That's what I get for being in a hurry and writing shorthand. I will be
going 'nomail' status for a while, as I have a lot of other writing that is
overdue.
As I gain more experience working together with teachers in schools, this
time with elementary schools, I feel more and more respect for the work
they are doing. Just anecdotally, I videotaped one fellow coordinating the
planting of tulip bulbs last fall, that had to be planted 7 inches deep.
The bottom of the hole he had dug was irregular in depth. He had stretched
string across the opening of the hole, against which each of the children,
in turn, could measure the depth of the hole, with a tape measure, before
planting their tulip bulb. The discourse goes something like this: (all
paraphrased, because i don't have the tape at home - it is inaccurate)
Teacher: Here is how you measure how deep it is - read the mark on the tape
next to the string.
Child: Ok
T: What does it read? [the depth is 7 1/4 inches]
C: Seven inches.
T: Seven inches is there [points to mark on the tape] . Is it more or
less than seven inches?
C: More.
T: What do you think it is?
C: Seven and a half.
T: Seven and a half is halfway between 7 and 8. Where is 7 and a half?
[Child points to approximately the right place]
T: Ok good. So it is about 7 and a quarter inches. Do we need to add
dirt or take it out of the whole?
C: Add dirt. [several of the children watching chorus the answer]
In the tridadic dialogue the teacher was evaluating the childs performance
as the child is participating in planting the bulb, mediated by the tape
measure, string, hole, tulip bulb, etc. It is quite nice to watch. The
kids were really excited. If I were going to put on my hardcore
mathematics hat, I'd say 'No, the kids did not learn fractions." because
after all, the child did not demonstrate any number of the operations
considered mastery of fractions. If I do not wear that hat, I see a
situation in which the children participate in a situation in which
fractions are being used in a practically -- to plant tulips. What each
child took away from the situation, i.e. what they remember, what new sense
they make of number, or fraction, remains ambiguous. If we could follow
the child, and collect bits of these performances, say as snippets on
videotape, along with artifacts she created, and observations by teachers,
etc. then we could know a lot more. We could, as an assessment team,
discuss the collection with a rubric in mind, and decide what kinds of
activity the child might best benefit from. I think this collection, and
its use, would be a much richer assessment than what the child might
produce on a paper test. This collection is the sense of what I mean by a
portfolio. In the meantime, I'll risk using the shorthand of saying the
children were learning about fractions. But perhaps they were also
learning about a lot of other things.
Fresh to activity theory, I make a lot of mistakes, and I appreciate the
patience and care that this mailing list affords to my writing. I guess
the idea I had in mind when I wrote about the authenticity of schools
partially has to do with placing an activity theoretic lens on what I have
been observing, which does not distinguish between the authenticity of the
activity in schools and the authenticity of activity in other contexts. It
also has to do with recognizing that schools have been around for a long,
long time. I guess I also had in mind the respect I have for the real and
thoughtful work that a lot of teachers do with children, and the real work
of administrators, and the tensions that can exist as the performance of
the child, however measured, is often placed in the activity of others
responsible for, but not in direct contact with, the child. But I could be
wrong. Perhaps the word "authentic" is to be used very carefully.
I'll be off the list for a while... thanks for the very interesting dialogues.
Bill Barowy, Associate Professor
Technology in Education
Lesley College, 31 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790
Phone: 617-349-8168 / Fax: 617-349-8169
http://www.lesley.edu/faculty/wbarowy/Barowy.html
_______________________
"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself
and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]