Cognition and Instruction/Social Context of Cognition

This chapter discusses beliefs about the social contexts of cognition, and how social and cultural factors can influence a child's development of mind (thoughts). In the subsequent sections of this chapter, we will discuss social cognition, situated cognition, Bronfenbenner's ecological model, the child in culture, social interaction/cognitive tools, socio-cultural contexts of learning, implications for instruction, and individual contextual differences. Situated cognition theory identifies features of the environment relevant to immediate conversational contexts, interpersonal relationships, and social group memberships. It also increases our understanding about how these features shape thoughts and actions. We also look into Bronfenbenner's ecological model and it's influence on a child's learning environment. In the socio-cultural context, Vygotsky theorized that human development was inseparable from cultural and social development and that these social interactions help children to develop cognitive tools. These cognitive tools develop skills specifically tied to an individual's personal culture and social experiences and include language/speech and cultural production. As time progresses, these skills become internalized in the zone of proximal development. In relation to instructional implications, placed based, culturally based, and cooperative learning techniques are discussed. It will help future educators use this theory and research effectively, and apply it to a practical classroom setting. Individual Contextual Differences have various influences on our cognitive development. It encompasses both Bronfenbrenner's theory about the influence of the microsystem and macrosystem in regards to child development and Vygotsky's theory on social and cultural factors being essential to cognitive development. Therefore, we look at how differences in societal, classroom and institutional settings have an effect on a child's cognitive development. The social context in which cognitive processes take place are highly influential in the development of mind.

Social Cognition

Social cognition focuses on the theory of mind. Theory of mind is a broad concept, encompassing and understanding the full range of mental states, as well as the antecedents and consequences of such understanding.The social context is made up not only of our relationships with specific others but also the groups we identify. As we continue to develop and associate with certain social groups, this becomes a part of our “social identity". These social groups establish norms, or standards for correct and appropriate beliefs, opinions, and behaviors. For example, it may be the "norm" to use inappropriate language with your friends, but not with your parents or family members . Such norms influence our behavior all the time, whether other members of the social groups are physically present or not. This social identity is activated by situational reminders of our social group membership or by our own intentional thought. Once this identity is activated, we tend to conform to that group’s norms. .

Social identities serve as behavioral guides for appropriate behavior. This can have some negative effects. If define social identity by our social group membership that we share with some people but not others, it divides the world into ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Shaping how we think about and behave toward other people. People on the ‘us’ side of the line, are considered group members and are therefore better liked. In a school context, children can often become victims of bullying if they do not identify with a popular social group, and adopt a social identity that suits their peers "cultural norms".

In order to understand the development of social cognition and social identity, we must examine situated cognition. Cognition almost invariably occurs in the context of other people. It refers to the web of face-to-face encounters, personal relationships, and social group memberships that make us who we are. Not only do these social entities very frequently constitute the content of our thoughts and feelings, but they fundamentally shape the processes underlying our thinking and behavior as well. To detail some of the evidence for this broad claim, this chapter describes the interface of situated cognition, the ecological model of development, and the child in culture. The social context of cognitive development has to do with our thoughts and beliefs about the social world. It also refers to our beliefs about others, the self, people in general, specific aspects of people (e.g., thoughts, desires, emotions), social groups and social institutions.

Situated Cognition

Situated cognition is centered on the idea that knowing is “inseparable” from actually doing and highlights the importance of learning within context. The Situated Cognition Theory is based upon principles related to the fields of anthropology, sociology, and cognitive sciences. Its main argument is that all knowledge that a learner acquires is somehow situated within activities that are social, physically or culturally-based. The Situated Cognition Theory mainly supports, that the acquisition of knowledge cannot be separated from the context in which this knowledge is collected. Therefore, a learner must grasp the concepts and skills that are being taught in the context in which they will eventually be utilized. As a result, instructors who are trying to apply this theory in their classes are encouraged to create an environment of full immersion, wherein students must be able to learn skills, as well as new ideas and behaviors that are taught in the context in which they will be used at a later time. Collins, Brown, & Duguid are creators of the situated cognition model, and believed that learning culture played a major role in education, and that learning by doing was an often overlooked approach.

Situated cognitive learning emphasizes that learning in the real world is not like studying in school. It is often describe as acculturation or adapting the norm, behavior, skills, belief, language, and attitudes of a particular community. This community might be mathematicians, gang member, writers, and students of any group that has particular ways of thinking and doing. Knowledge is seen not as individual cognitive structures but as a creation of the community over time. The practices of the community, the way of interacting and getting things done, as well as the tools the community has created constitute the knowledge of that community. Thus learning means becoming more able to participate in those practices and using the tools.  Situated cognitive learning emphasizes the idea that much of what is learned is specific to the situation in which it is learned. However, situated cognitive learning says that knowledge and skills can be applied across contexts, even if the context is different from the initial learning situation. For example, when you use your ability to read and calculate (which you learned in school), to complete your income taxes, even though learning how to do your taxes was not part of your original high school curriculum. In this situation, the student would be applying their mathematics and reading skills which they learned in the classroom, to the real world. Demonstrating how situational learning can be applied across different contexts.

