ABSTRACT
Sociocultural theories focus on the role of social, cultural, and physical contexts on meaning making with an emphasis on the role of social context and social practices. Other labels applied to these theories include “social constructionism,” “social constructivism,” “the sociocentric view,” and “the interactionist approach.” Sociocultural theories focus on the learner’s participation in the social practices of the setting, community, and culture. These views see knowledge as developed in discourses carried on by groups of people. Meaning making begins in the cultural context and involves other people in their community of practice, as well as cultural artifacts and symbolic tools. Learning is seen as a process of becoming more centrally involved in a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991)—as “becoming attuned to constraints and affordances of activity” (Greeno & the MSMTA Project Group, 1998). Socioculturalists believe that our sense that our selves and ideas are independent (that we process stimuli and build ideas about things in the world from the inside out) is illusory. They view the mind and cognitive structures (schemas, mental models, concepts) as distilled from participation in social practices rather than as internal mental processes.
