Chapter 2. From a Dominant Social Cognitive Framework to an Emerging Sociocultural Framework Framework
2.3 A Sociocultural Framework for Exceptional Academic Achievement: An Individual–
2.3.1 Defining socioculturalism: The human mind as mediated
Although there are multiple definitions of socioculturalism (McInerney, Walker, & Liem, 2011), Schoen (2011) suggests that “sociocultural philosophy is concerned with how individual, social, and contextual issues impact human activity, especially learning and behaviour” (p. 12).
Similarly, Mkhize (2004) emphasises that sociocultural approaches allow an understanding of how psychological processes (which could include learning and behaviour) “emerge from the social basis of life” (p. 54). Moreover, a sociocultural framework is necessarily historically situated and mediated by culture, where culture could be conceptualised as a dynamic and intersubjective experience of communal human engagement (Gӧncü & Gauvain, 2012).19 In drawing together aspects from various definitions of a sociocultural approach (to human existence, learning, and academic achievement), five key principles, as identified by Lantolf (2000), are relevant to highlight:
Culture is constituted by human participation in interpersonal activity with other members of that culture.
Culture has an essential role in mediating the content of the intrapersonal human mind.
A sociocultural approach necessitates a triadic concern with individual, social and contextual aspects of human activity and learning.
Social and interpersonal are important factors in the development of psychological processes.
Learning and other psychological processes are historically situated, and therefore require a historical perspective.
Lantolf (2000) also identifies that “the most fundamental concept of sociocultural theory is that the human mind is mediated” (p. 1). The term “mediated” (or “mediation”) is used purposively by Daniels (2012, p. 70) when he further explores the concept of dialecticism. In this
19 Gӧncü and Gauvain’s (2012) explication of culture specifically refers to children and theories of educational psychology. However, in defining a sociocultural approach to the educational psychology of children, I argue that the authors also indirectly refer to sociocultural approaches that theorise learning in any age group.
exploration, it is proposed that the mediated relationship between the social and the individual (or human mind) is not necessarily direct. Specifically,
[t]he dual process of shaping and being shaped through culture implies that humans inhabit “intentional” (constituted) worlds within which the traditional dichotomies of subject and object, person and environment, and so on, cannot be analytically separated and temporally ordered into independent and dependent variables. (Cole, 1996, p. 103) Cole’s (1996) assertion against the analytical separation of “subject and object, person and environment” (p. 103) into variables implies a qualitative research methodology in sociocultural approaches to learning and academic achievement. Cole (1996) further encourages that relevant intrapersonal and interpersonal constructs in human existence are theorised dialectically and materialised concurrently during inquiry.
Earlier, the origins of sociocultural thought and dialecticism were attributed to the work of Vygotsky (see section 2.3). Similarly, the concept of mediation can also be historically located in Vygotsky’s work. Although Vygotsky’s (1978) original construct of mediation referred
specifically to the use of signs for regulating (mediating) internal psychological operations (Miller, 2011), his construction is useful in illustrating the broader developed principle of
mediation as described above (see subsection 2.3.1). In response to traditional stimulus-response theories of human action, Vygotsky (1978) proposed a triangular representation of a “complex, mediated act” (p. 40) (Figure 2-2). Figure 2-2 exemplifies this triangular representation,
illuminating the mediated relationship (i.e., X) between stimulus (S) and response (R). From a Vygotskian perspective then, a simple stimulus–response process is understood as being a complex process, a process that is mediated by something else (i.e., X).
