Established theories

Established theories are those that have become widely accepted over time and are applicable to many different situations. Educators often draw on accepted learning theories to make sense of a particular situation and consider the implications for practice. They include theories about:

• cognitive learning;

• social learning;

• social cognitive development;

• constructivist learning;

• social constructivist learning;

• co-construction;

• experiential learning;

• adult learning.

The theories about “situated cognition” and “communities of practice” referred to earlier (see also pages 159–161) are examples of emerging theories that are becoming generally accepted. They help to explain the roles of context, culture, and social interaction in people’s acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

Early cognitive theories typically treated knowing as the manipulation of symbols inside the mind of the individual, and learning as the acquisition of knowledge and skills thought to be useful in a wide variety of settings (Greeno et al., 1996). Situative theorists challenge this assumption of a cognitive core independent of context and intention (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989; Greeno & The Middle School Through Applications Project Group, 1998; Lave & Wenger, 1991). They posit, instead, that the physical and social contexts in which an activity takes place are an integral part of the activity, and that the activity is an integral part of the learning that takes place within it. How a person learns a particular set of knowledge and skills, and the situation in which a person learns, become a fundamental part of what is learned. Further, whereas traditional cognitive perspectives focus on the individual as the basic unit of analysis, situative perspectives focus on interactive systems that include individuals as participants, interacting with each other as well as materials and representational systems (Cobb & Bowers, 1999; Greeno, 1997).

Putnam and Borko, 2000, page 4

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