RE: Those radical constructivists...

Eugene Matusov (ematusov who-is-at UDel.Edu)
Tue, 12 May 1998 21:23:24 -0400

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

------=_NextPart_000_0006_01BD7DEC.31FA8F20
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="windows-1251"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hi Mike and everybody--

Mike wrote,
> ---------------------
> Might this be a point at which learning/development/identity
> are co-equally implicated? There is both the fact that a person's
> understanding (whatever that is!) of topic x is going to be affected
> if the person has no access to the required experiences and the
> influence of the person's knowledge concerning exclusion which
> transform what "understanding x" could possibly mean.

Yes, I think so. I always was puzzled about Piaget's conservation tasks.
How do we know that, for example, volume of water conserves when we pour
water from one vessel to another? We never have direct experience of
measurement of volumes. Moreover, physicists can tell that actually there
is no exact volume conservation because in a taller vessel there is a bit
less volume of water because the gravity compress the water a bit more than
in a wide vessel. Any "water practitioner" can tell that it is impossible
to pour water from one vessel to another without losing some small amount of
water. Thus, volume does not conserve.

However, all these reasonings do not make sense for mainstream practices and
discourses. For these practices and discourses, volume conservation model
makes sense and guides well the participants. The question is what are they
about and how a child in our society gets access to them. I think Jay
Lemke's book "Talking science" is a nice beginning to this investigation.

Eugene

-------------
Eugene Matusov
Willard Hall#206G
Department of Educational Studies
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716
Office: 302-831-1266
Fax: 302-831-4445
email: ematusov who-is-at udel.edu
website: http://www.ematusov.com
-------------

------=_NextPart_000_0006_01BD7DEC.31FA8F20
Content-Type: application/ms-tnef;
name="winmail.dat"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Disposition: attachment;
filename="winmail.dat"
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------=_NextPart_000_0006_01BD7DEC.31FA8F20--