Good point.
In 95-96 we were involved in launching a small rural mid-primary unit
(90-kid-school) into networks local and global. The "cultural integration"
that was already going on in the unit was an important part of why we
believed in the thing. AND why they believed in the thing. The scool had
been converted from three age-cohort classes 4, 5 and 6 to three 4-5-6
classes a few years ago (still counted with 7-year-olds in grade 1, old
Swedish system), and so was in an intensive process of developing more
collaborative modes of teaching and learning. Interesting things were
happening, in the vein of "a lot changes, while also remaining the same".
However, due to the fact that our presence there was made possible on
various (finite) scraps of funding, I had to leave the site at about the
point where the total dominance of the participant side of my participant
observation could have been reduced... So lots of development, little
research, nothing written in English. (Though I suppose it's never too late
for that...) Judy's tentative observations rang a bell.
=46reshly on the Web I have another telecommunicative paper (sent to the
EARLI with my Boss):
http://cite.ped.gu.se/cite/earli/dyrk.html
It's about a project running courses from the local adult education center
to people in one of the major industries of G=F6teborg. A pretty interesting
enterprise, not least because everybody involved tended to be very tolerant
because it was so interesting trying the medium... Toy World at Work!!
Karin Wass, who did most of the legwork from our side (and has been
involved in LOTS of similar things in adult ed) is strongly inclined to
make "projects" the topic of her thesis: the way people are temporarily
enthused and mobilized (for media, educational forms, whatever) and then
run on to the next: is it the waste it looks, or are the "residues of
experience" etc. worth it in the long run? Are there alternatives?
Anyways, the paper can be seen as a first sketch towards something more
substantial -- I'd like to go back and tighten the knots, back up those
final speculations I threw out in the last minute in the material, be more
elaborated about theory and method etc. I believe the material supports it.
Eva
wondering how on earth this got so long!
PS: Hanne, jatack till n=E5got mer personligt.