Chapter 4: Motives as a Central Concept for Learning

Latour (2003) argued that early in philosophical history, Western thinking followed the path of Cartesian logic, framing thinking into dualisms, and disbanded the potential of dialectical materialism. However, it is now well understood that scholars in Russian philosophy and psychology have generated important theoretical approaches which draw upon dialectical logic, such as cultural-historical theory and activity theory. These theoretical perspectives provide a mechanism for overcoming existing dichotomies so pervasive in European heritage communities (see Lektorsky, 1999a). Recent critiques in Russia (see Davydov, 1999a; Lektorsky, 1999a), and renewed (Blunden, 2010) and longstanding (Kravtsov, 2009; Kravstova, 2009) interest in cultural-historical theory, offer researchers important frameworks for studying children’s development (see Davydov, 1999a, 1999b; Hedegaard, 2007; Lektorsky, 1999a, 1999b; Martin, Nelson, & Tobach, 1995; Stetsenko & Arievitch, 2004; Veresov, 2006), particularly in relation to the schooling context.