Rereading Jean Lave 30 years on: Analogy and transfer-in-pieces

Authors

  • Stig Børsen Hansen University of Southern Denmark, Department of Design and Communication
DOI: https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2125

Abstract

This paper explores and evaluates some of the criticisms of a cognitive approach to learning leveled by Lave in Cognition in Practice (1988). The paper progresses by initially identifying learning transfer as the focal topic of Lave’s work. Two lines of criticism are identified, one called practice-based and one called concept-based. Through a renewed analysis of one of the empirical cases reported by Lave, I set out to show how this empirical material did not lend itself to Lave’s conclusions, in so far as these conclusions rejected central tenets of cognitive theories of learning. Concerning the concept-based line of criticism, I show how the phenomenon of analogically related uses of words plays a role in defusing one version of the concept-based line of criticism. Concerning the practicebased criticism, I show how an oft-overlooked form of analogical inference, coupled with elements of a cognitive, transfer-in-pieces approach, offers a better account of Lave’s case than the one she offered. The paper concludes with reflections on the lasting significance of Lave’s work.

Usage Statistics
Total downloads:
Download data is not yet available.

Published

2020-01-26

How to Cite

Hansen, S. B. (2020). Rereading Jean Lave 30 years on: Analogy and transfer-in-pieces. Nordic Studies in Education, 40(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.23865/nse.v40.2125

Issue

Section

Articles

Keywords:

transfer, situated learning, structure mapping, analogy, logic