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Cited by 129Early Childhood Education and DevelopmentPsychology of Development and EducationIndigenous Cultures and Socio-Education

Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives on the Developmental Consequences of Education

Cole, Michael·2005·Human Development
DOI 10.1159/000086855
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Abstract

The goal of this paper is to examine efforts to understand the developmental consequences, particularly the cognitive consequences, of children spending large amounts of time in formal schools where their activity is separated from the daily life of the rest of the community and mediated by technologies of literacy and numeracy as well as specialized uses of language. The analysis begins by examining the history of formal schooling in relation to its social and cultural circumstances and progresses through an examination of different research strategies for reaching plausible conclusions about its cognitive consequences in the sociocultural context. The discussion ends by considering two contradictory tendencies, centralized standardization versus de-centralized adaptation and separation versus embeddedness, which have characterized education since its inception and which societies around the world confront in our current historical circumstances.

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Crossref · 10.1159/000086855

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37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Abstract thought is closely tied to the cognitive capacities developed through the long-term evolution and use of writing systems and later by mass education.

    “Abstract thought is closely tied to the cognitive capacities developed through the long-term evolution and use of writing systems and later by mass education (Cole, 2005;Olson, 1996).”

    From Human Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as Cole, 2005

  • Human abilities are modifiable.

    “As they are context-dependent and dynamic, human abilities are modifiable.”

    From Human Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as Cole, 2005

  • The dynamic development of human abilities results from their context-dependent and distributed nature, particularly from the interaction between the individual and symbolic tools and social institutions.

    “The dynamic development of human abilities results from their context-dependent and distributed nature, particularly from the interaction between the individual and the symbolic tools and social institutions, such as schools, which amplify or weaken these capacities (Barnett et al., 2011;Cole, 2005;Flynn, 2011;Nickerson, 2005).”

    From Human Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as Cole, 2005

  • Human abilities are directly shaped by the material and symbolic tools available within a given context and the social institutions supporting their use.

    “They are directly shaped by the material and symbolic tools available within a given context and the social institutions supporting their use (Barnett et al., 2011;Cole, 2005).”

    From Human Intelligence, Creativity, and Wisdom in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence (2025) · cites this paper as Cole, 2005

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Authors
Cole, M.
Affiliations
University of California San Diego (US)
Corresponding author
Cole, Michael
ORCID
Cole, Michael
Venue
Human Development
Publisher
S. Karger AG
Published
2005
Volume
48
Issue
4
Pages
195-216
ISSN
  • 0018-716X (ISSN-L)
  • 1423-0054
DOI
10.1159/000086855
OpenAlex
W2109766289
Cited by
129
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 6
FWCI
22.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
Human Development (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Psychology of Development and Education
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Indigenous Cultures and Socio-Education
Keywords
formal education, history of schooling, literacy and numeracy, language of instruction, standardization of education, educational adaptation, sociocultural context of education, cross-cultural comparison

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