SYMP 116 - Socio-materiality in learning and development

Generally, biological, psychological and cultural approaches to research theorize socio-material dimensions as “natural” components of human ecosystems. In a more specific orientation, some approaches consider the socio-material dimensions as interwoven in the ontological and phylogenetic development of psychological life. Socio-materiality is a necessary condition for our functioning/survival as human beings (see the notions of “paramount reality” in Schuetz, 1945 and of “ecology of mind” in Gibson, 1979). During the last years, attempts to explain the interrelatedness between psychological activity and the socio-materiality of human life have been central to social sciences (e.g. Hicks & Beaudry, 2010; Latour, 2001; Iannaccone, 2015). Several works have also been realized both in developmental psychology (Gillespie & Zittoun, 2013; Moro, 2016), and in learning sciences (Kontopodis & Perret-Clermont, 2016). These draw further in particular on Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s work, in which the question of socio-materiality is already present in a certain manner. Taking into account the socio-materiality of certain phenomena may also be a methodological strategy complementary to textual data based analysis (Belzen, 2010). The current blooming of works addressing these questions challenge cultural-historical psychological understandings of human agency, language, and cognition. The aim of this symposium is to examine further the role of socio-materiality in learning and developmental processes, through theoretical contributions as well as empirical data from contexts as diverse as public schools, urban allotment gardens, adult-child interactions in an experimental setting and kitchens.