Situated cognition offers the key insight that cognition is for adaptive action, our minds evolved under the demands of survival rather than for detached puzzle-solving or abstract cognition. This principle implies the existence of close connections between cognition, motivation, and action. Cognition is generally not neutral and detached, but is biased by the individual’s motives and goals, with motives shaping our thoughts. Consider a person’s understanding of the meaning of traits (such as reliable, honest, or intelligent), which are basic components of our impressions of other people as well as ourselves. Research shows that our definitions of such traits are not objective and invariant, but are shaped in self-serving ways by our own perceived understandings of those traits. Also the fundamental human need to belong shapes our social cognition. People experiencing a heightened need to belong, after a social rejection; tune their attention and cognition to process social information in the environment more carefully and thoroughly. This example of biases in cognition caused by the perceives motivational concerns effectively illustrate how social cognition serves the needs of adaptive action important in determining the course of cognition . There is evidence that social-cognitive development and learning recognizes that individuals develop through reciprocal interactions, in which people contribute to an individuals development. These social interactions, are rooted in the situation in which it occurs. Research on reciprocal transactions between organisms and the environment is a basic feature of Brenfenbenner's ecological theory. Social-cognitive learning states that a child's personality functioning differs among individuals. Personality is understood by reference to basic cognitive and effective structures and processes. These personality variables develop through experiences with one’s sociocultural environment. Social-cognitive development differentiates among a number of distinct cognitive capacities contributing to personality functioning. These include cognitive mechanisms that underlie skills and social competencies, knowledge structures through which people interpret or “encode” situations, self-reflective processes through which people develop beliefs about themselves and their relation to the social environment, and self-regulatory processes through which people establish personal goals and standards for performance and motivate themselves to reach desired ends. In the next section, Bronfenbrenner's theory divides the community in which a child grows up into four systems. The community in which a child develops, will ultimately effect the situation in which the child learns, a child's interpersonal relationships and who they associate with. As previously mentioned, social cognition and situational cognition explain the development of a child's mind, but both can be largely influenced by a child's environmental context. Bronfenbrenner outlines some of these social contextual influences in his ecological model.

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Ecological Model

Bronfenbenner's Ecological Model

Bronfenbrenner  provides an ecological model for understanding human development. He explains that children’s development within the socio-cultural context of the family, community, broader society and the educational setting. All have an impact on the developing child, because all the various contexts are interrelated. For example, even a child in a supportive, loving family within a healthy, strong community is affected by the biases of the larger society, such as racism, sexism or violence, and may show the effects of negative discrimination and stereotyping. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological context of child development and learning can be depicted as a series of concentric rings as with each system influencing and being influenced by the others for example:

Microsystem

Bronfenbenner's theory:  The microsystem is the system closest to the person and the one in which they have direct contact. Some examples would be home, school, daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or caregivers. Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional. In other words, your reactions to the people in your microsystem will affect how they treat you in return. This is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory.

Let's look at the microsystem in Marian lives. The first part of his microsystem is her home environment. This includes his interactions with her parents and little sister. Marian’s school is also part of her microsystem. Her regular school interactions are with her kindergarten teacher and the other children in his class.

Mesosystem

The next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem. The mesosystem consists of the interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual.

One aspect of Marian’s mesosystem would be the relationship between her parents and her teacher. Her parents take an active role in her school, such as attending parent/teacher conferences and volunteering in her classroom. This has a positive impact on her development because the different elements of her microsystem are working together. Marian’s development could be affected in a negative way if the different elements of her microsystem were working against one another.

Exosystem

The exosystem is the next level we will examine. The exosystem refers to a setting that does not involve the person as an active participant, but still affects them. This includes decisions that have bearing on the person, but in which they have no participation in the decision-making process. An example would be a child being affected by a parent receiving a promotion at work or losing their job.

One part of Marian’s exosystem would be his father's workplace. Marian’s father is in the Navy. This often takes her away from the family, and she sometimes does not see her father for months at a time. This situation impacts Marian, and she becomes anxious when her father leaves. Marian’s anxiety has an effect on his development in other areas such as school, even though she has no interaction with her father's work or say in the decision making process, but this may have impact her learning environment.

Macrosystem

The fourth level of ecological systems theory is the macrosystem. The macrosystem encompasses the cultural environment in which the person lives and all other systems that affect them. Examples could include the economy, cultural values, and political system. The macrosystem can have either a positive or a negative effect on a person's development. For an example, consider the different effects on the development of a child growing up in a third-world economy versus that of the United States.

Ecological theorists such as Bronfenbrenner point to the importance of the settings and circumstances in which students live for understanding children’s behavior and establishing productive programs and policies to promote the development of children and youth. Teachers make many decisions that can be informed by an understanding of the context in which children live. These decisions include curricular and instructional decisions about materials and methods used in the classroom. Teachers’ guidance of children’s classroom learning can be fostered by understanding how the knowledge, practices, and language socialization patterns within children’s families and communities contribute to children’s ability to function in the classroom how to communicate and work with children’s families, as well as how to promote children’s participation and positive social relations in the classroom influence by cultural and social context.

