The school that John Built

Reading a lot about cognitive development at the moment and one of the theorists, Vykotsky speaks a great deal about the importance of society and culture as impactors on this development.

"The development of the mind is the interweaving of biological development of the human body and the appropriation of the cultural/ideal/material heritage which exists in the present to coordinate people with each other and the physical world" (Cole and Wertch, 1996)

Vykotsky's Three Principles

1. Social interaction plays a critical role in CD in relation to what is learned, when and how it occurs. (Lutz & Huitt, 2004)
   
2. Potential for CD is limited to a certain time span - limited to a certain range at any given age. (Kearsley, 2001)
3. Only way to understand how humans come to 'know' is to study learning in an environment where the process rather than the product is studied. ((Lutz & Huitt, 2004)

Reading all this made me think about the interview I saw on the 7.30 Report about John Marsden (australian author) and the school (Candlebark) he set up in 2006. Just looking at his website and listening/reading to his interviews is inspirational and relates well to this idea of the environment being extremely important to cognitive development. A productive, supportive, inspirational environment with high expectations seems the most ideal - with an emphasis on not just the end result but the learning journey as well.
See some articles about him and his school here:

The School that John Built (Australian Story)

The school that John Built (The Age, February 6, 2006)

In search of the Perfect School (The Age, February 21, 2005)

7.30 Report 7th March2005

Interview on Enough Rope 2004