Re: non-material artifacts

jobeth (JOBETHAL who-is-at uga.cc.uga.edu)
Sat, 03 Feb 96 17:24:56 EST

I am fascinated with Vera John-Steiner's proposed new focus. Sometimes
it seems we "fossilize" Vygotsky's thinking, rather than interacting
with it, using our collective minds to extend his contributions that
were cut so short. Imagine where he, and we, might be had he lived even
five more years. I realize it is difficult not to fossilize when the
doer has actually died - he was referring of course to the danger of
studying fossilized behavior in children rthr than studying as concepts
were being formed. But I think we do Vygotsky and ourselves a disservice
to assume that he had a final word on anything. So will "the
construction of the new in Vygotsky's work" help us get at his ideas as
dynamic and interactive for today's thinkers?

JoBeth Allen
Language Education
University of Georgia
125 Aderhold
Athens, GA 30602
jobethal who-is-at uga.cc.uga.edu