The Child-in-Culture

The child in culture, it is important for teachers to learn about the culture of the majority of the children they serve if that culture differs from their own. Recognizing that learning and development are influenced by cultural and social context, it would be an impossible task to expect teachers/caregivers to understand all the nuances of every cultural group they may encounter in their practice. It is more important for teachers/caregivers to become sensitive to the knowledge of how their own cultural experience shapes their perspective and to realize that multiple perspectives must be considered in decisions about children’s learning and development, in addition to their own. Children have the learning ability and capability to function simultaneously in more than one cultural context. However, if teachers/caregivers set too low or too high expectations for children based on their home language and culture, children cannot learn and develop optimally and reach their full potential. The ideal would be for example, that children whose primary language is not English should be able to learn English without forcing them to give up their home language and to get a teacher/caregiver to translate or teach in both languages. Likewise, children who speak only English benefit from learning another language. The goal is that all children learn to function well in the society or even community as a whole and move comfortably among groups of people who come from both the same and different backgrounds

In understanding the mind of the child (learner), teachers must also understand that each student is an individual who is developing a sense of self and relationships in a variety of contexts, notably the family, school, and community. Hence, teachers considered themselves least knowledgeable about issues concerning diversity and schooling effects on students. This perception exists despite major efforts made at the national level to provide guidelines for preparing teachers to teach culturally diverse students. Research suggests that there is both cause for concern and hope for improvement. For example, Hollingsworth, indicate that novice teachers’ views of children are often inaccurate because they assume that their students possess learning styles, aptitudes, interests, and problems that are similar to their own. Furthermore, recent research suggests that prospective teachers hold simplistic views of student differences have little knowledge about different cultural groups, may have negative attitudes toward those groups, they Teachers) may view diverse backgrounds of students as a problem, and have lower expectations for the learning of ethnic minority students.

For some children, these points of difference may not have much effect. But for others, the mismatch between parental or community expectations and the expectations of the formal learning environment may leave the child feeling as if he or she is straddling two distinct worlds. How we think about child in culture can help us move toward greater sensitivity or, alternatively, can create additional roadblocks to our ability to engage and work with families. Early calls for cultural competency sometimes put forward a list of observed parenting traits of minority cultures with little explanation of how these aspects of culture may be part of a whole and with little understanding of the cultural participants’ intention behind these actions. This type of thinking, though well-meaning, can solidify stereotypes instead of helping us penetrate them. Educators, open to embracing the diverse cultures represented in their classrooms, had little guidance in how to achieve this sensitivity in more than just a superficial way. One observation notes that ironically, teachers may conscientiously try to create culturally sensitive environments for their students (e.g., through multicultural displays and activities) while simultaneously structuring classroom interaction patterns that violate invisible cultural norms of various non-dominant groups. Teachers may also inadvertently criticize parents for adhering to a different set of ideals about children, families and parenting.

Research have shown that in many content domains when children are asked to learn or solve problems based upon materials with which they are familiar, or in ways that make “human sense” they learn more rapidly. These relations between culture and learning do not fade away, but become even more pronounced as children move from early into middle childhood and adolescence. Consequently, those concerned with leveraging the power of culture to promote learning should take care to pay as much attention to the cultural enrichment of children as to their health and physical well-being, all of which play an especially important role during this period of extraordinarily rapid developmental change. 

Cognitive Tools and Social Interaction

The previous sections have mentioned how a community influences cognition by determining the context in which a child learns about the social and cultural rules around them. This community also determines the situation in which learning and cognitive development takes place. For example, a child who grows up in a rural town in Saskatchewan is going to have grown up in a very different community, when compared to a child who grew up in New York City. Their learning will have taken place in a classroom with different socio-cultural "norms". Although these skills can be transferred across situations, each child is going to develop a different set of cognitive tools that reflects the cultural and social environment they grew up in. Cognitive tools are specialized, and designed to guide a learner in following the "norm" behaviors dictated by a particular community.

In a community, there are many social interactions and processes. As time goes by, these social interactions define our patterns of thought and cognition. This social cognition refers to the information processing of social situations. Once this information is encoded, it is used in all other social interactions and applied to people. Due to this fact, early interactions will shape and serve as a template for future pro-social behaviors. These early interactions also influence our ways of thinking, and shape how we view the world. This type of situated cognition, refers to knowledge that is learned and developed through authentic activity . Social interaction can serve as an important conceptual tool. They relfect the collective knowledge and wisdom of the culture in which they are used, and connect the insights and experiences of individuals. These tools are understood through repeated use, and by interacting with others. Over time, these tools become implicit knowledge and shape your view of the world. Allowing you to adopt the belief system of the culture they are learned in. For example, Vygotsky states language is a cognitive tool produced through social interaction. Language is tied to culture, and different languages have different semantic meanings, leading to differences in speech and cognition. These differences in socio-cultural acquisition influences an individuals thought patterns and beliefs. In this way, social interaction creates cognitive skills, specifically tied to an individuals personal cultural and social experiences. In the following sections, we define Vygotsky's socio-cultural contexts, and explain how these contexts produce cognitive tools such as language, speech, and cultural production, and how these tools are learned through more knowledgeable others in the ZPD.

Socio-Cultural Contexts of Learning

In the 1930’s, psychologist Lev Vygotsky developed a new socio-cultural theory of learning and development. His theory was conceived decades before Bronfenbenner's ecological model, although both psychologists emphasized the social and cultural context. At the time, Vygotsky's theory contrasted that of the popular child development theorist, Jean Piaget. For his era, Vygotsky's theory of development was revolutionary. He stated that human development was inseparable from cultural and social development. These social and cultural interactions lead to the development of higher cognitive processes such as language, and attention. Vygotsky developed four basic principles of learning and knowledge. These are: knowledge is constructed, development cannot be separate from the social/cultural context, language plays a central role in mental development, and learning is facilitated through collaboration by working with "more knowledgeable others" .

