The purpose of this article is to consider the relevance and contributions of sociocultural theory and multicultural and critical pedagogies to professional development in special education. To this end, a brief review of the major tenets of sociocultural theory is presented. The position taken in this article is that an adequate and a sufficient theoretical framework for professional development in special education must explicitly and directly address the issues of power, discrimination, and relative status that, we argue, underlie many dilemmas of application of practice. Vignettes illustrating such dilemmas, with reference to the 1998 Council for Exceptional Children professional standards, are presented. Multicultural pedagogy and critical theory are suggested as potentially complementary and important additions to sociocultural theory, as applied to the professional development of special educators.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Apple, M.W. (1987). Will the social context allow a tomorrow for "Tomorrow's Teachers." In J. Soltis (Ed.), Reforming teacher education (pp. 20-27). New York: Teachers College Press.
2.
Artiles, A.J., Trent, S.C., Hoffman-Kipp, P., & López-Torres, L. (in press). How do preservice teachers learn about culture, learning, and difference? From individual acquisition to cultural-historical practices in teacher education. Remedial and Special Education .
3.
Ball, S.J. (1997). La gestión como tecnología moral. In S. J. Ball (Ed.), Foucault y la educación. Disciplinas y saber (pp. 155-168). Madrid, Spain: Morata.
4.
Banks, J.A. (1995). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice. In J. A. Banks & C. A. M. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education (pp. 3-24). New York: Simon & Schuster.
5.
Blanck, G. (1990). Vygotsky: The man and his cause. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 31-58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7.
Bourdieu, P. (1997). Capital cultural, escuela y espacio social. Mexico: Siglo XXI Editores.
8.
Buxton, C.A., & Escamilla, K. (1999). Toward a sociocultural model of second language acquisition. In C. Buxton, J. S. de Valenzuela, & B. Smith (Eds.), Second Language Acquisition (pp. 1-27). Boulder, CO: BUENO Center for Multicultural Education.
9.
Carmichael, L. (1956). Introduction. In J. Dewey, The child and the curriculum: The school and society (pp. v-xii). Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
10.
Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy. ( 1986). A nation prepared: Teachers for the 21st century. New York: Author.
11.
Chinn, P. (1999, August). Changing demographics: Impact on today's families. Paper presented at the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education Summer Institute, Denver, CO.
12.
Cole, M. (1990). Cognitive development and formal schooling: The evidence from cross-cultural research. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 89-110). New York: Cambridge University Press.
13.
Cole, M. (1995). Socio-cultural-historical psychology: Some general remarks and a proposal for a new kind of cultural-genetic methodology. In J. V. Wertsch, P. Del Río, & A. Alvarez (Eds.), Sociocultural studies of mind (pp. 187-214). New York: Cambridge University Press.
14.
Cole, M. (1996). Cultural psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
15.
Council for Exceptional Children. (1998). What every special educator must know: The international standards for the preparation and licensure of special educators (3rd ed.). Reston, VA: Author.
16.
Darder, A. (1991). Culture and power in the classroom: A critical foundation for bicultural education. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
17.
Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
18.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope: Reliving "Pedagogy of the oppressed ." New York: Continuum.
19.
Giroux, H.A. (1994). Living dangerously: Identity politics and the new cultural racism. In H. A. Giroux & P. McLaren (Eds.), Between borders: Pedagogy and the politics of cultural studies (pp. 29-55). New York: Routledge.
20.
Glazer, N. (1997). We are all multiculturalists now. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
21.
Golden, M. (1999, February 4). Guest lecture on Vygotsky. Class notes , University of New Mexico, Albuquerque .
22.
Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
23.
Grossman, H. (1995). Special education in a diverse society. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
24.
Holmes Group. (1986). Tomorrow's Teachers. East Lansing, MI: Author .
25.
John-Steiner, V. (1997). Notebooks of the mind. explorations of thinking . New York: Oxford University Press .
26.
John-Steiner, V. (1999, January 28). Seminar on creativity. Class notes , University of New Mexico, Albuquerque .
27.
John-Steiner, V., & Mahn, H. (1996). Sociocultural approaches to learning and development. A Vygotskian framework. Educational Psychologist, 31, 191-206.
28.
Kozulin, A. (1986). Vygotsky in context. In L. S. Vygotsky, Thought and language (pp. xi-lxi). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
29.
McLaren, P. (1999). Pedagogy of possibility: Reflecting upon Paulo Freire's politics of education. Educational Researcher, 28(2), 49-54.
30.
Moll, L.C. (1990). Introduction. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education. Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 1-27). New York: Cambridge University Press.
31.
Moll, L.C., & Greenberg, J.B. (1990). Creating zones of possibilities: Combining social contexts for instruction. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education. Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 319-348). New York: Cambridge University Press.
32.
National Center for Educational Statistics. ( 1998). Digest of education statistics. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
33.
Nieto, S. (1992). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (1st ed.). New York: Longman.
34.
Nieto, S. (1996). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
35.
Popkewitz, T.S. (1998). Dewey, Vygotsky, and the social administration of the individual: Constructivist pedagogy as systems of ideas in historical spaces. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 535-570.
36.
Popkewitz, T.S. (1999). Introduction: Critical traditions, modernists, and the "posts." In T. S. Popkewitz & L. Fender (Eds.), Critical theories in education: Changing terrains of knowledge and politics (pp. 1-13). New York: Routledge.
37.
Rosa, A., & Montero, I. (1990). The historical context of Vygotsky's work. A sociohistorical approach. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 59-88). New York: Cambridge University Press.
38.
Tharp, R.G. (1997). From at-risk to excellence: Research, theory, and principles for practice (Research Report 1). Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence.
39.
Tharp, R.G., & Gallimore, R. (1988). Rousing minds to life: Teaching, learning, and schooling in social context. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
40.
Tiedt, P.L., & Tiedt, I.M. (1995). Multicultural teaching: A handbook of activities, information, and resources (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
41.
U.S. Department of Education (1999). Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part II. Washington, DC: Author.
42.
Valdés, G. (1997). Dual language immersion programs: A cautionary note concerning the education of language minority students. Harvard Educational Review, 67, 391-429.
43.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1971). The psychology of art. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
44.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
45.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
46.
Wertsch, J.V. (1990). The voice of rationality in a sociocultural approach to mind. In L. C. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 111-126). New York: Cambridge University Press.
47.
Wertsch, J.V. (1991). Voices of the mind. A sociocultural approach to mediated action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
48.
Wertsch, J.V. (1998). Mind as action. New York: Oxford University Press.
49.
Wertsch, J.V., Del Río, P., & Alvarez, A. (1995). Sociocultural studies: History, action and mediation . In J. V. Wertsch, P. Del Río, & A. Alvarez (Eds.), Sociocultural studies of mind (pp. 1-34). New York: Cambridge University Press.
50.
Zinchenko, V.P. (1995). Cultural-historical psychology and the psychological theory of activity: Retrospect and prospect. In J. V. Wertsch, P. Del Río, & A. Alvarez (Eds.), Sociocultural studies of mind (pp. 37-55). New York: Cambridge University Press.
