[Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian schools

[mike cole]

Interesting idea, Michael. So the medium is the messenger? And we should
listen rather than kill?
seriously
mike

On Tue, Apr 17, 2018 at 9:50 AM, Glassman, Michael <glassman.13@osu.edu>
wrote:

> Hi Monica and Fernando,
>
> I have a question. Is there much playing of MUVE (multi-user virtual
> reality ecologies) games (e.g. World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Everquest,
> Call of Duty) in Brazil among adolescents. I ask this because much of what
> you describe among the students, and what I see among the Parkland
> students, and perhaps Black Lives Matter (although there hasn't been nearly
> the media exploration of BLM, but I was just at a presentation that
> discussed the social networking practices) is really reminiscent of the way
> activities in these games are described to me. I am just getting as
> graduate students the first generation that grew up with and are still
> playing these games as part of their everyday activities. The abilities to
> develop groups where different people take on different tasks at different
> times as they attempt to reach their goals (raiding a village, taking over
> an armory) seem to mirror much of what you describe.
>
> In the case of these games the objects are important but they're not
> important. Meaning they are ephermal. They are in the moment. What
> transfers from time to time is not the object, which might or might not
> have relations to each other (and we can overemphasize those relationships
> suggesting that there is an expertise in pursuing objects which would not
> exist if they are ephermal) but the ability to engage in this type of
> process. Something that is not generally taught in school. So what you
> refer to as collaborative agency is taught within these MUVEs and then used
> as we become aware and desire goals, receding when the goals are realized,
> but there for the next goal.
>
> We keep trying to put our own stamps on these kids. That they are doing
> this because they are aware of things that happened in the past, other
> movements and such. I wonder if this is true. I wonder instead if it is the
> result of a new type of education. An education many of them share, at
> least in many part of the world, but somebody like me has never been part
> of. You can learn a lot when you have to wait for the trolls to arrive so
> your raiding party is complete and you can take over a village.
>
> Michael
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> On Behalf Of Monica Lemos
> Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2018 9:06 AM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian schools
>
> Dear all,
>
> Thank you all for the comments concerning our paper. I know the article
> *Facebook in Brazilian schools- Mobilizing to fight back* is not a hot
> topic anymore, but let's get back to business and I will do my best to
> contemplate all the co mments.
>
> As I opened my talk at ISCAR-Quebec, I used to jump outside school walls,
> either because there was no teachers or because I didn't like some classes
> and there was something more interesting to do outside. Differently from
> those students in the 4M, who jumped inside the school walls saying "school
> is ours" and getting organized despite various limitations to improve
> school, from cleaning to trying different ways of organizing classes.
> Is it a change in the wind? A breeze maybe.
>
> It was also very interesting to follow the discussions on the walkout
> about schools and guns, together with the persnal histories that came out
> with it. It reminded me of some colleagues, teachers at public schools, who
> have to ask students for their "little toys" (read it as guns) that were
> going to be returned by the end of the class.
> Could you share the results of the anti-gun students' movements?
>
> Concerning the readings on Focault, we  didn't have legs to bring him to
> the article. We are aware, though, of how important it would be not only to
> enrich the discussion on social movements, but also to improve the notion
> of collaborative agency.
>
> Indeed, FB worked as a method of organizing students' own activties and
> also as a way to call people's attention on what they were doing or when
> they needed help. During the occupations they used to have two assemblies,
> in each school, in the beginning and in th eend of the day, so they would
> decide who was going to do what, and what would be the next steps
> concernig  the object of the movement. These were posted on the FB pages as
> form of reporting decisions and activties. In such assemblies, students
> would decide who was going to be in charge of cleaning, cooking or being
> Public Relation (PR). This PR would be the adimin of the FB pages who was
> going to decide what would be on the pages. Those functions could change if
> they decided so during the meetings.
> They also made lives of manifestations on the streets, when students from
> different schools met, or called from help, for example in one event when
> the police blocked two sides of a street making it impossible for students
> to move. So, somehow it became a form of meaning making and as form of
> tool-and-result with all the weight words and other multimodal resoures can
> have, maybe generating rhe contradiction between agitation, propaganda and
> desire to change. Ephemeral however, because,as I mentioned before, they
> migrated to WhatsApp, and because the movements themselves faded way. For
> this reason Fernando and I discussed the notion of social movements as a
> form of wildfire activties, based on Engeström (2009), see the link below
> http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=
> 208&doi=10.11648/j.hss.20170506.15
> .
>
> Andy, I have to say I trembled in your comments about the relation between
> needs and object of the activties, but thank you David for solving the
> puzzle.
>
> The notion of collaborative agency is still in progress, Fernando has
> worked with it during his PhD and I have been working with it in other
> works. I drafted an in depth discussion on the topic so we can move on with
> the discussion.
>
> As one of the principles of CHAT, historicity plays a central role in
> understanding problems and potentials in activities (Engeström, 1987;
> 2001). By remembering what can be forgotten, appropriating from one’s own
> memory means to understand why history is constituted in one way and not in
> another, and why we become who we are, in which way it affects our
> cultural, historical and social life in the present and in the future
> (Souza, 2009:31).
>
> In historicity, traces of voices and lived experiences from the past
> constitute how subjects act in the present for projecting and
> transformation of activities in the future. Bearing historicity in mind,
> Bakhtin/Voloshinov (1986), states that every word expresses the one in
> relation to the other and that the utterances we produce, including our
> creative work, carries other’s words with different levels of otherness and
> different levels of ourselves. *The words of others manifest their own
> expression and evaluation, which we assimilate, rework, and re-accentuate*
> (Bakhtin/Voloshinov, 1986 p.89).
