Education and the social brain: linking language, thinking, teaching and learning

Abstract

Several fields of investigation, including developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, educational research and neuroscience have begun to recognize the essentially social quality of human cognition, as represented by the concept of the ‘social brain’. In this article, I discuss this concept, its value for psychological studies of teaching and learning, and how it can be related to a sociocultural theory of education and cognitive development. This involves a consideration of the relationship between individual and collective thinking, and between spoken language use and cognitive development. Some implications for understanding and promoting the educational functions of talk in the classroom are discussed.