Re: the ideal adult
maria judith (costlins who-is-at ism.com.br)
Tue, 21 Oct 1997 12:58:22 -0200
Peter Smagorinsky wrote:
>=20
> Hello, new topic: I'm working on a paper that assumes that a teacher's
> conception of an ideal adult suggests a teaching philosophy and consequ=
ent
> instructional approach, classroom structure, etc. Not an original
> proposition, of course, but a premise to work from. To help launch the
> paper I'm trying to review different conceptions of the ideal adult, as
> advocated in various publications. The following paragraph is from a
> working draft of the paper I'm writing. In it I identify a series of
> different traits of an ideal adult that theorists (mostly from educatio=
n)
> have advocated. What I'm wondering is, can you think of others? To be
> more specific: I'm looking for ideal notions that are *advocated* rathe=
r
> than *critiqued*. And so, while many have criticized schools for valui=
ng
> conformity and thus adopting production-line methods, I'm less familiar
> with publications in which someone argues in favor of such a system.
> Suggestions are welcome on- or off-net. For my purposes, I'd appreciat=
e
> complete bibliographic references.
>=20
> Thanks, Peter
>=20
> Stated more simply, a Vygotskian perspective would hold that th=
e social
> and physical organization of schooling implies and encourages an ideal
> student and, eventually, adult and citizen. Educators thus need to be
> attentive to the ways in which cultural tools and signs mediate learnin=
g
> and deliberately structure the school environment so as to promote
> development toward the notion of the ideal adult. The notion of what
> constitutes an ideal adult, however, is under dispute, viewed variously=
as
> one who is caring (Noddings, 1993), subversive (Postman, 19xx), thought=
ful
> (Brown, 1993), culturally literate (Hirsch, 1987), civic-minded (Stotsk=
y,
> 1991), imaginative (Bogdan, 1992), joyous (Newman, 1996), virtuous
> (Bennett, 1993), politically liberated (Freire, 1970), scientific (Piag=
et,
> 1952), skeptical (Foucault, 1972), reflective (Schon, 1991), free (Gree=
ne,
> 1988), domestic (Martin, 1995), inquiring (Dewey, 1960), and so on. Wh=
ile
> not necessarily incompatible, these different visions can suggest the n=
eed
> to promote different frameworks for thinking and conceptions of human
> purpose and thus engagement in different social and intellectual practi=
ces.
Peter, I think your work is very interesting, and the references you=20
wrote are a good way do begin. I wrote my Ph.D thesis about the=20
conception of Educator from a brasilian philosopher, and he (Durmeval=20
Trigueiro Mendes) wrote also about the ideal adult. Unhappily there is=20
not a translation to english of his books.The most important is:=20
Filosofia da educa=E7=E3o brasileira - Ed. Civiliza=E7=E3o brasileira 198=
3. I=20
have an abstract in english in my work. This philosopher thought about=20
an adult who must be a citizen and consequently and educator. he is not=20
like Paulo Freire, who you already know. if you want something else, we=20
can change ideas. maria judith lins