Pass, Susan (2004). Parallel Paths to Constructivism; Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Reviewed by Kathleen S. Cooter, University of Memphis

Pass, Susan (2004). Parallel Paths to Constructivism; Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Pp. 143     ISBN 1-59311-145-2     (Hardcover) ISBN: 1-59311-146-0 Reviewed by Kathleen S. Cooter University of Memphis August 15, 2007 There has emerged over time an almost sullen agreement that both Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget have much to offer the classrooms of today. The variations in their theoretical positions are no longer seen to be diametric and oppositional to one another and the need for drawing lines in the theoretical sand is passé. But each man is himself a socio-cultural product of their times and cultures. This book is an analysis of how each man’s work is uniquely a product of experiences which shaped their personal lives and thus their body of work. Susan Pass attempts with some success to extrapolate the individual experiences of each to explain their theoretical signatures and variations. The foreword and introduction are critical foundations to the book as they set the stage for the premise she presents. Literally stage by stage, Pass studies the lives of each of these scientists and analyzes how those life experiences shaped their later writings and research. Basically, she describes Piaget as having almost a biological world view which adapts to the environment; Vygotsky is viewed as being a social interactionist within the boundaries of the socio-cultural milieu. The book is rendered as described: each man is painstakingly analyzed chapter to chapter, age to age beginning with childhood, then to adolescence, to young adulthood, and then to postgraduate studies. Each chapter gives it due to each scientist, at times literally one paragraph labeled for Piaget, the next Vygotsky. It can be a bit intellectually disconcerting at times and may have worked more effectively with less of “turn taker” style. The final chapters of the book are literally summations of the previous chapters as well as delineating points where each theory coalesces and where the thinking sharply differs. In the final chapter, Pass using a somewhat unusual analysis style defines twelve points where she believes that these great thinkers could have found substantial agreement had they had the opportunity to communicate and dialog. Although it is most certainly supposition of a most fanciful nature, it does present a possible marriage of the theories which is both interesting and worthy of attention. The book concludes with two charts, one of which is a rather lengthy graphical display of similarities in the lives of Piaget and Vygotsky over the time frame of their lives matching their published works with historical events in their homelands. Albeit interesting, it is a bit cumbersome. The other chart is what the author labels the “curve” delineating the cycle of life from birth to death often referred to in the text. As a professor, I do think that this book has some value as students attempt to find their own belief path and are in the process of learning about the variations in psychological/educational perspectives. Albeit an interesting socio historical analysis, the book is a bit thin theoretically, thus certainly it could not stand alone as a college text, but rather as a supplementary or reference text.