The legacy of Productive Disciplinary Engagement

This theme issue examines the possibilities and realities that regulate learning opportunities for students and teachers in diverse science classrooms harnessing the design principles of Productive Disciplinary Engagement (PDE). I shall begin my commentary by situating the PDE framework within the discourses of 21st century learning and education. Next, I shall consider the rationale and goals of the PDE framework and then move on to discussing the sociocultural embodiment of the framework in the case studies discussed. I shall finish my commentary by considering the educational significance of the PDE framework and by visioning the next generation of research around PDE. A call for longitudinal studies around PDE is proposed that are able to illuminate the psychological, social and cultural practices of learning communities over time, evidencing learners' changing relationships to learning, disciplinary knowledge, their social relationships as well as to schooling in general.