>
> When different people get together, the traces of historicity and
> otherness support encounters that can be creative and promote collaborative
> agency.
> Merçon (2009), based on the philosopher Baruch Spinoza, defines encounters
> as a form of affect, the author asserts that in encounters we can affect
> and be affected, increase or hinder our power of acting, which also
> increases or hinders our power of thinking.
>
> When different parts come together in encounters, they their different
> historical background and different kinds of expertise can clash and melt
> together, which provides different kinds of meanings and contributions to
> an activity.
>
> According to Miettinen (2010; 2013) the reasons for encounters in
> activities mostly relate to the need to expand an expertise by finding a
> new product, raw material, or market, or solving a specific problem,
> therefore such encounters demand creativity so people’s power of acting and
> thinking increase. Miettinen (2014) states that creative encounters can be
> an attempt to transcend the limits of individualism, in addition, the
> promotion of creative encounters plays a central role in enabling
> collaborative agency, where participants engage toward a joint object of
> activity.
>
> In the same line, Lemos (2015; 2017) understood collaborative agency as a
> process through which participants become subjects of an activity by
> collaboratively constructing and envisioning new possibilities for their
> futures, consequently, transforming their own lives.
>
> Considering the movement school-community, Yamazumi (2009) poses that by
> creating hybrid and symbiotic activities in which various involved partners
> inside and outside the school collaborate and reciprocate with one another
> enables overcoming crisis. *The distinguishing feature of activity theory
> is a developmental theory concerned with qualitative transformations over
> time in human practice. Its central tenet is how human beings can become
> agents who can change themselves as they change their own institutions and
> practices in a way that mobilizes their collaborative agency (intellects
> and energies to act). Making changes in our own real life-worlds is at the
> heart of activity theory *(Yamazumi, 2009:36).
>
> The transformative stance of agency is only possible when individuals or
> group of individuals work in togetherness and not as conglomerate of people
> together (van Oers & Hänikainen, 2010) as in the traffic jam or as in the
> elevator. Collaborative agency generates transformative agency due to its
> possibility to break away from a given frame of action and to take the
> initiative to transform it which is enhanced by otherness constituted in
> historicity.
> Thus new tools, concepts and practices produced in creative encounters
> carry future-oriented visions loaded with initiative and commitment by
> partcipants (Virkkunen, 2006;  Sannino, Engeström & Lemos, 2016). Yet, from
> a transformative perspective, agency is related to the collective activity
> of a group of individuals for the development of new possibilities and
> transformations, which is only possible in collaboration (Haapasaari,
> Engeström, Kerosuo, 2014; Engeström, Sannino, Virkkunen, 2014).
>
> Therefore, creative encounters in collaborative agency empower
> participants to consider ways to transform oppressive situations rather
> than seeing them as inexorable. By experiencing, creating, re-creating, and
> integrating themselves into their contexts, rather than accepting imposed
> measures, subjects transform their cultural and historical experiences
> (Freire, 1967).  Collaborative agency implies different participants’
> histories, voices, actions, and reflections in and over activities to
> master and transform their realities.
>
>
> With best regards,
>
> Monica and Fernando
>
>
> 2018-03-23 14:40 GMT-03:00 Alfredo Jornet Gil <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>:
>
> > Thanks so much Monica and Fernando for being so generous to address
> > everyone's questions, including this one about Figure 3.
> >
> > In that regard, I wonder about your reading of that "network
> > structure" as relevant in re-organizing the students' agency. In your
> > article, you write about the Rio de Janeiro group,
> >
> > "However, they changed the network structure to ensure more
> > comprehensive communication among the groups"
> >
> > There is in this way of formulating an apparent assumption that there
> > was an initial intention in organising the structure, having learned
> > from the other previous movements/groups. You may (or may not) have
> > empirical evidence that this organization was indeed an intentional
> > one in terms of having considered prior experiences and having come to
> > a decision about what may work best. I would be interested in knowing
> > about that evidence, for I guess there is an interesting topic there
> > concerning a tension between the inherently emergent character and
> > impossible to predict implications of starting up online networks, on
> > the one hand, and the use of those networks for some purposes and
> > intentions on the other. What are your views on this tensions? And how
> > would you say these existed in your project? Has anyone (apart from the
> authors) thought about these?
> > Alfredo Jornet
> > ________________________________
> > New article in *Design Studies* "Imagining Design: Transitive and
> > intransitive dimensions"
> > Free print available: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WhHg_,KmyN6Dr
> >
> > ________________________________________
> > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Monica Lemos
> > <monica.lemos@gmail.com>
> > Sent: 20 March 2018 14:04
> > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian
> > schools
> >
> > Dear all,
> >
> > About Figure 3, our first challenge was on how to express the
> > movements in activity systems, and soon we realized that it wouldn't
> > be possible by using previous representations of an activity system,
> > due to the expansion of the movements.
> > So, we decided to place the object of the movement (big sphere in the
> > center), and connect the participants (Facebook pages - small circles)
> > to it. Since the first movement was in the State of São Paulo, and the
> > second only in the city of São Paulo, there were some pages that were
> > not used for it. Consequently, the number of pages that were used in
> > the second movement is smaller than in the first. In addition, the
> > organization (in relation to centralization of the movements) started
> changing in the second movement.