The learning of these socio-cultural processes occurs through the cultural inventions of a society. Thus, development of conscious cognition is the result of social and cultural influences. Vygotsky defined specific aspects of these social interactions as specialized cognitive tools. These tools become internalized as a learner progresses through the ZPD, and shape our thought patterns.  Specifically, Vygotsky emphasized language, speech, and cultural production as highly influential cognitive tools produced through socio-cultural interaction. Vygotsky also stated, that these cognitive tools are learned and enforced through more knowledgeable others in the ZPD. These concepts will be broken down, and explained in detail in the subsequent sections.

Language and Speech

The development of cognitive processes, are shaped through communicative interactions in specific social situations of development. Vygotsky, emphasized that speaking and thinking are unified, with two basic functions: revealing reality, and communicating meaning in social interactions. Through language, an individual’s cultural identity is formed, because children acquire knowledge in a specific cultural setting through familial and institutional influences. As Bronfenbenner suggested, the ecological community in which learning takes place, influences developmental processes like language and speech. Language initially serves as means of communication between the child, and people in the immediate environment. However, upon conversion to internal speech, it affects how a child organizes his/her thoughts. It becomes an internal mental function. For example, a child that grows up in an English western family, has a different dialect and system of values and beliefs compared to a child that grows up in rural India. These differences can manifest in differing writing styles. This is because, each child has their own set of deliberate semantics, and words can have different meanings. This is also known as, dialectic contradictions, which are historically accumulated structural tensions in a language. These differences in the cultural context of language acquisition, manifest themselves in differing thought processes resulting in different cognitive and communicative interactions.  This process of language/speech acquisition, can also be referred to as acculturation.  In this way, language is a cognitive tool as it has the ability to influence our patterns of thought.

Cultural Production

In previous sections, culture was defined as acculturation, or the process where a child learns and adopts the "norm" beliefs and values of a community. Each child learns these norms in different situational contexts and interactions. After repeated use, these norms become a part of a child's social identity, and determines the character of a child and future patterns of behavior and thought. Culture can be produced through language and speech, the learning of cultural norms from elders of a group with mastery social skills (ZPD), and by a community.

Culture plays a dominant role in shaping social interactions, and the development of cognitive processes. It is a tool that is changeable, and created during a child’s early social lives. Cultural production can occur at two levels: institutional (macrosystem), and intrapersonal (microsystem). In an institutional setting, this refers to the larger social context such as school settings, political context etc. An interpersonal setting would refer to interactions between each other , such as peer to peer interactions. An individuals overall cultural history, is responsible for producing useful cognitive tools that are accumulated over time .  Eventually, this leads to the internalization of culturally valued skills and behaviors, making these cognitive processes automatic. A culture creates special forms of behaviors, which are specific to a specific cultural history. These structures affect problem solving capacities, and patterns of social interactions. To examine these differences, psychologists can conduct cross-cultural studies. An example of a cross-cultural study, could include investigating how some cultures don’t believe in displaying knowledge overtly, compared to cultures where that is considered a good thing.  Vygotsky states that culture is developed and produced through processes of social interactions, and through active agents in the immediate development context.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky theorized that learning largely occurs in a child’s ZPD. It mostly takes place in Bronfenbrenner's microsystem level of the ecological model. He defined this as “the distance between the actual developmental level, as determined by actual problem solving, and the level of potential development under adult guidance or in collaboration with a more capable peer .” This form of social interaction occurring between the student and “more knowledgeable others,” serves as a cognitive tool for developing higher learning processes. In a classroom setting, a more knowledgeable other includes any active agents such as teachers, supervising adults, or peers . There are three levels of a learners developmental progress in the ZPD over time (see figure 2 ). These three levels are the actual level, potential level and realized level. The actual level refers to what a learner is able to accomplish without assistance. It refers to the actual base level of knowledge a student possesses on their own. Whereas, the potential level is how well a learners performs with assistance by a more knowledgeable other. A student has the capability to achieve this potential level of knowledge through collaboration. For example, a tutor is helping a grade two student learn grade three level mathematics. On their own, the student is able to readily solve grade two mathematics problems. Since this student possesses a strong actual level of mathematics, the student can be taught grade three level mathematics by collaborating with a more knowledgeable tutor. Eventually, through rehearsal and practise, the student is able to complete grade three mathematics problems on their own. This is referred to as their realized level of knowledge.    

Three Stages of ZPD Progression

Figure 2. Adapted from “The Mediation of learning in the Zone of Proximal Development through a Co-Constructed Writing Activity,” by Thompson, 2013 Research In The Teaching Of English, 47(3), p.259    

Essential to this theory, is that the level of knowledge being learned must be more advanced than what the student currently knows . Teachers can also use scaffolding, which uses a student’s prior knowledge to help give students a base level of information They can use this to build more complex concepts. Like in the example, the tutor built off the students prior knowledge of grade two mathematics, and made sure the material was more advanced than what the student currently knew. Before a student attempts to master a new skill, they can be given supplemental information to introduce them to the new material. This can include artifacts such as: books, videos, textbooks, and computer technology. These artifacts act as priming agents for learners, and ease the learning transition to more complex concepts. By using the ZPD as a cognitive tool, instructor’s can approach mastery of more difficult skills through collaborative classroom strategies.  See figure two for further explanation learning through the ZPD.

