Mediated memory development in pedagogical practices: the use of calendars by preschool children

Abstract This research investigates the construction and the use of external representation systems and the contribution of pedagogical practices in constituting and developing the mediated memory. Twenty-seven preschool children aged five to six years old participated on this research. A weekly calendar was chosen as a memory measurement tool, and the children, guided by their teacher, registered the activities performed in the educational context. For five weeks, it was observed how these children would appropriate (or not) such instrument. The empirical material was analyzed based on the cultural historical theory. The results show (i) the possibility to develop the mediated memory in children aged less than the age pointed out by the studies of L. S. Vygotsky and collaborators; (ii) the need for systematic pedagogical measurements along such process; (iii) heterogeneity in how the mediated memory instrument is appropriated by the subjects.