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Neil Mercer

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Neil Mercer
Neil Mercer in 2017
Born
Neil McKay Mercer
EducationCockermouth Grammar School
Alma materUniversity of Manchester (BSc)
University of Leicester (PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsOracy[1]
Educational psychology
InstitutionsOpen University
University of Cambridge
ThesisPsychological limitations on the production of speech (1973)
Ann Taylor Davies[2]
Websitefaculty.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/mercer Edit this at Wikidata

Neil McKay Mercer is an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge.[3][4][5][6]

Education and early life

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Mercer grew up in Cockermouth in Cumbria, and was educated at Cockermouth Grammar School before studying for a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in psychology at the University of Manchester.[3] He was awarded a PhD in psycholinguistics by the University of Leicester in 1973.[2][3]

Career and research

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Mercer's research explores the role of oracy[1] and dialogue in education and the development of children's reasoning.[3] He served as director of the study Centre Oracy Cambridge and is a life fellow of Hughes Hall, Cambridge.[3][7] Prior to working at the University of Cambridge, he served as director of the Centre for Research in Education and Educational Technologies (CREET) at the Open University.[3] and a member of the Centre for Language and Communications. Mercer previously served as co-editor of the journal Learning, Culture and Social Interaction,[8] editor of the journal Learning and Instruction[9] and the International Journal of Educational Research.

Mercer has emphasised the use of language to "inter-think" and build "common knowledge" – shared understandings and perspectives to work together, particularly in classrooms.[10] From Common Knowledge[10] onwards his work has been explicitly Vygotskian, fitting into a wider sociocultural and dialogic learning focus in education.[11] However, in contrast to Lev Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, Mercer proposes we consider the 'intermental development zone'[12] – the space that language creates which allows peers to interact and develop their reasoning together, in the absence of a guiding teacher. This work is cited as important in development of understanding of language for learning. [13]

Mercer's key interest is in the quality of talk and its impact on educational outcomes, including talk in the home[14] for example, arguing that "'social interaction and collaborative activity' in class can provide 'valuable opportunities' for learning"[15] and that classroom talk should be oriented around co-operation rather than competitiveness, to encourage exploratory talk rather than disputational[15] where the former focuses on explaining ideas, listening to others, and the building of mutual understanding and the latter on a lack of constructive argument which is characterised by disagreement with little explanation.[16] Research exploring this typology and its third component – cumulative talk, in which ideas are shared but not built upon or critically analysed – has found "evidence of the link between the development of children's communication skills and improvements in their critical thinking.",[17] leading to the suggestion that there should be more focus on these skills in classrooms, and commensurately teacher education programs,[18][19] including in the context of computer use.[20][21] This approach has been called Thinking Together.[4] This approach has been used internationally particularly in Mexico[22] and recently Chile.[23] Mercer's research into the educationally salient components of discourse has been grounded in 'sociocultural discourse analysis' – a theory to which he has contributed.[16] Sociocultural discourse analysis focuses on what language is used to do, and in Mercer's work, how it is used to share meaning, create common knowledge,[10] and interthink.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mercer, Neil (2025). Oracy: The Transformative Power of Finding Your Voice. The Bodley Head. ISBN 1847928560. OCLC 1524000763.
  2. ^ a b Mercer, Neil McKay (1973). Psychological limitations on the production of speech. le.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Leicester. hdl:2381/34675. OCLC 1065353107. ProQuest 301282812.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Anon (2025). "Professor Neil Mercer". faculty.educ.cam.ac.uk. University of Cambridge. Archived from the original on 22 April 2026.
  4. ^ a b Anon (2009). "Thinking Together Project". thinkingtogether.educ.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
  5. ^ Ward, Helen (2012). "It is time to stop paying lip service". tes.co.uk. Times Educational Supplement. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015.
  6. ^ Mercer, Neil (2019). "Language and the Joint Creation of Knowledge: The selected works of Neil Mercer". taylorfrancis.com. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780429400759.
  7. ^ Professor Neil Mercer (18 January 2013). "Professor Neil Mercer, Hughes Hall, Cambridge". hughes.cam.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Learning, Culture and Social Interaction". Csemails.elsevier.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Learning and Instruction :Table of Contents". Elsevier.com. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  10. ^ a b c Edwards, Derek, and Neil Mercer. Common Knowledge: The Development of Understanding in the Classroom. London, UK: Routledge, 1987. [ISBN missing]
  11. ^ Daniels, Harry. Vygotsky and Research. Routledge, 2008. [ISBN missing]
  12. ^ Mercer, Neil (2000). Words & Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. Routledge. [ISBN missing]
  13. ^ Littleton, Karen, and Christine Howe. Educational Dialogues: Understanding and Promoting Productive Interaction. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010. [ISBN missing]
  14. ^ Garner, Richard (2007). "The key to your child doing well at school? Conversation in the home". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  15. ^ a b "Study calls for more play and talk". express.co.uk. Daily Express. 14 December 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  16. ^ a b c Mercer, Neil; Littleton, Karen (2007). Dialogue and the Development of Children's Thinking: A Sociocultural Approach. Routledge. [ISBN missing]
  17. ^ Mercer, Neil; Dawes, Lyn; Wegerif, Rupert (2008). "Talking is good for the brain". tes.co.uk. Times Educational Supplement. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  18. ^ Stewart, William (2010). "Teachers branded 'useless' at discussion". tes.co.uk. Times Educational Supplement. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  19. ^ Mercer, Neil (2010). "My 'useless' attack was more a call to arms". tes.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  20. ^ Anon (1999). "Talking about computers". tes.co.uk. Times Educational Supplemement. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  21. ^ Revell, Phil (16 May 2000). "Young citizens". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  22. ^ Rojas-Drummond, Sylvia, and Neil Mercer. "Scaffolding the Development of Effective Collaboration and Learning." International Journal of Educational Research 39, no. 1–2 (2003): 99–111. doi:10.1016/S0883-0355(03)00075-2
  23. ^ "El Mercurio". elmercurio.com. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013. [dead link]
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