. Key terms are glossed throughout the book and chapters are summarised and followed by suggestions for further reading. A chapter on Learning interactions and social worlds is new to this edition. The following chapters have all been extensively updated: Learning Assessment Individual differences and achievement Student engagement and motivation The educational context Society and culture Language Literacy Inclusive education and special educational needs Behaviour problems Dealing with behaviour problems. This book is essential reading for undergraduate students of Education Studies and Psychology as well as trainee teachers on BA, BEd and PGCE courses. It will also be of use to postgraduates training to be educational psychologists.