There has been growing interest in the philosophical and scientific study of embodied, embedded, extended and enactive cognition, the so-called 4E approach to cognition. In essence, these approaches propose that an agent’s cognitive activity is mediated by the interaction of its body with its environment. This makes the agent’s cognition strongly depending on the deployment of its sensorimotor abilities.
Today, theories of 4E cognition have matured relative to traditional approaches to cognition, reconfiguring our understanding of the relationship between brain, mind, and environment. Therefore, we consider it necessary to develop an update on the latest advances on these topics and to promote a dialogue between laboratory research and field research leading to greater ecological validity.
These approaches are particularly interesting for education. Education in the 21st century is experiencing considerable changes, including the emphasis on “learning by doing,” STEAM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) and the use of emerging technologies of augmented, virtual and mixed reality, as well as the use of applications and tablets to complement teaching inside and outside the classroom.
The objective of this special issue is to highlight the research on 4E cognition applied to the educational field. In particular, it emphasizes those studies that reflect on the educational challenges of the 21st century in the light of these new approaches to cognition. Firstly, the issue will explore the current state of work in 4E cognition in education. Secondly, it will critically examine the theoretical and philosophical challenges and problems that emerge from applying these approaches to education. Topics addressed in the special issue include:
Authors are asked to use the Word template available from the web site of the journal at https://constructivist.info/guidelines/template.docx
The template also contains detailed instructions. Please read these Author’s Guidelines carefully before submitting your text.
Accepted papers will be published as target articles accompanied by several open peer commentaries. They highlight aspects not discussed in the target article. Together with the author’s response they will offer a bigger picture integrating various perspectives.
Please send all manuscripts to edu21/at/constructivist.info
| 30 September 2022: | Submission deadline for full papers |
| 15 November 2022: | Peer-review feedback returned to authors |
| 15 December 2022: | Revised paper due |
| 7 February 2023: | Open peer commentaries due |
| 28 February 2023: | Author’s responses due |
| 15 March 2023: | Publication date |