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The Twisting Path of Concept Development in Learning to Teach
Abstract
Teacher education is often viewed as too theoretical and not sufficiently concerned with the realities of classroom practice. From this perspective theory and practice are cast as distinct realms whose only connection comes when theory influences practice. We argue that the theory-practice dichotomy lacks the richness of Vygotsky's notion of concepts, in which abstract principles are interwoven with worldly experience. More specifically, Vygotsky distinguishes two types of concepts, spontaneous concepts and scientific concepts. Spontaneous concepts are learned through cultural practice and, because they are tied to learning in specific contexts, allow for limited generalization to new situations; scientific concepts are learned through formal instruction and, because they are grounded in general principles, can more readily be applied to new situations. Vygotsky argues that while spontaneous concepts may be developed without formal instruction, scientific concepts require interplay with spontaneous concepts; hence the problematic nature of the theory-practice dichotomy. He further identifies two types of generalization that approximate concepts yet do not achieve their theoretical unity: complexes, in which some members of the set may be unified with others but all are not unified according to the same principle; and pseudoconcepts, in which members of the set appear unified but include internal inconsistencies. We argue that teacher educators should strive to teach concepts,…
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In the citing paper
“The concept that the teacher learns in pre-service education is likely to recede or be reformulated in the light of new communities of practice that teachers become involved with at the schools in which they will teach. (Smagorinsky et al. 2003:1410)”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
In the citing paper
“This is exactly what Smagorinsky, Cook and Johnson (2003) argue when they propose that different departments that teach in TE programmes do not always share common understanding of concepts and that can become very confusing to students.”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
In the citing paper
“According to the perceived divide, theory is viewed as more 'ethereal and authoritative' and practice as more 'protean and pragmatic' (Smagorinsky et al. 2003:1400).”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
In the citing paper
“According to Smagorinsky et al. (2003), theory and practice are often seen as different domains in TE.”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
In the citing paper
“They furthermore argue that if universities want to teach courses on childhood development in different departments, these departments need to have a 'consistent focus on a pedagogical approach or teaching philosophy' (Zeichner & Gore 1990, in Smagorinsky et al. 2003:1422) for the course content to have the fully intended educational effect.”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
In the citing paper
“Smagorinsky et al. (2003:1400) note that practice often takes the back seat to theory and practice is viewed to be something that 'people do in spite of what they think'.”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
In the citing paper
“Lave and Wenger (1991) in Smagorinsky et al. (2003:34-35) emphasise this when they argue that 'learning is not merely situated in practice . . . learning is an integral part of generative social practice in the lived-in-world'.”
From Knowledge of Child Development in the Interface of Theory and Practice in Foundation Phase Teacher Education. (2017) · cites this paper as Smagorinsky et al. 2003
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Zeichner, K. (2010) · Journal of Teacher Education · doi:10.1177/0022487109347671 · Cited by 2,615
Pedagogical dilemma in teacher education: Bridging the theory practice gap
Phillips, H. N., & Condy, J. (2023) · South African Journal of Higher Education · doi:10.20853/37-2-4610 · Cited by 41
“Smagorinsky, Cook, and Johnson (2003, 1004) describe teacher educators as “aloof within their ivory towers” not preparing students enough on-campus to empower them to take up their tasks in the classroom.”
BackgroundCrossing the “Theory-practice Divide”: Learning to Be(come) a Teacher
Gravett, S. (2012) · South African Journal of Childhood Education · doi:10.4102/sajce.v2i2.9 · Cited by 30
Ragpot, L. (2017) · South African Journal of Childhood Education · doi:10.4102/sajce.v7i1.501 · Cited by 2
Metadata
- Authors
- Smagorinsky, P., Cook, L. S., & Johnson, T. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia (US)
- ORCID
- Smagorinsky, Peter
- Venue
- Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2003-07
- Volume
- 105
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1399-1436
- ISSN
- 0040-0475 (ISSN-L)
- 0161-4681
- 1467-9620
- OpenAlex
- W2129951686
- Cited by
- 241
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 35.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Teachers College Record The Voice of Scholarship in Education (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American Educational Research Association
- University of Pennsylvania
- Florida International University
- Pennsylvania State University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Psychology of Development and Education
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Keywords
- concept development, theory-practice dichotomy, Vygotsky, spontaneous concepts, scientific concepts, complexes, teacher professional development, learning to teach, generalization
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