ABSTRACT
However, some scholars have proposed alternative accounts that acknowledge the important role disagreement plays in cognitive and social development and socially mediated learning (e.g., Johnson & Johnson 1989; Piaget 1975/1985; Posner, Strike, Hewson & Gertzog 1982; Vygotsky 1978). Here, disagreeing entails introducing a contested claim into the discourse (Asterhan & Schwarz this volume). Matusov (1996) presents a Participatory view of IS, where agreement and disagreement are common processes that mediate social activity within a common context. As Baker (this volume) points out, the learning that occurs within the discourse exhibits an intersubjective rationality that is predicated on the common ground that is taken as given or that is established over the course of the dialogue. Within this common context IS may show convergence on some aspects of the activity and divergence on others (Matusov & White 1996). It is this dynamic interplay between convergent and divergent processes that contribute to fostering sustained rich dialogic interactions (Bakhtin 1990).