For example, in a learning environment, a student’s learning processes should not be understood as in simple response (R) to what is being taught (a stimulus [S]), but rather as a process that is mediated by “a second order stimulus (sign) that is drawn into the operation” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 39). The second-order stimulus (X) or sign could be comprised of a number of potential cultural systems of meaning, this being especially exemplified in human language systems (Reunamo & Nurmilaakso, 2007). Language, word meaning, and symbolic representations are examples of psychological tools (i.e., systems of signs) that could be used to direct academic activity. It is important to differentiate between internally oriented psychological tools (e.g., language systems) and externally oriented tools and artefacts (Miettinen, Paavola, & Pohjola, 2012). In contemporary higher education learning and academic achievement environments, I suggest that examples of the latter could include textbooks, other study-related material,
computers (machines), and computer software (such as academic search engines, online learning sites/Moodle, and research software). These are examples of cultural tools which could be seen as mediating the teaching and learning process. They are perceived as cultural tools in the sociocultural sense of “culture”, which as defined earlier by Gӧncü and Gauvain (2012) is constituted by human participation in interpersonal activities with other members of that community.
Figure 2-2. Vygotsky’s triangular representation of a complex mediated act
Importantly, Vygotsky (1978) claims that the mediated nature of human action has important psychological effects. Specifically, he asserts that mediated sign usage enables humans to move beyond that which would be possible through biological development alone, to more advanced behavioural and psychological processes. Combined with tool usage, the use of signs in human activity is theorised to bring about higher forms of mental functions (Vygotsky, 1978). Although originally theorised in relation to specific higher psychological operations (e.g., attention,
memory, perception), I argue that this principle may be drawn upon in understanding self- regulation and SRL as a higher psychological function that in turn may mediate or enable exceptional academic achievement. Following on from the aforementioned example then, a student’s learning would not only be in response (R) to what is being taught (S), but could also be mediated with unfamiliarity of a word used by the lecturer (a sign), in combination with the student’s use of an electronic search engine (tool) to become familiar with the word. In this example, the clarification of the word through the search engine would form part of the mediated learning activity.
Although some contemporary readings of Vygotsky (see e.g., Miller, 2011) infer that his original work advocated against the conflation of signs (or psychological tools) with technical tools (e.g., physical objects ranging from early human-made tools to contemporary devices such as
computers and digital cameras), recent developments in sociocultural thought have certainly theorised along these lines. For example, Vygotskian influences inform activity theory
(Engeström & Miettinen, 1999), yet a dominant feature of activity theory is a wider inclusion of both psychological and technical tools in understanding how the human mind (and behaviour) is mediated (Miller, 2011). Attempts at conceptualising exceptional academic achievement in contemporary South African higher education would probably benefit from a wider
understanding of the concept of mediation, and in light of this, I suggest that cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)20 may offer a comprehensive framework for doing so. In addition, activity theory provides a mechanism for overcoming the individual–social separation often
20 There are a variety of forms and permutations of activity theory. Although the terms “activity theory”,
“cultural-historical activity theory”, and “CHAT” can be used interchangeably (Daniels, 2008), I will mostly use the term “activity theory” to refer to cultural-historical activity theory.
implicit in other psychological theories. Moreover, the theory facilitates the embodiment of culture and the individual in a historical, current, and on-going activity process (Van Vlaenderen
& Neves, 2004), and may therefore represent a particular application of sociocultural thought that has relevance at multiple individual, social, historical, and institutional levels.
Although the phrases “cultural-historical”, “socio-cultural”, and “socio-historical” are frequently used interchangeably, the focus on cultural-historical for this thesis is intentional as it centralises cultural and historical processes in human activity and learning (Daniels, 2008). Given the centrality and relevance of culture and history in contemporary South African higher education (see section 1.2), it would be important to conceptually foreground these processes. Chaiklin (2001) identifies cultural-historical psychology as the term used by Vygotsky to describe his approach, defining this field as the “study of the development of psychological functions through social participation in societally-organised practices” (Chaiklin, 2001, p. 21). This is similar to the sociocultural conception of culture that was referred to earlier (see subsection 2.3.1), which highlighted a focus on interpersonal participation in social activities. In the current study, this was linked to a Vygotskian approach to conceptualising co-regulated (and adaptive) learning and exceptional academic achievement (to be discussed below, see subsection 2.3.3), this having particular importance for this thesis.