ABSTRACT
Edwards Anne keep a dual focuses on learners and the knowledge and knowledge practices into which they are inducted by teachers. Academic success is usually evidence of the mastery of two aspects of learning. First is the grasp of an area of knowledge and second is the capacity to be in control of one's own learning. The argument in this chapter is that the dialectic nature of the relationship between learners mental processing and the knowledge they encounter needs to be recognised, so that processes of learning and the various roles to be taken by teachers can be understood. Vygotsky's view, that learning involves not simply internalisation, but also externalisation, is key to this focus on student agency. The more Ellie and Enid adjusted their responses to encourage the students to articulate their worries about academic work and jointly find solutions that helped them overcome them.