> > That is, there were more pages connected to the main page on Facebook
> > (triangles). The third movement was again related to a scandal in the
> > State of São Paulo, and again, the number of pages on Facebook increased.
> > Since the fourth movement (from Rio de Janeiro) started after the
> > movements from São Paulo, they already started from a central page
> > (instead of fragmented pages from different schools in the first
> > movement), that served as a catalyst of information, and shared the
> > activities with the pages of each school.
> >
> > We will be back to discuss Collaborative agency and reply Andy's
> questions.
> >
> > Warm regards,
> > Fernando and Monica
> >
> > 2018-03-16 16:36 GMT-03:00 Peg Griffin <Peg.Griffin@att.net>:
> >
> > > I think Serena (whose graphic it is) now goes to a Society of
> > > Friends
> > high
> > > school.  She has access to an enormously useful past for an activist
> > > to grow in!
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@
> > > mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of mike cole
> > > Sent: Friday, March 16, 2018 2:36 PM
> > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in Brazilian
> > schools
> > >
> > > Whoa, that is a great graphic, Peg!
> > > (like)!!  :-)
> > > mike
> > >
> > > On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 10:48 AM, Peg Griffin <Peg.Griffin@att.net>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > > Here's a relevant link: http://badassteachers.blogspot.com/
> > > > The Badass Teachers Association has existed for a few years now.
> > > > This is a blog with several posts by teachers who experienced the
> > > > March 14 Walkouts in the US.
> > > > The blog entries reflect a few different situations and
> > > > institutions that the Badass Teachers and their students
> > > > experience (note that the last blog entry extends from the Walkouts
> to Teacher Strikes and more).
> > > >
> > > > While I learned a lot from the account of the four movements in
> > > > Brazil and plan to learn more, here's a bit of a wondering that I
> have:
> > > > When I work with/for our young activists in the US, as time goes
> > > > by, I almost always find there's something said about the young
> > > > activists
> > > pasts.
> > > > They have participated in movements where peers further along in
> > > > some ways, and sometimes adults further along in some ways,
> collaborated.
> > > > The young activists did what they could when they could and took
> > > > in a "whole" event which in many ways they merely understood but
> > > > marching and chanting and drawing were really effective so they were
> engaged!
> > > > These young activists then externalized what they had taken in in
> > > > all the ways they are doing now ...  And the teachers and the rest
> > > > of us
> > got
> > > further along, too!
> > > > The day before yesterday I was witnessing a Senate hearing.  When
> > > > the hearing lies and evasions got terribly redundant, one of the
> > > > Moms Demand Action members seated next to me looked down to a live
> > > > stream on her phone of her daughter and classmates rallying
> > > > outside the White House.  Other members remember the daughter
> > > > tagging along to lobbying and hearings and rallies and marches for
> > > > years and the live stream and hugs went around a couple of rows of
> > > > us.  Eventually those White House protesting students marched from
> > > > the White House to Capitol Hill and the mom soon left to meet her
> > > > daughter's group outside.  Inside, we were astonished at how much
> > > > we were getting away with without the powers that be warning we
> > > > would be tossed out.  Maybe it's the times that are a changing or
> > > > maybe it was just that our slogan t-shirts, finger snaps, humphs
> > > > and yesses were mild in contrast to the Code Pink folks a few rows
> > > > away -- great costumes and liberty crowns and great signs.  All
> > > > sorts of forbidden expressive delights in a hearing run by Grassley.
> > > >
> > > > By the way, Randi Weingarten who is president of the AFT (one of
> > > > the two prominent and somewhat staid teachers unions in the US)
> > > > shocked many in a recent e-mail when she easily referred to the
> > > > Badass Teachers Association as one of her co-leaders in the
> > > > coalition of forty organizations working on the April 20 National
> > > > Actions in the continuing move against gun violence.
> > > > (Adults are organizing the expansion of this anniversary of the
> > > > Columbine
> > > > Massacre,)
> > > >
> > > > Badass, hardcore, throwing shade -- those are some of my newly
> > > > nuanced vocabulary items that young activists have led me to learn
> > > > in the past year and a half.
> > > >
> > > > And I'm attaching an amazing piece of art work -- the artist is
> > > > also quite the author of the written word.
> > > >
> > > > Peg
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > >
> > > > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > > > [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Alfredo
> > > > Jornet Gil
> > > > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 7:35 PM
> > > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > > > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in
> > > > Brazilian schools
> > > >
> > > > Just as a note to Harshad's and Michael's comments, and with the
> > > > hope to, although through a little detour, somehow re-connect with
> > > > the article (at least with the topic of social media, youth, and
> > > > social
> > > mobilisation):
> > > >
> > > > Today, in Reykjavik, we were in a meeting discussing opportunities
> > > > and challenges that emerge when educators try to implement
> > > > makerspaces activities with young children (5-6 years old), now
> > > > that those have become fashionable and educators are trying to see
> > > > what's good in there. In the meeting, there were experienced
> > > > kindergarten teachers, science center organisers, artist
> researchers, "just plain postdocs"
> > > > and the likes, all of whom have experience and passion about
> > > > children and learning. We all agreed that most of the problems in
> > > > attempting to implement makerspaces-like activities with younger
> > > > children had to do with the failure of the adults to appreciate
> > > > and let the children own and make the space theirs, which we find
> > > > is the whole point of a maker space. We pointed out our failure to
> > > > see and listen how the kids see and listen, so as to help them
> > > > make. While many of us, adults, in those situations tend to attend
> > > > to the verb "to make" in the transitive, as in "she makes
> > > > some*thing*", thereby focusing on some end in mind that provides
> > > > with a model against which to exert correction, we forget that, in
> > > > most cases, the kids are in fact
> > > > *making* (in the intransitive, without object), and that it is in
> > > > the making that the possibility of the end object emerges. Instead
> > > > of supporting them, appreciating the heart of what making means—in
> > > > praxis—we tend to suffocate them, narrowing the space so that it
> > > > no longer is a makerspace, or at least not one even close to their
> > > > regular kindergarten spaces.
