A twist in the tale? A brief history of Piagetians and Vygotskians on classroom discourse

Abstract

In the literature on classroom discourse, there is relatively little Piagetian but an abundance of Vygotskian research based on the analysis of transcripts of learning events. This article provides a brief history of these cognitive developmetal engagements in this field, drawing out a selection of transcripts from the relevant literature to illustrate its claims. It reflects on the irony that Piaget's genetic epistemology, which is firmly rooted in the analysis of transcribed utterances of children, has produced a sparse literature on classroom discourse analysis. The article then describes how cognitive developmental foci in the analysis of classroom discourse have been 'squeezed out' by critical discourse analysis this millennium, but concludes with an optimistic view of recent work by Bryce and Blown that seems to be 'bringing Piaget back in' on the strength of an affinity between his clinical interview technique and Socratic teaching strategies.