Re: conflict in the ZPD

Pedro Portes (prport01 who-is-at ulkyvm.louisville.edu)
Wed, 08 Oct 1997 14:23:24 -0400

At 07:32 AM 10/8/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Jay Lemke wrote:
>So, some questions.
>
>How do we learn to 'resist'? is this skill taught in the ZPD?
>-------------------
exactly,
at the social level, via institutions, zpd's are promoted, skills and
concepts lent, for people to learn how to view and identify themselves and
others.

how do we resist zpd's of mental illness, ignorance and prejudice ( where
good and bad skills are presented), or the zpd's that lend a certain class
consciousness to involuntary groups, women or socialists, Jews, nuevo (I
forgot my French spelling skills being of French descent too) born
Christians? Seems the that this is a question of re-intrepetation avec le
CH lens, le procese du sociogenesis. There are some zpd's in settings that
contain a high frequency for certain views, skills and concepts. Some of
these are healthier or better more complete than others perhaps, depending
on the beholder or commun. of prac.
And they operate at various levels, family, community, media, gov etc
( end part I).

>When we go beyond the teaching of skills that clearly get us to mutually
>agreed objectives, and begin to teach discourses and practices that are
>representations of a view of the world, rather than pure instrumentalities
>for action, is divergence and resistance more common?
>
>What are the principle sources of divergence? differences in the lived
>experiences and 'interestednesses' of junior/senior partners widely
>separated in age, class, culture, ...? direct reactive resistances to
>something (what?) about the proposed to-be-learned?
>Are there substantial differences in cultural (class, gender, age, ...)
>styles and preferences for responding to divergence in ZPD interactions?
>authoritarian-conflictual, passive-aggressive, dilatory, dissembling,
>accomodative ...? I think here we have a considerable literature on
>enculturation practices to draw on, from mother-infant 'control' practices
>across cultures, to those of various informal and formal educational
>systems.
>
>A large subject, but seemingly a very important one. JAY.
>ENDQUOTE
>

thanks for the quote.

One last comment on the recent clash based on the last part of Jay's
posting earlier regarding "I can write a-b-out it, others can write it..."
The thing nhwhite males writing like Apple, Kozol, Peter Mc et al about
this is that

it (Their writing and presentation of ideas and information) is more
compatible possibly, with the zpd 's of those who need to understand
conceptually the bounds of inequality (e.g. future teachers) than it from
ethnic authors, generally,

This seems based based on social distance. We tend to like that which is
familiar to us, those we can identify more easily with etc, Soc Psych 101.
Both types are needed. Freire was somehow heard.

But the anger? How does it come to be? If there is a zpd for anger, what
are its characteriscs and those of the agent who appropiates it?

Or of the students who learn about how others live (ie. in the zpd that
critical thinkers attempt to develop, or those courses where these
components are presented?

So back to the original query re. the clash
what do we do about this new type of student resistance (not the one by
Frederickson) in the core courses of education where mc stuff is presented?
etc

Do your best? (with its boy scout inplications)??

Melanie perhaps,, I'd say, do what you must do, your job curriculum content
included and try not to be attached to the results either way. We are all
zpd creators for any given set of ideologies. How each one of us does it is
part of the future, pedro

>Good questions, Jay. Thanks.
>Stephanie, thanks ditto
>
>
P. R. Portes
Professor
Educational & Counseling
Psychology Dept. 310
University of Louisville
KY 40292
Fax- 502-852-0629
Of. Tel. 502-852-0630