ABSTRACT
Usually a comment on a set of papers is a critical appraisal of those papers, but in this case I would like to propose a synthesis rather than a critique. There are two senses in which the attempt at synthesis seems worthwhile. First, the papers themselves converge on some new directions in research on math and science education. Each one emphasizes the socially constructed character of learning activity. Second, it seems important, from an anthropological perspective, to lay out the socio-Iogic with which social studies of learning and sociological studies of schooling can be brought together to illuminate research on math and science learning. The main point to be emphasized in these remarks is that a synthesis of primarily psychological with sociocultural analyses of learning is not just feasible, but is also crucial. I will try to explain why I think so and what sort of synthesis I have in mind.
