bb- the whole issue of the way in which Kevin positions the term, activity,
is really
important. I shied away and took up other issues because I think that folks
really need to
read the article and then, soon as we can jointly manage it (!) see the
videos. A lot to
discuss on p. 1 but I resist such discussion until we get to the end and
try, as hard as we can,
to read the text in its entirety in an empathetic manner. I am very
grateful to Kevin for working
to help us all educate outselves.
mike
On 6/28/06, bb <xmca-whoever@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> P. 62 is puzzling. The sentence at the bottom reads "Thus, this project
> allows me to examine processes of "identification" and "contextualization"
> -that is, the mutual production of identities and contexts FOR
> activity-under
> conditions of overt conflict and transformation."
>
> Might be better phrased as "Thus, this project allows me to examine
> processes
> of "identification" and "contextualization" -that is, the mutual
> production
> of identities and contexts THROUGH activity-under conditions of overt
> conflict and transformation." That is, if one understands activity to
> embody
> and 'bring out' the social, cultural, and historical elements that
> function
> in the making of context. The problem with the symmetrical view, as Kevin
> puts it, is that it is not completely symmetrical, but leans a little too
> far
> toward cultural causation, perhaps in rejection of cognitivism:
>
> "From the perspective of situated learning as an aspect
> of cultural production, however, both those who succeed and those who
> fail in school, like Lave and Wenger's apprentices, are simply becoming
> good at what they are given the opportunity to do on a routine basis- "
>
> Put more symmetrically, people make contexts as contexts make people. They
> embody their history and may not succeed at what they are routinely given
> the
> opportunity to do, they may not be able to mutually constitute a zone that
> leads them forward. The child whose mother drank alcohol while pregnant
> may
> have great difficulty with attending to tasks and remembering what someone
> said. Willis' lads were able to engage in processes of identification
> during
> manual labor, but not during schooling, contributing to making the former
> contexts for learning, but not the latter. We can't ignore that a person
> is
> a material, biological, and psychological unit that embodies his or her
> past,
> can move from one place to the next, and can make as well as be made,
> imho.
> _______________________________________________
> xmca mailing list
> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>
_______________________________________________
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Sep 05 2006 - 08:11:25 PDT