Figure 3. Stages of Learning in ZPD. Adapted from “The Mediation of learning in the Zone of Proximal Development through a Co-Constructed Writing Activity,” by Thompson, 2013 Research In The Teaching Of English, 47(3), p.257

Implications for Instruction

The social lives of school children, can have many instructional effects. As previously mentioned, the situation in which information is learned, level of difficulty, collaboration with more knowledgeable others, level of social cognition/competency, and cultural production, all have differing instructional effects in the classroom. Each student has a different cultural history, that influences their patterns of thinking, and how they approach solving problems in the classroom. Teaching should incorporate the situation and use conceptual tools. Learning should involve, the activity, concept, and culture. For example, teaching children the definition of words. It is simply not enough to have them write out definitions from the dictionary, in an abstract way. Learning words, must take place in an authentic way, and relate to the cultural situation in which the word is defined and used in speech. The next section will discuss how some of the previous social and cultural factors can be mediated through instructional methods. Some useful pedagogies for instructors that will be discussed are place based and cooperative learning strategies.

Place Based Instruction

One way of taking otherwise abstract concepts and rooting them in culturally meaningful pedagogy, is a method known as place based instruction. It uses both ideas about situated cognition and Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory. The environment in which we learn and situation in which the learning takes place, is responsible for co-creating our knowledge. A place based learning approach is suited for the multi-cultural classroom. If focuses on transforming the traditional classroom environment, into a place that engaging for all types of learners. At its core, it links place to cultural struggles, and aims to empower diverse learners through the integration of local cultural knowledge.

Main Focuses of Place Based Pedagogy:

1.     Support thinking about a system using the “bigger picture”

2.     Connect students to lived experiences- creating meaning through place based instruction

3.     Foster Reflexive Inquiry

4.     Regulate and Control How Ethnically Diverse Learners Organize their Identity

One way this pedagogy can be implemented in the classroom is by creating a community garden. It is a creative way of incorporating language, culture, and environment by increasing feelings of interconnectedness. A community garden is open to all, and provides a green space for children in urban areas. It creates a setting for social interactions to take place through the cooperative planning, designing, and execution of a garden and all its elements. The garden is a great way of creating conversation between students about local and self-cultural identity. Students can research herbs related to their cultural background, and report to the class the various cultural ways in which the herb is used culturally like in, cuisine, medicine, or religion. They can then plant these herbs in the garden, tying place with the construction of their knowledge. This also allows for peers to create conversations about cultural differences, fostering reflexive inquiry . The place based framework, examines how a culture and local environment makes up the community and culture of the school. This method also allows ethnically diverse learners to, self-identify their cultural values, and decide what they want to share. This control and the self-regulation of their own identity, can help grow self-regulated learning as well.

 Culture-Based Education and Its Relationship to Student Outcomes

Adapted from: Kana‘iaupuni, S., Ledward, B., & Jensen, U. (2010). Culture-based education and its relationship to student outcomes. EDUCATION.

Figure 4. "Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education Study Model"

In a study by Kana‘iaupuni, they explored the kinds of teaching strategies being used in Hawaiian classrooms and investigated the impact of teachers’ use of culturally based education strategies (CBE), on student socio-emotional development and educational outcomes. Cultural relevance in education was shown to have direct effects on student socio emotional factors such as self-worth, cultural identity, and community/family relationships. It was also shown to have direct and indirect effects on educational outcomes, such as student engagement, achievement, and behaviour (Kana‘iaupuni, 2010). In Figure 1, it shows the reciprocal interelating relationship between CBE, educational outcomes, and socio-emotional development.

Adapted from: Kana‘iaupuni, S., Ledward, B., & Jensen, U. (2010). Culture-based education and its relationship to student outcomes. EDUCATION.

Figure 5: "School Engagement Among Hawaiian Students By Teacher CBE Use"

The results of the of the study show (see figure 5) that teachers who use CBE methods in the classroom have higher levels of student self-efficacy and trust, than students with Low CBE Teachers. Students exposed to high levels of CBE by their teachers are also more likely to be engaged in schooling than others, by putting cultural skills to use in their communities and forming trusting relationships with teachers and staff. In the study, they used methodology involved in place based pedagogy. They took into account the local environment and interwove it into the curriculum. Students took part in classes teaching Hawaiian culture, and and/environmental stewardship. The study illustrates how place based pedagogy can significantly improve students rates of self-efficacy and trust in the classroom when teachers use a high amount of CBE/place based curriculum.

