[xmca] zpd zbr zedpd and zoped

[mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>]

I am answering David's question about "why zoped." I did not include it in
my talk because I am uncertain of the audience's national
backgrounds and was assuming "mixed but mostly Russian speakers". The talk
was supposed to be about 20 minutes long and I was
uncertain of the time. And I was also mindful of the fact that on Tuesday
following its showing at the Vygotsky readings, I will be discussing the
issues raised, and whatever people feel like talk about via skype, sooooooo.

As many know, when i organize obrazovanie, I like to mix serious stuff with
play. Also, I have a long term interest in the the enculturation
practices and processes of peoples for whom literacy has not been a central
part of enculturation until, perhaps, recent times. And, I enjoy
participating in the forms of activity that emerge when zopeds are created
as a part of our research and educational practices.

With that context (add or subtract to taste) the notion of a zoped came from
two sources. First of all, it IS easier to say! :-)
Secondly, it involves forms of pedagogy -- arranging for the young to
acquire valued skills, knowledge, belief, behaviors, etc --
Third, when it works, it seems like "something happened," a qualitative
field that sometimes can be like flow, sometimes can be
triggered by timely juxtapositions, montage-like. And it seems to lead to a
more inclusive, more integrated way of relating to the world at least
in that setting. Whatever this "something" is, it has a magical quality to
it.

In Liberia when and where I pretended to work once upon a time the most
respected, revered, and feared members of the community were
shamen, a concept referred to in Liberia at the time (across language
groups, so far as I could tell) as a Zo, what popular culture refers to
as "witch doctors." They were THE teachers. But they worked through magic.

That about sums up my idea of the zone of proximal development. It requires
sage pedagogy and a touch of magic. When those are combined,
they, of course, constitute a zo-ped.

I personally recommend spending time in such third spaces. :-))
mike
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