[Xmca-l] Re: digital immersion mongrel Vygotsky

[Bill Kerr]

hi Mike Cole,

I'm interested in your evaluation of your experience of "having failed" in
this area if by that you mean introducing digital tech to the
disadvantaged. I was involved in the One Laptop per Child project (mainly
evaluating the software not intensive field tests) and have thought about
why it failed or appeared to fail. Superficially and briefly, the hardware
was wonderful, the software ok sort of. But there was little or no
contextual interaction with the intended recipients in the Third world
(cultural fail) and the educational philosophy was Seymour Papert's
constructionism (contextual epistemological fail even though I believe it
can work with highly skilled teachers).

"Runaway object" is a nice phrase about the sweet spot. But I'm not sure
about how important it is conceptually, ie. the underlying reasons why it
runs away?

The references I have provided include dense books by
Wolff Michael Roth (Mathematics of Mathematics): Still reading but very
impressed. Up until now I've had an eclectic / pragmatic approach to
learning theory - take a bit from Papert's constructionism, a bit from
Willingham's cognitivism, a bit from Dennett's behaviourism. Michael
attempts to put an end to all that and I'm partly persuaded but not yet
fully. Can't be summarised briefly so I think will require a separate
thread if and when I get my act together.

 and Martin Nakata: first Torres Strait Islander to obtain a PhD (now at
James Cook Uni Townsville) through an incredible analysis developing a
profound theory of the Cultural Interface. Once again hard to summarise
briefly. But since the Cultural Interface becomes a tower of many Babels
then for me it highlights again the importance of paying a lot of attention
to  context.

Kwame Appiah is an easier read and it was his quote from Salman Rushdie
that I extracted the concept of mongrel cultures

I can provide an elaboration of my own fairly soon of the overall approach
(digital immersion mongrel Vygotsky) but not sure how to summarise the
above authors briefly.

Reality check: Schools / education dominated by mechanical epistemologies,
bland cultures and technocentric thinking in the IT department creating
overall too many hurdles to jump. Nevertheless, I am aware of some
promising exemplars but most / all of them don't encompass the sweet spot
implied by my 3 teething rings. So does my analysis have the potential to
do it better or does on the ground partly inspired pragmatism prevail?


On Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 11:05 AM, mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu> wrote:

> Cool note, Bill.
> Having failed several times in this general arena, I am always interested
> in finding the sweet spot. In my experience, the process of change means
> that "the spot" itself is, to borrow Yrjo's phrase, a "runaway object."
>
> Further engagement now entails that people do some common reading
> and that can be a perilous undertaking on xmca! Often the distribution
> of the key texts help a lot, or links.
>
> Saturday evening over here. Headed out for the evening, but look forward
> to the followups.
>
> Good Sunday morning to you.
>
> mike
>
> On Sat, Apr 7, 2018 at 5:47 PM, Bill Kerr <billkerr@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > off topic Andy - but what I said was Noel's DI approach in the Djarragun
> > school context not necessarily DI as such. My 4000 word essay on that is
> > Life After Noel here
> > https://sites.google.com/site/livingcontradictions/life-after-noel As an
> > evidence based approach and plenty of anecdotes I have heard  in
> > Australia's deep north it can still be argued that "DI works" not as a
> life
> > long approach but in the context of a catch up approach for those who
> have
> > missed out on early years basic literacy and numeracy. If you want to
> > discuss my "Life after Noel' essay or DI in general then please start
> > another thread.
> >
> > This thread is about "digital immersion mongrel Vygotsky" not DI or Noel.
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 10:32 AM, Andy Blunden <andyb@marxists.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > > So you have given Direct Instruction a fail, Bill. For
> > > people in the field that is probably not a surprise, but it
> > > is very significant for the general public here in Oz. Could
> > > you summarise what brought you to the conclusion?
> > >
> > > Andy
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > Andy Blunden
> > > ttp://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm
> > > On 8/04/2018 10:02 AM, Bill Kerr wrote:
> > > > I'll put this up for discussion. It has been a twisted road for me to
> > get
> > > > to this point. I had a fail with the Noel Pearson's Direct
> Instruction
> > > > approach near Cairns and have now moved to Alice Springs as a good
> > > location
> > > > for further action research into Australian indigenous issues.
> > > >
> > > > DIGITAL IMMERSION MONGREL VYGOTSKY
> > > > - a contextual pathway to enable modern indigenous technology
> > > >
> > > > The origin of this was an exploration of an effective way
> > (pragmatically)
> > > > to bring digital technology to indigenous people. This turned into a
> > > hands
> > > > on exploration of disparate fields which for convenience can be
> > organised
> > > > under three sub-headings which can in turn be melded together:
> > > >
> > > > *Epistemology*: One interpretation of Vygotsky argues that all
> > knowledge
> > > is
> > > > socially constructed and that ethnomethodology, paying detailed
> > attention
> > > > in the now, is the best or only way of detecting and evaluating what
> is
> > > > going on (Wolff-Michael Roth). This world view is critical of other
> > > > learning theories be they behaviourist, cognitivist or
> constructivist.
> > > >
> > > > *Culture*: Martin Nakata’s (cultural interface) and Kwame Appiah’s
> > > > (cosmopolitan) approach is that indigenous (and other) culture is
> > mongrel
> > > > (no longer traditional), consisting of disparate, complex threads
> > created
> > > > by the intermingling of the traditional with the colonial. It follows
> > > from
> > > > this that effective communication between different cultures must be
> > > > contextual based on paying detailed attention to the now.
> > > >
> > > > *Technology*: Taking a broad view there are many human technologies
> > > > originating from the hand and the word. Digital technology (moving
> > bits)
> > > is
> > > > now replacing print as the dominant social medium. The only effective
> > way
> > > > to master digital technology is through full immersion in the medium.
> > > Some
> > > > groups working with the Disadvantaged in the Third World have
> > understood
> > > > this, eg. Learning Equality, and use affordable hardware (Raspberry
> Pi
> > > and
> > > > low-cost Android tablets), software (FOSS) and infrastructure
> > (sneakernet
> > > > where internet connectivity is limited).
> > > >
> > > > Combining these approached leads to “Digital Immersion Mongrel
> > Vygotsky”.
> > > > The goal is to combine these three approaches to find the contextual
> > > sweet
> > > > spot in the middle of the teething rings.
> > > >
> > > > *Reference*:
> > > > Appiah, Kwame Anthony. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of
> Strangers
> > > > (2007)
> > > > Learning Equality https://learningequality.org/
> > > > Nakata, Martin. Disciplining the Savages, Savaging the Disciplines
> > (2007)
> > > > Roth, Wolff-Michael. The Mathematics of Mathematics: Thinking with
> the
> > > > Late, Spinozist Vygotsky (2017)
> > >
> > >
> >
>