Cognition, from this per-spective, cannot be explained by computationalmodels of structures and processes ‘in the head’;rather, one must look to the intact activity systemsin which the individual participates. Such systemsalways necessarily include social relationships,physical and temporal contexts, symbolic and ma-terial resources (such as tools), and historicalchange. From this perspective, cognition is ‘a com-plex social phenomenon ... distributed – stretchedover, not divided among – mind, body, activity,and culturally organized settings (which includeother actors)’ (Lave, 1988, p. 1). The structuresof interest, then, are the interactional structures ofsuch social and material systems, not structures inthe individual mind.

The most pressing challenge for research on learning is how to substantively address the powered and politicized contexts and consequences of learning in ways that make it possible for children, their families, and communities to create thriving, self-determining lives

political shifts embodied by Trump’s victory did not emerge in a social vacuum

We argue that recognizing the history of policies and practices that have inflicted symbolic and material violence on groups of people is a necessary, but not sufficient, step toward a political theory of learning.

As Trump prepares to take office, it is apparent that his campaign rhetoric will translate into policies that will systematically inflict violence on specific groups of people and on the earth

These theor-ists point out many ways in which mind is con-nected to, extended and shaped by the cultures,body, and the physical surroundings of which it isa part, and they do not believe that all cognitioninvolves symbolic representation or, indeed, thatall cognition takes place within the mind itself.