16 Jean Lave’s Practice Theory Sanna Talja University of Tampere, Finland INTRODUCTION Jean LaveÊs book Cognition in Practice (1988) develops the theory of practice as an alternative to cognitivist 1 research. The book is a thorough review and criticism of cog- nitive research on problem solving and human information processing. Based on sev- eral empirical studies on problem solving in mundane settings and everyday activities, Lave argues that cognition is not within the mind but stretches over mind, body, activity, and culturally organized settings·hence always involving other actors. LaveÊs criti- cal project is in fact twofold. It is criticism of schooling and what Lave (1988) calls the knowledge transfer assumption·the assumption that the skills and knowledge acquired in schools are widely applicable in other arenas of life as well. Second, it is an in-depth analysis and critique of the lack of ecological validity in laboratory-type cognitive re- search. Lave argues that both schooling practices and laboratory-type cognitive research ignore discontinuities between situations. This chapter presents the basic ideas and arguments of practice theory as formulated by Lave (1988). The structure of the chapter is as follows: after discussing some of the major differences between practice theory and other social theoretical approaches, I re- view the differences between LaveÊs practice theory and theorists who are often cited as also having formulated a theory of practice. Second, I introduce some of the em- pirical foundations and key findings on which Lave started to formulate her theoretical arguments. Third, I present the main ideas and concepts in LaveÊs theory of practice. I end by discussing the implications of LaveÊs theory of practice for information science research. OVERVIEW OF JEAN LAVE’S RESEARCH Jean Lave earned her PhD in social anthropology from Harvard University in 1968. She was a professor in education and geography at the University of California, __S __E __L 4148-189-016.indd 205 4148-189-016.indd 205 5/12/2010 7:28:44 AM 5/12/2010 7:28:44 AM