Abstract:

In this talk, I will present an exemplar of how I approach studies of cognition and learning through experience near, micro ethnographic studies of human activity and interaction. This approach is surprisingly uncommon in research on early learning and development, where the dominant approaches remain experiments and clinical interviews. I will argue for two stances: (1) that a focus on children’s everyday interests and concerns provides an illuminating way to understand, and potentially design for, children’s early experiences, and (2) that play may be considered “children’s culture” (James, Jenks, & Prout, 1998) or as Vygotsky saw it, the leading activity within which pre-school children’s development and learning take place (Vygotsky, 1967). Video-based examples of these phenomena will be shared to advance these stances. 

Speaker:

Professor Reed Stevens, Northwestern University, Learning Sciences