Cooperative Learning

In Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, he emphasized the importance and role of peer collaboration and learning. Cooperative based learning refers to intentional learning activities, where group members work towards a shared learning goal. It is different from classroom “group work,” as group work does not always guarantee actual learning will take place . The goal of cooperative based learning is to understand that each learner brings their own particular set of skills to the table. If differs from collaborative learning, because students are not trying to improve a weak skill, but rather identify the skills they excel in and use them to help the group.For example, Amy may struggle with abstract concepts like mathematics, but has a great imagination (Also, see figure 3). She is grouped together with students who excel with abstract concepts, but struggle thinking imaginatively. This way, students are able to share their skills, and teach each other. This is known as reciprocal teaching, where learners are able to teach other members of their group. By working towards achieving their common learning goal, students must combine their different skill sets to solve the problem. It can help students see different perspectives on how to approach problem solving activities.

The Five Steps to Achieve Cooperative Learning in the Classroom

1.     Give Specific Learning Objectives

2.     Plan out learning strategies, and composition of groups

3.     Explain the learning objective

4.     “monitor-observe” the students

5.     Assess the achievement and cooperation of students

Some examples of cooperative learning strategies for the classroom are the jigsaw method and group investigation method. In the jigsaw method, students are divided into groups. Then, one member from each group is sent to a special group to learn about a specific course topic. Once students individually read the material, they discuss and reflect upon the material as a group, making note of its key points. Lastly, each student returns to their original groups. After their peers read the material, the student sent to the special group leads their group discussion, reflecting on the topics key points. The premise of this strategy is to have the students in each group teach each other, and become better self-regulatory learners. In the group investigation method, students are first divided into groups. They are then given information about a specific course topic, and read through the material individually, and are asked to make note of its key points. After this, the group discusses the material collectively, reflecting on its key points, and could be asked to prepare a presentation for the class.This strategy promotes group dialogue and aims at cultivating social interaction skills. Cooperative learning, is a strategy that instructors can use in the classroom to promote social cognitive growth, and increase student's performance. In the next section, we discuss how social cognitive processes are affected by macrosystem influences, such as individual contextual differences in societal, classroom, and institutional settings.

Individual Contextual Differences

The cognitive development process can be differed individually. Lots of aspects of social context can have varies of influences on our cognitive development, Such as: intelligence, environment factors, learning opportunities, economics status, family and society. As previously mentioned, the social and cultural context in which learning takes place, greatly affects our cognitive growth. Theories like situated cognition, Bronfenbenner's ecological model, and Vygotsky' scocio-cultural theory, discuss how macrosystem influences such as the cultural environment, make up our implicit views on the world. In this section, we will look into how different classrooms, different institution and society can affect our cognition and how do we do to improve this development.

Society

“We have no obligation to make history.

We have no obligation to make art. 

We have no obligation to make a statement.

To make money is our only objective.”

-- Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney

The problem of boys having lower graduation rates, greater worries about intimacy and relationships are touched upon to suggest some reasons behind it. Using the internet and accessing pornography are acting as arousal addictions that have negative effect on social life of boys. Lots of documents shows the problems of women getting misrepresented, objectified and sexuality are evident in our societies’ status quo. The society and media is often portraying women as object for sex and beauty, demising women’s actual capabilities. We should advocate the need to value women’s capabilities and encourage them to discover their true power.. Simply put, media is any device or system that we humans use to accomplish our goals. The wheel, an oar, an abacus, a hammer, a toothpick, and a TV set are various examples.

These influences heavily affect development of the authentic self for both males and females negatively. Being authentic self is being who you really are, knowing your personal why, discovering your capabilities and expressing your inner self to others. These are real, genuine and authentic which comes from your heart. The problem with the media is that they are portraying cognition of what it means to be ideal women or men that are accepted by the society. Often, these perfect images of beauty, success and satisfaction are falsely created by media often to get more people’s attention and money. Thus, people start to take in what the media tells them to be rather than finding their own true beauty, capabilities, and values that are truly meaningful for themselves. For that reason, the media exposure simply makes us to seek what is ideal in our society instead of genuine values that are found within self-discovery so lots of people are developing a wrong cognition because of that. In order to sustain the authentic life, we need to have a clear sense of values and define our view of life that comes from inner self. Our own clear vision, belief, goal, and mind act as a firm pillar that support from being impressionable person who easily get swayed by society and media influence. Therefore, we can prevent ourselves from following other people’s values.When movies and television first appeared predictions were made that they would replace most, if not all, classroom instruction

The notion that these media companies are “giving us what the public want” is concerning because they’re actually just giving us what the media companies and advertisers want, and manipulating viewers in believing that it is our fault for the brainless content that’s being produced. It’s also a problem that men make up the majority of the board of these reputable media companies because the way women are represented is inaccurate and are often times exploited through the views of white, capitalist male elites who take no interest in genuine women empowerment. On the other hand, although men aren’t as demonized via media as women are, they still do struggle with radical stereotypes, biases, and discrimination. In Demise of Guys, Atherton mentions that men are constantly exposed to explicit content such as pornography, creating an “arousal addiction.” Men are also constantly shown “ideal” images of masculinity where there is a lack of emotional representation and here, problems in intimacy and relationships will start to manifest.

These media influences affect the development of the authentic self for both females and males in a sense that when they are exposed to inaccurate representations without knowledge on the corporate strategy behind it, they will be easily manipulated into believing that who they are and how they look isn’t good enough. Especially for girls and boys who are exposed to explicit and exploitative content at a young age, they will start to believe that what they see on media is their reality. When in reality, everyone is different – we come in all shapes, sizes, and color – and it’s important to base your beauty from within rather than from the physical.Educators increasingly are aware of media’s potential for changing how learning and teaching take place. Even though education continues to lag behind other segments of society in using media. Media likes to hyper-sexualize women and pit them against each other while romanticizing the male character for their strength and independence. Although some women and men might prefer to play that role in reality, we would possibly live in a different society if we focused on issues such as gender equality, health and fitness, and educated viewers on the reality of the world instead of the dream.