> > > >
> > > > Similarly, I am reluctant here to follow the lead that "mass youth
> > > > is mislead," at least not before I try to carefully and
> > > > respectfully attend to where they are at, what *their* world and
> > > > space is, and what they say. For yes, the words "safety" or "Girls
> > > > clothing in school is more regulated than GUNS in America" may not
> > > > sound as erudite and profound as more complex statements about the
> > > > relations between Philosophy, Science, Ethics, and Economy (all with
> capital letter).
> > > > But the fact is that the magic, the future, humanity in fact, is
> > > > in their saying. So I would listen, but not with the narrow
> > > > backward view of us adults who already know, but from the
> > > > prospective forward view of those who grow. And this is not to say
> > > > that they are right or that they are wrong; that would be, I think,
> missing the point.
> > > > Even though, I must say, the messages too, like "your prayers do
> > > nothing,"
> > > > are quite convincing to me.
> > > >
> > > > Alfredo Jornet
> > > > ________________________________
> > > > New article in *Design Studies* "Imagining Design: Transitive and
> > > > intransitive dimensions"
> > > > Free print available:
> > > > https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WhHg_,KmyN6Dr
> > > >
> > > > ________________________________________
> > > > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > > > <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Glassman, Michael
> > > > <glassman.13@osu.edu>
> > > > Sent: 15 March 2018 15:36
> > > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > > > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in
> > > > Brazilian schools
> > > >
> > > > Hi Harshad,
> > > >
> > > > Sometimes it is the obvious not the obscure.  If you want a hungry
> > > > person to not be hungry anymore you give them food.  A student of
> > > > mind did a great study on homelessness.  Basically the best thing
> > > > you can do to avoid homelessness is you give people homes.  And if
> > > > you want people to stop shooting each other with guns you take away
> their guns.
> > > >
> > > > Don't forget also that the nuclear family is something we pretty
> > > > much made up over the last few centuries.
> > > >
> > > > Michael
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > > > [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Harshad Dave
> > > > Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 8:54 AM
> > > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> > > > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in
> > > > Brazilian schools
> > > >
> > > > 15 March 2018.
> > > >
> > > > Dear friends,
> > > >
> > > > I write here with reference to email message from Michael (Wed,
> > > > Mar 14,
> > > > 2018 at 9:25 PM). As far as protest for gun control and debate on
> > > > it is concerned, I put some views here.
> > > >
> > > > We all are aware that this is not the first event of open fire on
> > > > school students as well as mass killing with gun fire on public
> > > > place (recall Las Vegas shooting and other). Right from beginning,
> > > > when Columbus discovered the New World, the road of establishing
> > > > civilized society on continent America was not a comfortable one.
> > > > The people passed through challenges, hardship and peril in day to
> > > > day life during the travel on the road. This journey moulded a
> > > > responsible and wisdom full culture in the blood of people living
> > > > there. They fought for independence and emerged with a unity named
> > > > USA, they sustained with and sacrificed in civil war, they passed
> > > > through the severe recession of 1930 after World War I, and they
> > > > fought thousands of kilometres away from native place along with
> > > > allied nations in World War II.
> > > > These all are the untold, unwritten qualification of the people of
> > > > the time that decorated with a right of freedom to keep weapons with
> them.
> > > > We never heard of such insane events of mass killing in this
> > > > society in the history of this people though freedom to keep
> > > > gun/weapon was and
> > > has been a right.
> > > >
> > > > [NB: Please note, I am neither in favour nor in opposition to the
> > > protest.
> > > > I try to just bring one point of consideration to the reader.]
> > > >
> > > > After August 1945, USA emerged with some exceptional lead over
> > > > other nations of the world. If we consider a period of 25 years as
> > > > generation change, the third and fourth generation constitutes
> > > > present youth. Those who were born in and after August 1945 could
> > > > study the history of the above path that was traveled by their
> > > > ancestors. There is much difference between reading a history and
> > > > making living in the same history.
> > > >
> > > > Moreover, I recall the words of President Roosevelt, “*The only
> > > > limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of
> > > > today.*” It brought a new style and different culture with
> > > > comfortable life and inexperienced thinking and thoughts in new
> > > > generations. The emerging social constitution of society in USA
> > > > and its systems as well as institutions grew with a rapid progress
> and incessant changes.
> > > > Majority people believe that “*dollars”* is the ultimate key
> > > > towards happiness and peace. Institutions and system of society
> > > > worked as if “*science and technology”* has the entire competency
> > > > to settle any social problem.
> > > >
> > > > Wise people.... perhaps... failed to understand that our society
> > > > is stable and balance on four pillars.... they (pillars) are
> > > > Philosophy, Ethics and Religion, Science and Technology and
> > > > Economics. Uneven growth in one or more pillars will destabilize
> > > > the society. Now a day, we are searching all the answers of social
> > > > issues from *science and technology*. We try to sort out every
> > > > problem through *dollars* only, and we do not know if it is sorted
> > > > out or postponed. Neither we honestly give adequate stress on
> > > > ethical value nor do we have uniform philosophy on which our
> > > > society might rest. Family system is all most paralyzed. Youth are
> > > > encouraged or instigated to be independent and self sufficient as
> > > > soon as they reach at a prescribed age. We treat them as freedom
> > > > to youth. Our youth mass is not aware of all this fact and every
> > > > street and corners are equipped with a net-work to misleading the
> youth.
