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Mathematics Education Research Journal

, Volume 24, Issue 1, pp 87–104 | Cite as

Cultural-historical activity theory: Vygotsky’s forgotten and suppressed legacy and its implication for mathematics education

  • Wolff-Michael Roth
Review
First Online:

Abstract

Cultural-historical activity theory—with historical roots in dialectical materialism and the social psychology to which it has given rise—has experienced exponential growth in its acceptance by scholars interested in understanding knowing and learning writ large. In education, this theory has constituted something like a well kept secret that is only in the process of gaining larger levels of acceptance. Mathematics educators are only beginning to realise the tremendous advantages that the theory provides over other theories. In this review essay, I articulate the theory as it may relate to the issues that concern mathematics education and educators with a particular focus on the way in which it addresses logical contradictions in existing theories.

Keywords

Marxist psychology Materialist dialectics Praxis Ideal Inner contradictions Affect Cognition Ethics 
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Copyright information

© Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Inc. 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Griffith Institute for Educational ResearchGriffith UniversityMt GravattAustralia

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