On Wed, 8 Oct 1997, Ricardo Ottoni Vaz Japiassu wrote:
> Mrs. Spina,
>
> I read your comments about Vygotsky's ZPD and I apreciate it
> specialy because you show a "reading road" (?) that does not
> reduce it to a technical tool of mesurement of development.
>
> I understand it, at least util now, as a social zone of potential
> development that is present in every interaction between people. In
> school education, as a "space" in which teachers and professsors can be
> "helped" by students-childreen to grow in cultural development too.
>
> My english is pretty bad and I feel a lot of limitations on
> comming out my thoughts. I hope you can understand me.
>
> tephanie spina wrote:
> >
> > I would like to explore some of the relationships between Vygotskiian
> > theory and critical pedagogy in general, and specifically as they relate
> > to the issues of conservatism, multiculturalism, and the host of other
> > issues raised in the stories recently posted.
> > My interpretation of Vygotsky may not be "mainstream" on this list - but
> > I'd like to engage in a dialogue (not a polarizing debate) around some of
> > these ideas (on or off list) with anyone interested. Perhaps conflict
> > may be an appropriate starting point.
> > Conflict, to Vygotsky, was critical to growth. For example,I do not see
> > the ZPD as just a technique to systematically lead children from one level
> > of skill to another. The ZPD is not a "place" or a "thing." It is not a
> > technique for learning/teaching. It is a reorganization through conflict
> > to create new meaning. The ZPD works by creating a tension between
> > present and future capabilities; the intersection of external needs and
> > internal possibilities. The dialectical character of the process has been
> > frequently neutralized in the West where its conflictual aspects, so
> > critical to Vygotsky's conceptualization, are glossed over, leaving no
> > room for concepts like agency and resistance, which are central to
> > critical pedagogy. Western views seem to have shifted Vygotsky's notion by
> > an emphasis on the interaction between a child and adult through the
> > process of negotiating meaning, assuming reciprocity and positive,
> > cooperative interaction.
> > Vygotsky's strength is his unique integration of (historical) psychology,
> > Marxist philosophy, and social semiotic analysis to create a theory based
> > on, in, and of culture. Critical pedagogy shares these roots and exploring
> > this may provide insights relevant to both.
> > Your thoughts?
> >
> > Stephanie
> >
> > Stephanie Urso Spina
> > City University of New York
> > sspina who-is-at email.gc.cuny.edu
>
>