Difference between the cognitive and sociocultural framework:
The difference I most commonly read was between the internal processing (cognitive) and the joint collaborative activities (sociocultural) that influence individual’s behavior. The cognitive framework is interested in why students choose to pursue academic tasks, while the sociocultural framework is interested in the social and cultural contexts surrounding the individuals’ actions. The idea behind the sociocultural framework is that is focuses on the display of actions that culture and society affects, not just what individuals think. In the cognitive framework, individuals tend to avoid tasks they do not positively value. Where in the sociocultural framework, it is not just the task the individual may value, but it is the individual being viewed in action with the task at hand. The interesting difference is the idea of what the entire sociocultural framework encompasses. The thought that instructors in a classroom are understanding that there is more in your life than studies, and that your home life, work life, and social life also affects the way you learn or are motivated to learn.
The two frameworks have been theoretically found to not operate alone, but operate increasingly stronger together affecting motivation processes. It is not just the individual we are interested in, but the individual-in-action that helps us to understand the mental activity in the larger sociocultural context. The example in the article was a good analogy of how many of us function using both frameworks as a reference. I find myself many times walking four flights of stairs to a co-workers office for information I could have gotten over email, but I enjoy the interactions of others. To look at others at work or play helps me to better understand them as people, which in turn makes me a better co-worker.
Is it important? What (if anything) does the sociocultural framework add? What practical difference does it make (i.e., how does it make a difference in how you might motivate or understand the motivation of others?)?
As I stated above, the cognitive framework alone does not affect individuals. It is within the context that both cognitive and sociocultural frameworks have a play on the individuals’ actions or motivations. It is important to understand both constructs, because it allows us as administrators or instructors to better understand the individuals we are working with.
. The sociocultural view of motivation is not just in the head, but it is the interaction of the individual in different activities. This framework adds a different dimension to an individual. When doing a needs analysis for a company prior to training, your job is to find out the feelings and opinions of the co-workers affected by the current situation. The sociocultural framework in this situation can be seen in group meetings and on the job observations. It allows us as annalist to visually see the workers in action and to grasp the entire picture, as oppose to just receiving feedback only from interviews or surveys.
Understanding the student or trainee in terms of their sociocultural framework will help you as the instructor to construct relative examples. Knowing your audiences’ sociocultural framework can also help when doing demonstrations. If, for example, you knew that one student had a family history of higher education, you could use him as a sounding board for positive ways his family’s education has influenced his life. Classroom examples and demonstrations can help a student to better comprehend the learning activities. The sociocultural perspective along with the cognitive perspective encourages students to engage thoughtfully in higher-order cognitive tasks helping them to go beyond the individual constructs of learning.