Piaget, Vygotsky & Beyond

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are arguably the two most influential figures in psychological research. Although born in the same year of 1896, it is only over the last decade or so that the work of Vygotsky has rivalled that of Piaget in importance in the Western world. This collection of original contributions by leading researchers celebrates the 1996 centenary of the births of the two most seminal figures in education and developmental psychology - Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Research in their footsteps continues worldwide and is growing. What are the implications for the future for this extensive programme? Which of the large body of findings has proved most important to current research? Based around five themes, these original contributions cover educational intervention and teaching, social collaboration and learning, cognitive skills and domains, the measurement of development and the development of modal understanding. Piaget, Vygotsky and Beyond is a uniquely comprehensive collection, drawing together a wide range of themes in psychology and educational research that would otherwise be dispersed throughout a variety of different publications. It will be useful to advanced scholars and practitioner-researchers in both education and psychology.

Leslie Smith is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University. His previous publications include Jean Piaget: Critical Assessments (4 vols, 1992) and Critical Readings on Piaget (1996). Julie Dockrell is Senior Lecturer in Child Development and Learning at the Institute of Education, London University. Peter Tomlinson is Reader in Education in the School of Education, University of Leeds.

Introduction, Part 1 Educational intervention and teaching 1 Educational implementation and teaching: 'School knowledge' and psychological theory 2 Piaget and Vygotsky: A necessary marriage for effective educational intervention 3 Psychological theory that 'works' in the classroom Part 2 Social collaboration and learning 4 Psychological development as a social process 5 Revisiting young Jean Piaget in Neuchâtel among his partners in learning 6 Piaget, Vygotsky and the social dimension Part 3 Cognitive skills and domain specificity 7 Piaget, mathematics and Vygotsky 8 Socializing intelligence 9 Expertise and cognitive development: Seeking a connection Part 4 Measurement of development 10 Measuring development: Examples from Piaget's theory 11 Capturing dynamic structuralism in the laboratory 12 Why measure development? Part 5 Development of modal understanding 13 Children's understanding of permission and obligation 14 Necessary knowledge and its assessment in intellectual development 15 Modality and modal reasoning