Introduction Rethinking Learning: What Counts as Learning and What Learning Counts Jur Gree Unive of California, Santa Barbara ALLAN LUKE Queensland Univer of Technology he rapid transformations of socal, economic, and cultural worlds of learner in school and nonschool settings that we are facing today are reminiscent of the ran formations tha accompanied the industial revolution a che wutn of the 20th centr. In 1900, John Dewey characterized the impact on education in the following way! (One can hardly sie here has ben elton inal istry 0 ai 0 eres, comes Thrnigh eth fc ofthe cath s making oer, eens ts phys arm: plc Boundaiae wiped our and moved aout a fey wet indsd only sob paper ep: populcion shui fathered int cis om the end ofthe ers habe fring se alee with sarting abt ad ‘homghnen the vec er the ub of ature sini ltd aod aed and ee agp tata 0 ade aceon paciabl but comand ascey. Even ur soe nd igs Hen ed ivr, the mom conserve beets the depo ig thing in our nate, ae peooandy ‘sc. Tha chi eolton shod or allt ection in some ote han formal and opti sk Joni inconceibl(p. 9) Mach of what Dewey argued over 100 years ago can be viewed as characteristic of thecurrent shi to an information society ofthe 21st century. Like those atthe wen of the 20th cencury, education researchers and their constituencies (eg, students teachers, community members, and policy makers) are faced with a series of ques- ‘ions: How are we to respond co the educational challenges of this new millennium? Haw do we engage with new farms of learning, the influence of new media on chil- ren’ lves, changing community dynamics, and many long-standing and tenacious cclucational and social problems? And how can research and theory constructively aun critically engage with the demands and imperatives of government educatienal ane social policies? In this issue of Review of Research in Fducation, we bring together, with the sup- port of our international Advisory Board, an intergencrational group of researchers Who represent both new and long-standing perspectives and debates on the shapes defnitions, and processes of lextning in the context of global cultural and econo-ic change: These authors revise the concepe of learning from differnt methodologicalxii Introduction thevertical, and national perspectives. ‘They faens varisly om the soral cua and psychological dynamics of classroom life, changing student identities and lives, powerful new policy and assessment imperatives, and blends of new media and emcr- gent forms of learning in schools and nonschool programs. They review empirically rich and theoretically complex research on diverse groups of students and youth in Neth America and other nations or continents (eq, France, Australia, United Kingdom, China, Africa, among others). Taken together, these chapters frame a new venion ofthe fundamental question raised by Dewey atthe turn of the last century and provide insights into how this question can be addressed across the broader research community: How and in what ways can we, as an intellectual and scholarly community revss, rethink, and reformulate recearch in response tothe significant and unprecedented educational challenges of new cularal, economic, and social contexts? ‘Across these chapters, eaders have a unique opportunity to examine how researchers are seeking theoretically and empirically sound ways of responding 0 policy directions of governments and local communities seking to address perceived cslvcational problems, Further, the authors ofthese chapters bring new insights into iastes ofthe relationship among research, theory, practice, and policy. Several ofthe chapters caution researchers about the risk of narrowing the directions by focusing solely on one group of stakeholders, rather than expanding the range of paradigmatic ws of what might count as teaching and learning and their consequences t dif ferent constituencies a this historical point of dynamic change. Several authors pre sent new theoretical and empirical approaches to addressing complex problems involved in research on learning in school and out-of school contexts, Others explore how policy makers and researchers in different counsries have sought new ways to forward schools and education research in an era where che very institutions and practices of modernity have become less stable and more Alu. Yer others have tursed to work in adjacent fields of research — from applied linguistics to cultural studies — seeking new understandings of leaming. Together they rise questions abeut what counts as learaing, where and when learing counts, and how research and policy relationships support and constrain our understandings of learning, By deliberately expanding the purview of research on learning, our aim in this vol lume was to provide a rich and diverse body ofscholaship that would enable readers to explore once again whae counts as learning; how definitions and understandings of earning are being shaped and reshaped by teachers, learners, and policy makers as ‘well as researchers and educational theorist; and ro explore the research on how sie- uated views of learning are made to count in new insticutional and policy contexts ‘Thas che chapters in this volume constitute abroad multidisciplinary and transna- ‘ional collection chat Focuses on four major themes: 1. New and diverse cultural contexts for learnings 2. The impacts of new communications media on learning: 3. The study of leaning in school and nonschool sercngs: and 4. The national and cror-national assessment of learning.Introduction ait The chapters represent reviews grinded in a had range nF empirical and inee- proivsteaditons, In their eviews, we asked authors co work with a set of devehp- ‘mental reviewers to provide an overview of curtent research directions, contexcual issues, and policy debates — an educational "problematic in Dewey's sense — and to weave a theoretical and conceptual argument that could lay a foundation for fature directions, Each chaprer brings to the fore particular sites for exploring the iastes of learning in context, and cach identifies bah residual and emergent method- ological, theoretical, and policy issues. ‘These chapters, therefore, can be viewed as “making the familiar stange,” a process thar ethnographers argue is cencal to examining and re-examining cultural assumptions underlying everyday work of researchers as well as those in our teseatch stulies. Without this process, much of what counts a8 learning across various groups, corstiuencies, and research traditions would remain invisible; could be assured «0 bbe neutral, natural, or understood: and, therefore, would remain unexamined, Asthe authors illustrate indifferent ways, the challenge as we move into the 2Istcentary, just as ic was a the turn of the 20th century as Dewey argued, is to re-examine che ‘mt basic questions of who is learning what, For what purposes, under whae condi sions, and with what educational, social, and cultural outcomes and consequences for learners, communities, and nations. While in the past, the feld of education rescatch and policy makers have engaged in vigorous debates over method, policy, and educational practice, these studies show that such debates often mask more bsic isses, including what counts as learning. Dewey (1902, pp. 3-4) captures the chal- lenges and issues facing education research and its stakeholders and constituencies sucsinedy [so sgicane problem voix conan tha forthe momen condi ich ter, Slo cis onl by esting ay fom the meaning of ems tai ally Sed upon and coming ose theca ions rm another point of view and hens in +e ight, Bar sh mcosruon men al of hoagie The diversity of perspectives, esearch traditions, topics of study, and ways of con- ceptuaizing learning in this volume will challenge all. We encourage readers, there- for, to cad across these chapters rather than to selec chose within your own area of expertise, and to rethink, re-examine, and reconsider what counts as learning not ‘only in the chapters but also in your own programs of research. As the authors ofthe ‘vacous chapters in this volume demonstrate in multiple ways, no one research ta dition, theorercal perspective, or methadologial approach can addees the fall ange of complexity entailed in seeking to understind both what counts a learning and its counterpart, what lerming counts, The collection, therefore, provides rich and vae- Jed body of work, which those new to educational research as well as those with long tories of research on learning will find informative, insightful, and challenging, “The authors also ly a foundation for revisiting and rethinking the complex isues and debates on what counts as research on leatning in this transformative moment atthe onset of the 21st cencuryACKNOWLEDGMENTS, ‘The editors would like to thank Cesar Col, Unversity of Barcelona, Spain; Adtienne Dix- son, The Ohio State University; Davi Gillborn, Institue of Education, London, UK: and Chris Thorn, University of Wiconsin for eitarial comments athe ntl stage of the deve ‘opment of Volume 30. REFERENCES Devey, J (1900). The sca and sce. Chicago: Univesity of Chicago Pres Dewey, J (1902). The il and the curiam. Chicago: University of Chicago Pes