Classroom

We should value children’s competencies in learning, focusing on self-directed learning approach.We should value children’s competencies in learning, focusing on self-directed learning approach. Rather than simply throwing information and knowledge at children, it is important to acknowledge that they are capable, competent learners who are not helpless. Children are competent enough to be innovated by learning, creating changes and solving problems. We should also emphasize design thinking approach where children are engaged in real life context to solve problems and create solutions. Thus, the opportunities actively engage children to be part of a community member. They can highly relate their learning in their real life that matters and is meaningful.  We should be providing real tools and materials to build real things where children have an access to these materials for their creative ideas of invention. The social contexts of cognition and learning have obvious applications to the classroom. As any teacher knows, the classroom is above all a social environment and teaching is a form of social interaction that affects group collaboration, motivation, learning and even use of technology.

One of the strength of these kind of learning approaches is that these encourage children to form great cognitions and fulfil their potentials. By recognizing children’s capacities to think, learn, and change will help them to see their learning abilities. Also, these approaches of learning are very good for children to enjoy and have some fun. Because it requires children to come up with their own creative ideas and solutions, they can have more interest in what they do and learn throughout the process. The weakness in these approaches is the possible financial problem. Many resources and materials are probably needed for children to access that could cost quite of bit of money. If these approaches of learning are incorporated in other regular classes, funding will be needed and not all schools can afford it as they wish.

The self-directed learning approach can help students to be engaged in what they learn and do with genuine interests. Also, being in the field rather than simply staying in the classroom can motivate them better. Thus, the learning can be made more effectively. For instance, whenever students go to a field trip to learn about certain thing with their own eyes, it got me more interested and motivated. Do you still vividly remember when you went to Science World, different kinds of museums, and Camps where you got to participate in activities that engaged you actively? The answer will be yes. 

Institutional

The whole education system is seems like "Building a house", and the base or the foundation construction is the most important part for a building, just like the meaning of the elementary education for the whole education system. Lots of schools are ranked according to standardized testing, but the author didn't told us is this kind of practice is right or wrong, good or bad. However, school ranking in some way is good, they may help schools to improve themselves by comparative. But with my personal experience, the ranking by testing for student is not good and really make me stressful in my whole middle and high school.  In China, school ranking and ranking students in all schools is very universal, they divide student into two classes, good and bad. Then, the parents who wants their child get in the good school or class, they will pay a lot money and time for them. This classification is serious influence and hurt students' self-esteem and enthusiasm for learning and study. In conclusion, in view of all its defects and the harmful effects of university and schools, why would anyone pay attention to the school ranking? 

"when the teaching begins, educators must ask, who are the students, what are their particular needs, and what do they bring to the classroom?" points out the importance of student in teaching and curriculum design as well as the whole education process. When a school designs their education methods, they should consider the students themselves. What is their goal of learning? How will students' own value, culture and experience influence their learning? And what can teachers learn from the students? If remembering the questions when designing and implementing curriculum, I think the curriculum can better cope with students' needs.

We do have pressure on curriculum, which includes technology, culture, economy and environment, etc. When designing and implementing curriculum, it is also very important to consider these factors that will influence students' learning goals, needs, etc. For example, a curriculum for in-class course may greatly differ from a distance course.

The problem of boys having lower graduation rates, greater worries about intimacy and relationships are touched upon to suggest some reasons behind it. Using the internet and accessing pornography are acting as arousal addictions that have negative effect on social life of boys. Lots of documents shows the problems of women getting misrepresented, objectified and sexuality are evident in our societies’ status quo. The society and media is often portraying women as object for sex and beauty, demising women’s actual capabilities. We should advocate the need to value women’s capabilities and encourage them to discover their true power.

These influences heavily affect development of the authentic self for both males and females negatively. Being authentic self is being who you really are, knowing your personal why, discovering your capabilities and expressing your inner self to others. These are real, genuine and authentic which comes from your heart. The problem with the media is that they are portraying cognition of what it means to be ideal women or men that are accepted by the society. Often, these perfect images of beauty, success and satisfaction are falsely created by media often to get more people’s attention and money. Thus, people start to take in what the media tells them to be rather than finding their own true beauty, capabilities, and values that are truly meaningful for themselves. For that reason, the media exposure simply makes us to seek what is ideal in our society instead of genuine values that are found within self-discovery so lots of people are developing a wrong cognition because of that. In order to sustain the authentic life, we need to have a clear sense of values and define our view of life that comes from inner self. Our own clear vision, belief, goal, and mind act as a firm pillar that support from being impressionable person who easily get swayed by society and media influence. Therefore, we can prevent ourselves from following other people’s values.

