Summary writing as cognition and communication

A process of mapping the territory.

Abstract

The summary is assuming an increasingly significant educational value within the promotion of learning processes. In this article we propose a reconsideration of summary writing through an analogy with Bateson’s ecology of mind, examined from the perspective of the evolution of human language as a communicative and cognitive tool and of its written form, which renders it permanent and enhances both intra- and inter-mental reflection. We then consider how the reading-writing process underlying the summary can foster the development of both linguistic and transversal competences and also open new directions for educational research.