A Comparative Study Between Psychological And Anthropological Perspective On Situated Learning

Situated learning theory concerns about the characteristics of learning such as sociality, situatedness, complexity, tacitness. Since the1980s, psychological and anthropological perspective on situated learning have been interactive developing. Situated learning theory has expanded the nature of learning——"from getting to participate". However, there are important differences on the metaphor of participation between psychological and anthropological perspective on situated learning. From the pedagogical perspective, the anthropological perspective on situated learning mainly offers schools epistemological revelation,"legitimate peripheral participation" is an important term to analyze learning. The psychological perspective on situated learning focuses methodological implications for schools,"situated cognition " is to guide teaching practices. Such differences has not caused enough attention to the researchers. There exists confusion between the psychological and anthropological perspective, which hinders the achievement of "participation" metaphor of learning.We could understand situated learning theory in a broader field of view by clarifying its origin. The anthropological perspective on situated learning is mainly influenced by the traditional apprenticeship, social practice theory and the theories of situated experience. The psychological perspective on situated learning is affected by Dewey’s pragmatism, Vygotsky’s social constructivism, it is also influenced by the study of the traditional apprenticeship.The anthropological research on situated learning is to develop a new way to analyze knowledge and learning, using field work study and comparative study. The psychological research on situated learning is to improve the practice of school education, mainly using experimental study.The essential differences among various learning theories lie in views on the nature of learning. The anthropological perspective on situated learning views learning as "legitimate peripheral participation", which is an attribute of social practice. The psychological perspective on situated learning views learning as "a process of enculturation", which could be improved by progressive education and learning methods. Both assumptions on knowledge and learning reflect consistency on value orientation. However, the anthropological perspective on situated learning extends the metaphor of "participation", which emphasizes rich relationship among learning, communities of practice, activities, etc. It also stresses that learning can not occur in any places other than the communities of practice, and learning is constantly changing.The anthropological study on situated learning proposes a new concept frame to analyze learning in daily practices. Analyzing the factors that promote or impede learning in domain-specific practices, it guides learning in a more macro level. It’s important to invite different levels of participation in the communities of practice and create a rhythm for the community. Also it raises new research directions on school education. Putting forward cognitive apprenticeship, the psychological perspective on situated learning aims at uniting the breakage between "know what" and "know how" in practices of our educational systems. Meanwhile, teacher training, as a "real practice (which "legitimate peripheral participation" emphasizes)" in "school area (which "situated cognition" concerns)", is an important area for research in both perspectives."Legitimate peripheral participation" provides an innovative analytical insight on school education, which is difficult to be directly applied to classroom learning in the current school education system. We can apply it to students’ internship."Situated cognition", especially cognitive apprenticeship, has had a significant impact on school practice. Also it has triggered the generalization of situated learning and other issues. Reserving the nature of "situated cognition" and "legitimate peripheral participation", the researchers of situated learning should explore ways to integrate the two to improve students’ learning in school.