> > > >
> > > > Now, this mass of the youth protests with an esteemed trust that
> > > > the subject gun law will bring a safety. They never know, “*Safety
> > > > never come from the enacted laws, it does come from the healthy
> > > > and balanced social system.*”
> > > > Presently, it seems to me that protesters are with a trust to
> > > > bring safety by introducing the subject gun law, but the events of
> > > > shootings shout for the grass root changes in social system with
> > > > balance uniform growth in the above said four pillars. It demands
> > > > for reintroducing an affectionate family system again and
> > > > fundamental education that dollars cannot always bring happiness
> > > > and peace but where the real happiness and peace lie.
> > > >
> > > > Harshad Dave
> > > >
> > > > Email: hhdave15@gmail.com
> > > > On Wed, Mar 14, 2018 at 9:25 PM, Glassman, Michael
> > > > <glassman.13@osu.edu>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Fernando and Monica,
> > > > >
> > > > > This is what is happening is the United States today,
> > > > >
> > > > > https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/students-
> > > > > from-thousands-of-schools-stage-a-walkout-to-protest-
> > > > > gun-violence-and-honor-parkland-victims.html
> > > > >
> > > > > It is nothing less than extraordinary. Many are trying to limit
> > > > > this to gun violence but I wonder, based on your article, if it
> > > > > will soon transform into another movement. But I think it goes
> > > > > to show how the work you have done, if only a beginning, is
> > > > > really important. I feel like we have missed this in U.S.
> > > > > academic circles.  There is what is basically an idiotic article
> > > > > on fake news in the most recent Science, supposed to be our
> flagship.
> > > > >
> > > > > I feel like we have to hit the re-set button on understanding
> > > > > what is going on and the role that what you call
> > > > > human-technology interaction is playing.
> > > > >
> > > > > I have a question for some activity theorists if they are
> > > > > interested in responding. In some ways what is going on does
> > > > > mirror an activity model, the multi-level reciprocal
> > > > > transformation (unless I am misunderstanding something). But as
> > > > > I said in an earlier message there is nobody coming in doing an
> > > > > intervention, the transformation itself is organic, more Dewey
> > > > > oriented I would say (I think maybe Friere also).  Is there room
> for this in activity theory?
> > > > >
> > > > > Michael
> > > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@
> > > > > mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Fernando Cunha
> > > > > Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2018 3:03 PM
> > > > > To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>;
> > > > > mike cole <mcole@ucsd.edu>
> > > > > Cc: Lemos, Monica <monica.lemos@helsinki.fi>
> > > > > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in
> > > > > Brazilian schools
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear all,
> > > > > I really appreciate the discussion so far, and I liked the way
> > > > > some of you used some metaphors. It was far from our intention
> > > > > to reinvent the wheel or to use flint stones to light fire. What
> > > > > I think it is important is that there is no "if" in human
> > > > > history, and we are where we are because we transform the places
> > > > > we live, as well as the tools we use. We can for sure ride
> > > > > horses in the cities, but the horses would sweat so much
> > > > > (considering the asphalt roads), that in a matter of
> > > > hours they would die.
> > > > >
> > > > > Since life is forward, we tried to show in our article a small
> > > > > part of what the movements organized by the students were.It is
> > > > > important to highlight, that despite people that were not in
> > > > > favor of protests (including some students!), it was the first
> > > > > time in Brazilian history that students (who were not supposed
> > > > > to interfere) interfered in a political decision. And they did
> > > > > so not only by using Facebook. As we mention in our paper,
> > > > > Facebook is one aspect of the protests, and we considered it as
> > > > > a mediational communicative tool. As I mentioned before in this
> > > > > answer, we as human beings use tools that are available, reshape
> > > > > them, and sometimes use them for a purpose that is
> > > > completely different from the original idea.
> > > > > I myself am a secondary education teacher, and I am also a
> > > > > researcher because I am a secondary education teacher. We may
> > > > > have different points of view when you research something as an
> > > > > outsider, and when you participate (not as an ethnographer), but
> > > > > as a subject of the group. In my humble opinion, we are still
> > > > > trying to conceptualize (and
> > > > > stabilize) things that move faster than we can handle as
> > > > > scientists, or to compare contexts that cannot be compared.
> > > > >
> > > > > I am looking forward to your reactions.
> > > > > Best regards,
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > __________________________Fernando R. Cunha Júnior, PhD.
> > > > >
> > > > > http://fernandorcjr.wordpress.com
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >     Em segunda-feira, 12 de março de 2018 21:05:34 BRT, mike
> > > > > cole < mcole@ucsd.edu> escreveu:
> > > > >
> > > > >  Alfredo et al
> > > > >
> > > > > I read this message before reading the prior one. You are making
> > > > > the point I was trying to make regarding discussion of the paper.
> > > > > In our everyday lives we are experiencing a change in the wind
> > > > > (to use a metaphor that Dylan made famous at another such time).
> > > > > HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE DISRUPTING THINGS AS USUAL for the
> > > > > first time in my life. Call it 65 years.
> > > > >
> > > > > And we are academics and some of us are are paid to theorize
> > > > > such
> > > > matters.
