Signs and Problems of Togetherness in a Community of Learners.

Abstract

The social and collective aspect in human activities has become one of the main issues in Vygotskian analyses of learning and development. The study assumed that this aspect presupposes some feeling of belonging together and having a shared commitment on the part of the participants. Asserting that relatively little attention has been given to this in research on learning activities in general or on communities of learners, the study addressed the phenomenon of togetherness among a group of 6-year-old students and their teacher in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) who were involved in .a collaborative text-construction task. The issue was studied mainly from a participant perspective. After a theoretical analysis of the notions of togetherness and conflict, analysis was done of a videotaped episode of collaborative work, using Hicks' (1996) multi-layered model of activity analysis. Findings showed that in this learners' community, a variety of strategies were used by the participants to maintain the togetherness in their shared activity. The paper concluded that is a real and meaningful aspect of collective activities; the study of which may deepen insight into the dynamics of a community of learners and its activities. (Contains 79 references.) (EV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Signs and Problems of Togetherness in a Community of Learners Maritta Hannikainen, Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Bert van Oers, Department of Education and Curriculum, Free University Amsterdam, The

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