The notion that these media companies are “giving us what the public want” is concerning because they’re actually just giving us what the media companies and advertisers want, and manipulating viewers in believing that it is our fault for the brainless content that’s being produced. It’s also a problem that men make up the majority of the board of these reputable media companies because the way women are represented is inaccurate and are often times exploited through the views of white, capitalist male elites who take no interest in genuine women empowerment. On the other hand, although men aren’t as demonized via media as women are, they still do struggle with radical stereotypes, biases, and discrimination. In Demise of Guys, Atherton mentions that men are constantly exposed to explicit content such as pornography, creating an “arousal addiction.” Men are also constantly shown “ideal” images of masculinity where there is a lack of emotional representation and here, problems in intimacy and relationships will start to manifest.

These media influences affect the development of the authentic self for both females and males in a sense that when they are exposed to inaccurate representations without knowledge on the corporate strategy behind it, they will be easily manipulated into believing that who they are and how they look isn’t good enough. Especially for girls and boys who are exposed to explicit and exploitative content at a young age, they will start to believe that what they see on media is their reality. When in reality, everyone is different – we come in all shapes, sizes, and color – and it’s important to base your beauty from within rather than from the physical.

Media likes to hyper-sexualize women and pit them against each other while romanticizing the male character for their strength and independence. Although some women and men might prefer to play that role in reality, we would possibly live in a different society if we focused on issues such as gender equality, health and fitness, and educated viewers on the reality of the world instead of the dream.

Conclusion

In conclusion, from a socio-cultural perspective there are many social influences on cognitive development. As previously stated, the socio cultural context of cognition is explained through social and situated cognition, cultural production, social interaction and cognitive tools, socio-cultural theory, and individual contextual differences.Through social interaction students learn social cognition and develop cognitive tools. Individual differences in socio-cultural contexts are influenced by those closest to you. Over time these differences are internalized, and affect your cognition, thought patterns, and views about the world. As learners, we are influenced by macrosystem factors outside our control. This includes societal, individual, classroom, and institutional differences in contexts and situations of learning. This can have many instructional implications, and calls for more place based and cooperative classroom pedagogies, Research has stated that situated learning has an increasing influence on education. The ecological model also states that in order to understand human development, one must consider the entire ecological system in which growth occurs. As discussed, recent research suggests that prospective teachers hold simplistic views of student differences. They have little knowledge about different cultural groups. In fact, they may have negative attitudes toward those groups, and view the diverse backgrounds of students as a problem, and have lower expectations for the learning of ethnic minority students. In the development of children, there are many social processes of interaction. These early interactions will shape and serve as a template, for future pro social behaviours. The social context can have various of influences on our cognitive development. Such as : intelligence, environment factors, learning opportunities, economics status, family and society. In order to be effective instructors, one must take into account the social-cultural perspective, and account for the social influences on cognitive development.  

Glossary

Acculturation: adapting the norm, behavior, skills, belief, language, and attitudes of a particular community.

Cognitive development: Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of brain development and cognitive psychology compared to an adult's point of view.

Dialectic contradictions: Historically accumulated structural tensions in a language. . Each child, has their own set of deliberate semantics. Therefore, words can have different meanings according to each child.

Ecological model: An ecosystem model is an abstract, usually mathematical, representation of an ecological system (ranging in scale from an individual population, to an ecological community, or even an entire biome), which is studied to gain understanding of the real system.

Exosystem: The exosystem refers to a setting that does not involve the person as an active participant, but still affects them. This includes decisions that have bearing on the person, but in which they have no participation in the decision-making process. An example would be a child being affected by a parent receiving a promotion at work or losing their job.

Macrosystem: The macro-system encompasses the cultural environment in which the person lives, in the larger sociological context. This level of the ecological model often influences students without them even knowing it, leading to implicit beliefs or beliefs shared by a culture. Examples could include the economy, cultural values, and political system.

Mesosystem. The mesosystem consists of the interactions between the different parts of a person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a person's individual microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the individual. For example, the relationship between parent and teacher, can have an indirect impact on a students learning.

Microsystem: The system closest to the person and the one in students have have direct contact. Some examples would be home, school, daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or caregivers.

Place based instruction: The environment in which we learn and situation in which the learning takes place, is responsible for co-creating our knowledge. A place based learning approach is suited for the multi-cultural classroom. It focuses on transforming the traditional classroom environment, into a place that is engaging for all types of learners.

Scaffolding: building of a students prior knowledge to learn new or difficult concepts.

Situated Cognition: A theory based upon principles related to the fields of anthropology, sociology and cognitive sciences. Its main argument is that all knowledge a learner acquires is somehow situated within activities that are socially, physically or culturally-based.

Social cognition: A subtopic of social psychology that focuses on how people process social information (especially its encoding, storage, and retrieval) and how this information is applied to social situations, other people, and social interactions.

Social Context: refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom they interact.

Zone of proximal development: The zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help.

Suggested Readings

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1999). Environments in developmental perspective: Theoretical and operational models. In Measuring environment across the life span : emerging methods and concepts(1st ed., pp. 3-28). Washington DC: American Psychological Association.

Brown et al., (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 32- 42

Campbell, F. A., Pungello, E. P., & Miller-Johnson, S. (2002). The development of perceived scholastic competence and global self-worth in African American adolescents from low income families: The roles of family factors, early educational intervention, and academic experience. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 277-302.

Poch, S. (2005). Higher education in a box. International Journal of Educational  Management 19(3), 246-258. doi:10.1108/09513540510591020

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.