> > > > > To theorize the social organization of society was Hugh's
> > > > > description of the social sciences. In most American
> > > > > Universities, Psychology (cap
> > > > > P) is located in the social sciences.
> > > > > Do we approach the problem from "below" as psychologists? Do we
> > > > > approach it from "above" as sociologists and political scientists?
> > > > > Can you link the Leontiev who writes about the nature of human
> > > > > consciousness, psychologically speaking and conducts experiments
> > > > > in the laboratory that look for all the world like what goes on
> > > > > in my psychology department, AND as someone who can help
> > > > > understand the growth of social movements? This may also be a
> > > > > way to address and understanding of the overlap and variability
> > > > > in the ideas of Vygotsky and
> > > > Friere.
> > > > >
> > > > > Monica and Fernando must be reeling from all the complicated
> > > > > English we are spewing. I look forward to the discussion.
> > > > >
> > > > > Still worrying about Figure 3! I know I need to be able to
> > > > > interpret it but I am doing a lousy job.
> > > > >
> > > > > mike
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > On Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 5:34 AM, Alfredo Jornet Gil
> > > > > <a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks for finding and sharing the link, Andy, and thanks
> > > > > > Michael and Mike for bringing the absolutely relevant
> > > > > > connection to
> > > Parklands.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > There was not so long ago a discussion here as well as in a
> > > > > > couple of articles in MCA about how crises leading to
> > > > > > development most often result from quantitative increments
> > > > > > that lead to qualitative leaps such that new forms of
> > > > > > organization emerge from previous
> > ones.
> > > > > > So, David, I don't see why increments in the pace of
> > > > > > circulation (e.g., of
> > > > > > information) would not be expected to bring with them changes
> > > > > > in the organisation of the whole economy system. I would not
> > > > > > say that social media is just bringing a lot more of the same,
> > > > > > just as I would not a priori reject the possibility that
> > > > > > bringing a lot more of the same might not end up bringing new
> > > > > > qualitative forms of communicating. The observation that
> > > > > > "like" is intransitive in Facebook is interesting; but to me
> > > > > > it needs to be put in its larger context of use. And so, are
> > > > > > we analysing Facebook as a grammar closed up in itself, or as
> > > > > > one more
> > > > > chain in a larger grammar of possible cooperation?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I am myself concerned that Social Media like Facebook may be
> > > > > > amplifying dichotomical thinking beyond the innocuous and
> > > > > > often way-to-verbose essays we academics enjoy entertaining
> > > > > > with much more complex verbal forms than Facebook's
> > > > > > intransitive "likes", only that the confrontations now seem to
> > > > > > be moving to family's dinner tables, quarrels among protesters
> > > > > > in public squares, or previously unheard of incarcerations for
> > > > > > publishing tweets and rap songs that critique the crown in a
> > > > > > supposedly modern democracy like
> > > Spain (e.g.:
> > > > > > http://cadenaser.com/ser/2018/02/20/tribunales/1519135083_
> > > > > > 106543.html). But the article here discussed also shows that
> > > > > > there are forms of organization that these technologies are
> > > > > > affording that may bring more positive changes, like the case
> > > > > > again in Spain of March 8th women's strike, the extent of
> > > > > > which no politician or journalist had anticipated and which
> > > > > > led the government to quickly adopt a much more
> > > > > > equity-friendly discourse than even the evening before
> > > > > > (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4_11iIELdfc). So, no,
> > > > > > probably that one strike, or that one social media that may
> > > > > > have made it possible, won't change the system. But they seem
> > > > > > to incrementally add to
> > > > > something, don't they?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Alfredo Jornet
> > > > > > ________________________________ New article in *Design
> > > > > > Studies* "Imagining Design: Transitive and intransitive
> > > > > > dimensions"
> > > > > > Free print available:
> > > > > > https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WhHg_,KmyN6Dr
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ________________________________________
> > > > > > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > > > > > <xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Andy Blunden
> > > > > > <andyb@marxists.org>
> > > > > > Sent: 12 March 2018 06:39
> > > > > > To: xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > > > > > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in
> > > > > > Brazilian schools
> > > > > >
> > > > > > That headline does not exist, but is it this:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/07/us/parkland-students-social
> > > > > > -med
> > > > > > ia
> > > > > > .h
> > > > > > tml
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Andy
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > > > > Andy Blunden
> > > > > > ttp://www.ethicalpolitics.org/ablunden/index.htm
> > > > > > On 12/03/2018 4:02 PM, mike cole wrote:
> > > > > > > Michael - I have been trying to find a digital copy of a
> > > > > > > story in today's NY Times titled "the social media warriors
> > > > > > > of
> > parkland."
> > > > > > > For some reason
> > > > > > it
> > > > > > > is not visible on the digital version.... yet. Maybe someone
> > > > > > >out there in  xmca-land can find it for us? I will check
> > > > > > >again  in the morning to see if it appears.
> > > > > > >      It seems especially relevant to Monica and Fernando's
> > > > > > >article, and
> > > > > > to
> > > > > > > David's comment that "  it is very hard for me to pinpoint
> > > > > > > any actual new form of thinking or new form of speaking
> > > > > > > which was made
> > > > > > possible by
> > > > > > > Facebook."  The voices and forms of speaking used by the
> > > > > > > students was
> > > > > > not,
> > > > > > > so far as I could tell, the source of data. There are no
> > > > > > > quotations of
> > > > > > any
> > > > > > > students speaking differently. I assumed that this article
> > > > > > > was about collective action.
