A Commentary on Charles Goodwin's Co-Operative Action for Learning Scientists

ABSTRACT

This commentary summarizes the argument Charles Goodwin presents in Co-Operative Action (Co-A, 2018), his most recent book. Through exploration of the breadth of conceptual and methodological tools that he has built over the course of his career and represents in this book, we suggest paths forward for Learning Sciences towards engaging in more equitable and relational research.

KEYWORDS:

• Learning Theory
• Qualitative Methodology
• Sociocultural Theory
• Equity
• Everyday Learning
• Interaction Analysis

Acknowledgments

We thank the following colleagues for reading drafts of this article and for providing valuable suggestions and comments, including Megan Bang, Noel Enyedy, Rogers Hall, and Shirin Vossoughi. We also thank the Goodwins for sitting down with us to be interviewed and for offering their thoughts on this article. The data included of Jamie were supported by a National Science Foundation grant to the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments Center (Award Number SMA-0835854). Data of Jason, Sam, and Jackie were supported by collaborative research grants from the National Science Foundation (Award Numbers 1109210, and 1205758). Additionally, all data were supported by a predoctoral training grant from the Institute of Education Sciences to Northwestern University (U.S. Department of Education Award Number R205B080027, R305B080027), and Northwestern University School of Education (Dissertation Year Fellowships). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent NSF, IES, or Northwestern University.