ABSTRACT
In this extract, Margaret Jackson argues for the significance of understanding the ways in which children attempt to make sense of their experience of school. It is a further example of a ‘social constructionist’ perspective, linking sociological study of social processes at the classroom level to psychological interest in learning. She sees children as active participants in their own learning, formulating hypotheses, testing them out, reformulating their ideas in the light of their experience and new knowledge. In the process of this they develop understanding of the social context and the parameters within which they have to live and work. In doing so they develop ideas about norms, rules, social conformity and the power of the teacher. Language is seen as a major factor in the child’s attempts to come to terms with this new world. There are considerable similarities in the views expressed with a liberal romantic interpretation of how knowledge is acquired and modified by the learner (p. 85) and in Vygotsky’s interpretation of the role of language in learning (see the article by Britton on pp. 317-22).