> > > > > > > Monica and Fernando - I confess I had difficulty following
> > > > > > > parts of the article, perhaps because I am a very seldom
> > > > > > > user of Facebook. In particular, I had difficulty
> understanding Figure 3.
> > > > > > > Were the people who started M1 also those who started M2-M3? (
> "
> > > > > > > Once students achieved the object of the activity—in the
> > > > > > > first case, to avoid the closure of the schools—they focused
> > > > > > > the protests on another
> > > > > object").
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Did the M4 people get the idea from M1 through a FB
> > > > > > > connection form
> > > > M1?
> > > > > > Did
> > > > > > > you get any sense of what distinguished pages that got a few
> > > > > > > hundred
> > > > > > versus
> > > > > > > 10,000 reactions?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Harshad - Did you think the article failed to consider
> > > > > > > social
> > > issues?
> > > > > > There
> > > > > > > is no information about you on the xmca membership page, so
> > > > > > > it is difficult to know from what part of the world you are
> writing.
> > > > > > > Unless I miss my guess, some people will wonder at your use
> > > > > > > of the word "man" where the local practice might put
> > > > > > > "humankind" or some other gender inclusive term.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > David - Daylight saving time tonight so I find myself
> > > > > > > "working late."  It got me to wondering how many people live
> > > > > > > in Seoul. A lot,
> > > > > it turns out.
> > > > > > > About 9-10 million. That got me to wondering about how much
> > > > > > > faster all those people would be getting around on horses
> > > > > > > with all the horse plops
> > > > > > to
> > > > > > > clamber over. And all that hay to haul into town for the
> > > > > > > morning rush hour.  :-)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > mike
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 8:25 PM, Glassman, Michael
> > > > > > > <glassman.13@osu.edu>
> > > > > > > wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >> Hi David,
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> I'm sure those meddling kids won't come back on your lawn
> > > > > > >> any time
> > > > > soon.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> But really, the article did not say Facebook is a new type
> > > > > > >> of
> > > > > > technology.
> > > > > > >> I believe they said that it's a form of human-technology
> > > > > > >> interaction and suggested perhaps social media was a new
> > > > > > >> type of human-technology interaction.  I don't agree with
> > > > > > >> this
> > > phrasing.
> > > > > > >> I tend to think of
> > > > > > Facebook
> > > > > > >> more as an application of Internet technology - but either
> > > > > > >> way Facebook
> > > > > > is
> > > > > > >> just a form or an application. Is the internetworking of
> > > > > > >> computer, radio and satellite communication an enormous
> > > > > > >> step forward in how humans communicate.  I think so - it's
> > > > > > >> really extraordinary on a number of
> > > > > > levels
> > > > > > >> but that's really not the conversation for this article.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> I do think the authors have done an analysis that is
> > > > > > >> interesting and possibly important, especially when one
> > > > > > >> considers what is currently
> > > > > > going
> > > > > > >> on down in Parkland (some might be happy to know that, at
> > > > > > >> least from
> > > > > > what I
> > > > > > >> have read, Facebook isn't dominant or even that important
> > > > > > >> for these students. Adults have been using it more for
> > > > > > >> larger organizational
> > > > > > events
> > > > > > >> like the March 14 walkout and the March 24 march).  I have
> > > > > > >> read some articles on organizing on online forums (and
> > > > > > >> actually wrote a not very
> > > > > > good
> > > > > > >> one a few years back). Most of them are communications
> > > > > > >> based an don't
> > > > > > have
> > > > > > >> strong theoretical underpinning which is why I think this
> > > > > > >> article might
> > > > > > be
> > > > > > >> an important step forward.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> I think the idea of using third generation activity theory
> > > > > > >> might be a
> > > > > > good
> > > > > > >> idea for this type of analysis. I myself have seen ties
> > > > > > >> between the trialogical approach being developed by
> > > > > > >> Hakkareinan and Paavola and
> > > > > > what is
> > > > > > >> going on down in Parkland. The students are creating their
> > > > > > >> own projects
> > > > > > and
> > > > > > >> then getting the larger community to buy in to and support
> > > > > > >> what they are doing which is in turn changing the quality
> > > > > > >> of their activities. I have
> > > > > > my
> > > > > > >> own ideas on why this is suddenly happening and direct
> > > > > > >> communication technologies like Twitter and texting (which
> > > > > > >> seem primary vehicles) are only part of it.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Anyway, this particular article I think is really timely
> > > > > > >> and should give us a lot to think about.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Michael
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> -----Original Message-----
> > > > > > >> From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > > > > > >> [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@ mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of
> > > > > > >> David Kellogg
> > > > > > >> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2018 6:03 PM
> > > > > > >> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> > > > > > >> <xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu>
> > > > > > >> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Article for discussion: Facebook in
> > > > > > >> Brazilian
> > > > > > schools
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> So in the fifteenth century, Gutenberg exapted extant
> > > > > > >> technology already widely available in China and published
> > > > > > >> a single text using moveable
> > > > > > type
> > > > > > >> which started a profound intellectual, cultural, and social
> > > > > > >> revolution whose effects we still feel today: the rise of
> > > > > > >> Protestantism, the Counter-Reformation in, among other
> > > > > > >> places, Brazil, the Wars of
> > > > > > Religion in
> > > > > > >> France, the vicissitudes of a multii-confessional
> > > > > > >> (political) State and ultimately those of a
> > > > > > >> multi-confessional
> > > > > > >> (psychological) state, In the twentieth century, Ford
> > > > > > >> similarly exapted extant technology, this time nearly two
> > > > > > >> millenia later than China, and mass-produced automobiles
> > > > > > using
> > > > > > >> Taylorism, forcing everybody to buy an identical product
> > > > > > >> with interchangeable parts made by factories with
> > > > > > >> interchangeable
> > > > workers.
