Sorry, Maria, where in the heck did I get "Judith" from?
Phil
On Dec 19, 2003, at 6:44 PM, Phil Chappell wrote:
> Judith,
> I'd love to write more on the book, but it really only appeared
> yesterday! As others read it, I hope that there might be some more
> discussions of what a predominantly Russian group of scholars have to
> say about Vygotsky's work in relation to educational theory. Someone,
> I guess, should review it for MCA!
>
> Phil
> On Dec 18, 2003, at 7:52 PM, maria judith wrote:
>
>> Phil
>> this is very interesting.
>> it would be fine if you could write more about this book.
>> this will help my work with my students at the university, and I
>> think also
>> many other professors.
>> thank you
>> maria
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Phil Chappell" <phil_chappell@access.inet.co.th>
>> To: <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>> Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2003 10:03 AM
>> Subject: Cultural biases in understanding Vygotsky
>>
>>
>>> I just received a copy of "Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural
>>> Context" (Ed's Kozulin, Gindis, Ageyev and Miller) Cambridge 2003,
>>> and
>>> while flicking through the volume, I was drawn to the final chapter
>>> by
>>> Vladimir Ageyev, entitled, "Vygotsky in the Mirror of Cultural
>>> Interpretations". Ageyev has taught courses on LSV's work both in
>>> Russia and the US, and his aim in the chapter is to outline some of
>>> the
>>> cultural biases that he has noticed in the US context of students'
>>> understandings of Vygotsky's ideas. Ageyev begins by claiming that
>>> LSV's ideas underwent a strong Americanisation through filtering out
>>> most "poetic, philosophical and historical images", especially from
>>> the
>>> first edition of "Thought and Language" (1962)....I do recall this
>>> was
>>> a point of discussion during the xmca on-line course earlier this
>>> year.
>>>
>>> Several students I have worked with recently, in the context of
>>> learning theory for developing abilities in using another language,
>>> have posed questions such as "How do we know when a learner is in the
>>> zpd?", How can we measure progress through the zpd?" and "When
>>> learners
>>> are interacting, whose zpd is it?". Similar questions from US
>>> students
>>> are outlined by Ageyev. I have always had difficulties myself in
>>> answering these questions, and have replied with vacuous statements
>>> such as, "Think of the zpd metaphorically", etc. Ageyev provides some
>>> good fodder to think over, notably for me...
>>>
>>> 1. Doing some critical self-reflection on how I myself interpret
>>> LSV's
>>> work, as he claims that 100 years of positivism and behavioursim
>>> can't
>>> be shrugged off too readily, especially considering my own
>>> socio-historical background as a privileged middle class, white male
>>> from Australia (although Ageyev is referring to US contexts)
>>> 2. Revisiting the relationship between LSV's work and Marxism. LSV's
>>> work is usually held by new students in a positive light, and Marx is
>>> usually associated with "negatives", such as communism. Some of the
>>> more powerful metaphors that Marx created and which were appropriated
>>> by LSV (e.g. tools) could do with a critical historical overview.
>>> 3. Gain a better understanding of the context within which LSV was
>>> working, and which was shaping his ideas and "experiments". As Ageyev
>>> notes, we need to move beyond good linguistic translations of LSV's
>>> works (he seems to assume that we have these available - I can't
>>> make a
>>> comment there) to better cultural interpretations of his ideas. This
>>> final point rings loudly to me, as the zpd becomes a popularised
>>> metaphor for successful transmission or acquisition of knowledge and
>>> skills. I can't help thinking of homogenised fat-free milk!!!
>>>
>>> Just some thoughts on a chapter that I skimmed.
>>>
>>> Phil
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
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