Internalization at ISCRAT
Ellampert (Ellampert who-is-at aol.com)
Sun, 7 Dec 1997 13:29:36 EST
Dear Yrjo,
Thank you for posting your abstract. It seems very important to discuss
dialectics of internalization and externalization , separating them for
analytical purposes, but still preserving the unity of contradiction. Couple
of immediate responses:
1)I've been using dialectics as a method and it was a powerful and quite
comfortable means of analysis for me (Have I appropriated or internalized
it?), however , recently I discovered limitations of dialectics as a method.
Should we as researchers stay in the confines of the same method the theory
was built on in our analysis, theory development and practice or/and we can go
beyond mono-methodological paradigm? Two years ago I would probably say that
we should have a unity of method, and apply the same method to analysis as
the theory was constructed with, but now I am not quite sure, although
powerful cultural constrains are holding me up as a researcher from time to
time. I've just returned from Russia, where a group of Columdia University
professors and doctoral students had a five-day seminar on the ideas of cross-
cultural research, design in education, cultural historical psychology
/qualitative research, etc. and this question puzzled me throughout our
discussions.
2) It was interesting for me to reflect on the fact that being educated in
cultural-historical psychology in Russia I distinguish internalization as
Vygotskian concept and externalization as mostly Leontiev's notion. I am
struggling with my own research on reflection as higher psychological function
and found out that my Russian colleagues are reluctant to discuss the notion
of reflection as Vygotskian one, talking about Bakhtin, Davydov, Bibler,
Elkonin, Mamardashvili, etc. It seems to me extremely important to reconstruct
the notion of externalization as Vygotskian one. Another aspect of the
dialectics of internalization/externalization is the dialectics of
soial/cultural within it. As one of my students asked me: What do we
internalize - cultural artifacts or social processes involved in the
production of cultural artifacts?
I am planning to be at the conference and will look forward to your
presentation.
Elina
Elina Lampert Shepel
Department of Curriculum and Teaching
Teachers College, Columbia University, NY