> > > > > > >> The automobile "revolution" did not even give us new roads,
> > > > > > >> and in Seoul today traffic moves notably slower than it
> > > > > > >> would on horseback. Clearly, there are some forms of
> > > > > > >> technology that are actually semiogenic--and
> > > > > > others
> > > > > > >> which merely circulate capital at a faster rate and
> > > > > > >> actually slow the movement of people and new ideas.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> So my question is very simple. How do we know that "Facebook"
> > > > > > >> (which as the name implies was originally designed to help
> > > > > > >> Harvard freshmen decide which classmates were sufficiently
> > > > > > >> hot to
> > > > > > >> "like") is really one of the former technologies?.There are
> > > > > > >> very clear signs , beyond the obvious
> > > > > > ones
> > > > > > >> surrounding the American origins, that it belongs to the
> > > > > > >> latter
> > > > > > category,
> > > > > > >> and not a few of them appear in this very article. First of
> > > > > > >> all, the authors are honest enough to associate Facebook
> > > > > > >> with reactionary, xenophobic, populist movements like the
> > > > > > >> clowns who run
> > > > > the "Five Stars"
> > > > > > >> movement in Italy. Second, on the very first page, the
> > > > > > >> authors try but
> > > > > > do
> > > > > > >> not really seem to be able to distinguish between the "post
> > > > > > >> first and organize later" technologies of Occupy Wall
> > > > > > >> Street and the use of social media by the four movements in
> > > > > > >> the article (including one actually
> > > > > > called
> > > > > > >> "Occupy Everything"). And thirdly, it is very hard for me
> > > > > > >> to pinpoint
> > > > > > any
> > > > > > >> actual new form of thinking or new form of speaking which
> > > > > > >> was made
> > > > > > possible
> > > > > > >> by Facebook. If anything, Facebook seems to narrow
> > > > > > >> semiogenic power to a single consumer/computer menu. Ford
> > > > > > >> said, you can get a Model A in any color you like so long as
> it's black.
> > > > > > >> Facebook tells us the same thing,
> > > > > > but
> > > > > > >> makes the verb "like" intransitive.
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> David Kellogg
> > > > > > >> Sangmyung University
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Recent Article in *Early Years*
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> The question of questions: Hasan’s critiques, Vygotsky’s
> > > > > > >> crises, and the child’s first interrogatives
> > > > > > >> <https://www.tandfonline.com/
> > > > > > >> doi/full/10.1080/09575146.2018.1431874>
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> Free e-print available at:
> > > > > > >> https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/6EeWMigjFARavQjDJjcW/ful
> > > > > > >> l
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >> On Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 7:30 AM, Alfredo Jornet Gil <
> > > > > > a.j.gil@iped.uio.no>
> > > > > > >> wrote:
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > > >>> Dear xmca'ers,
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> it is (bit over) due time for introducing the article for
> > > > > > >>> discussion from MCA's 2018 Issue 1, before Issue 2 comes
> > > > > > >>> upon us
> > > > > soon.
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> The selected article, by Monica Ferreira Lemos and
> > > > > > >>> Fernando Rezende da Cunha Júnior, is about two topics that
> > > > > > >>> were thematised in the last ISCAR congress and that ought
> > > > > > >>> to be of much relevance to current and future CHAT-related
> research:
> > > > > > >>> Social media and social movements. In particular, the
> > > > > > >>> article examines how students use social media for the
> > > > > > >>> organization and development of 4 social
> > > > > movements in Brazil.
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> The article is attached and is Free access during the
> > > > > > >>> discussion
> > > > > > period.
> > > > > > >>> It can be accessed free in the following link:
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10749039.2017
> > > > > > >>> .137
> > > > > > >>> 98
> > > > > > >>> 23
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> The authors have kindly agreed to participate in the
> > > > > > >>> discussion and they will be introducing themselves soon. I
> > > > > > >>> hope you  will find the article interesting and please
> > > > > > >>> don't be shy to share anything you might have learned
> > > > > > >>> reading it, anything you might wonder about it or that you
> > > > > > >>> would like see discussed. Having authors engage in
> > > > > > >>> dialogue is a great opportunity that this community offers
> > > > > > >>> and that makes sense the most when many of you
> > > > > participate. Good reading!
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> ?
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> Alfredo Jornet
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>> New article in *Design Studies* "Imagning Design:
> > > > > > >>> Transitive and intransitive dimensions"
> > > > > > >>> Free print available:
> > > > > > >>> https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1WhHg_,KmyN6Dr
> > > > > > >>>
> > > > > > >>
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Monica F. Lemos - PhD Student
> > Faculty of Educational Sciences
> > Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning
> > http://www.helsinki.fi/cradle/doctoral_students_2012.htm
> > <http://www.helsinki.fi/cradle/>
> > P.O. Box 9, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki- Finland
> > +55 11 98162-9482 (whatsapp)
> > Skype: monicaflemos
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Monica F. Lemos - PhD Student
> Faculty of Educational Sciences
> Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning
> http://www.helsinki.fi/cradle/doctoral_students_2012.htm
> <http://www.helsinki.fi/cradle/>
> P.O. Box 9, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki- Finland
> +55 11 98162-9482 (whatsapp)
> Skype: monicaflemos
>
>