Jenny,
If you have not already, I would strongly suggest a reading of :
Learning in Classrooms: A Cultural-Historical Approach, (2201) Edited by
Mariane Hegegaard
http://www.iscar.org/book5.html
----- Original Message -----
From: <jmgdo@berkeley.edu>
To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 12:42 PM
Subject: Re: [xmca] review article recommendation request
> Hi everyone!
>
> Thanks for the recommended readings. I have been reading up on the CHAT
> core - Vygotsky, Engestrom, Wertsch, etc. in an effort to think about
> these theoretical issues. Specifically, I have been trying to
> conceptualize these social processes that I mentioned - social
> positioning, identity, power, status - as "social tools" that mediate our
> mental life much like the physical and symbolic tools and signs that are
> more often discussed, like language, the computer, interactions with one
> another, external representations (number lines, area models, etc). My
> concern (and reason for the original posting) is to not misrepresent or
> overgeneralize what "counts" as a mediational symbol. Theoretically, its
> clearer to me how words or number lines or particular ways of structuring
> an activity mediates students' thinking, but it is less clear how to
> conceptualize how being constantly positioned as "expert" in the
> classroom, or "the kid with the cooties", or "the expert with cooties"
> also mediates students' thinking. My hunch (and my emerging research
> interests) moves toward the idea that social positioning, identity, and
> status in the classroom are also mediating devices and important ones to
> consider.
>
> But again, I position myself as extreme amateur and wonder how others
> think of these issues. I will perhaps ask more directly - what counts as a
> social tool?
>
> thanks for the responses!!!
> Jenny
>
> P.S. You guys at XMCA aren't all that scary :) Ok, maybe a little.
>
>
>> Amateur #7 stepping onto the floor - Valerie, the conference you are
>> arranging sounds very, very interesting. Jenny, I think many of the
>> amateurs as well as the non-amateurs would have an issue with the
>> clause complexes you wrote below, but nevertheless....:
>>
>> Jenny wrote:
>> I'm thinking not so much about the fact that we interact with one
>> another to get tasks accomplished/problems solved or that we use
>> culturally/socially constructed tools to mediate our thinking such as
>> what is typically found in distributed cognition or situated
>> cognition, but about more social/interpersonal aspects such social
>> positioning, identity, status, power, roles, etc on cognitive
>> processes such as problem solving or accomplishing goals.
>> Specifically, a review article on what research has been done in
>> terms of how our social place in the world affects our reasoning/
>> problem solving/higher-order cognitive processes.
>>
>> In unpacking the above, perhaps revealed is an interest in the more
>> conventional social class issues - ??? Also the hidden power
>> relations in the un-problematised interactions between experts and
>> novices?? And the work of Basil Bernstein lies dormant for those of
>> us interested in the political issues you raise. That might help vis-
>> a-vis "cognition versus engagement".
>>
>> What do you think?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Phil
>>
>> On 17/10/2006, at 4:54 PM, Valerie Farnsworth wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Jenny,
>>> I'd count myself as an amateur - having only recently finished the
>>> PhD and being a new member of xmca (so not corrupted yet by myths).
>>>
>>> My sense is that the question you raise is at the heart of a lot of
>>> work people in socio-cultural and Activity Theory are doing -- it's
>>> the up-and-coming, hot topic. So, I'd say there is a lot to still
>>> work out in this research area -- theoretically and empirically --
>>> and engagement is a good place to start, since you can't separate
>>> that from cognition (can you?).
>>>
>>> My humble suggestion would be to check out the papers/authors who
>>> presented at the 2005 ISCAR conference, which went by the theme
>>> 'Acting in changing worlds: learning, communication and minds in
>>> intercultural activities':
>>>
>>> http://alojamientos.us.es/glabahum/ISCAR2005/
>>>
>>> Also, in my new position (there is hope after graduation!) at the
>>> University of Manchester, I am at the beginning stages of
>>> organizing a conference for next September, which will have the
>>> theme: Theory, Identity and Learning. The folks I work with here
>>> organized a conference in 2005 as well and some of those papers are
>>> still online:
>>>
>>> http://www.lta.education.manchester.ac.uk/sctig/overview.htm
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>> Valerie Farnsworth
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-
>>> bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Mike Cole
>>> Sent: 17 October 2006 03:54
>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>> Subject: Re: [xmca] review article recommendation request
>>>
>>> Hah! It is Jenny to whom I need to write (since all the experts
>>> around here
>>> are busy, amateurs step in).
>>> So that highlights the importance of Sapir's idea which appear to
>>> apply
>>> especially to the internet: systems leak.
>>> bless em
>>> mike
>>>
>>> On 10/16/06, Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hey Indigo!
>>>>
>>>> What a gift your message has been. It has debunked a myth and
>>>> brought a
>>>> lurker
>>>> back onto the screen!!
>>>>
>>>> Myth 1: Status matters in who gets to post. BS. It never ceases to
>>>> amaze
>>>> me how often people inscribe their
>>>> hated and misbegotten feelings of second class hood (for reasons
>>>> of levels
>>>> of education, number of years working in the
>>>> field, language expertise in English, sexual orientation, option
>>>> of the
>>>> quality of Dewey;s writings-- you name IT!! Its 99.9 %
>>>> self abasement. Bless you for seeking information. Had I known
>>>> that the 25
>>>> people on xmca very well qualified to help you
>>>> out would not respond, and had I not abhored my own overextended
>>>> voice in
>>>> this medium, I would have responded, and will
>>>> to you sans xmca.
>>>>
>>>> As to the lurker? (quiet, I will not name him)
>>>>
>>>> direct response to my provisinal quick answer to your email.
>>>> Dispense with
>>>> it as you like.
>>>> mike
>>>>
>>>> On 10/16/06, Diane Hodges <info@bramblehouse.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Well Indigo, looks like you're a grown up now too, doesn't it. I
>>>>> will
>>>>> now be
>>>>> in awe of _you_.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>> Diane
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Diane Hodges
>>>>> Maison Bramble House
>>>>> 19 Valois Bay Avenue
>>>>> Pointe Claire, QC H9R 3Z2
>>>>> Tel: 514.630.6363
>>>>> Fax: 514.344.2994
>>>>> www.bramblehouse.net
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-
>>>>> bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
>>>>> On
>>>>> Behalf Of Indigo Esmonde
>>>>> Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 6:14 PM
>>>>> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>>>>> Subject: Re: [xmca] review article recommendation request
>>>>>
>>>>> well, aren't you the grown-up sending email to the xmca list!!! i'm
>>>>> in awe of you!
>>>>> indigo
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Oct 16, 2006, at 10:08 AM, jmgdo@berkeley.edu wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello XMCA,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Might someone recommend a good review article of social
>>>>>> processes in
>>>>>> cognitive science? If not a review article, then any pointers
>>>>>> on whose work
>>>>>> is in
>>>>>> this general area is just as helpful. I've been reading related
>>>>>> work
>>>>>> (mainly how these social positional factors affect engagement,
>>>>>> but not
>>>>>> cognition per se), but want to make sure I'm not missing some
>>>>>> group of
>>>>>> scholars that I don't yet know about.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>> Jenny Langer-Osuna
>>>>>> doctoral candidate, UC Berkeley
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> xmca mailing list
>>>>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>>>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>>>>
>>>>> Indigo Esmonde
>>>>> Postdoctoral Fellow
>>>>> Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center
>>>>> Wallenberg Hall
>>>>> Stanford, CA 94305-2055
>>>>> esmonde@stanford.edu
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> xmca mailing list
>>>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
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>>>>> 10/14/2006
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> xmca mailing list
>>>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>
>
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