Kozulin (Achva Academic College, Israel) advocates for modifying school curricula to emphasize cognitive development along neo-Vygotskian lines. He finds that students' learning potential is anchored in their cultural development and "mediated learning experiences" rather than their genetic heritage. From his own and others' research, he provides advice for developing students' intellectual functioning, organized around five main ideas, each with its own chapter. The first chapter presents the idea of "human mediation," which helps "explain the interaction between human beings and their environment." The following chapter examines how humans use "symbolic tools," the internalization of which develops higher mental functions. The third chapter describes "leading activities" that help develop students' cognitive skills. The fourth chapter on learning potential examines how testing, similar to formative assessment, can be used to help students learn. In the final chapter, Kozulin suggests that teachers include "cognitive lessons," in which students "learn how to learn." In the conclusion, he emphasizes that teachers should "use students' interpersonal activities for promoting the development of high-level reasoning and learning skills." Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

--J. A. Reyhner, Northern Arizona University

Jon Allan Reyhner

Northern Arizona University