Re: [xmca] Re: AERA Kudos

Cathrene, Mike, Jay, Elina, Galina and all,
I had a long phone conversation with Elina yesterday about the session
on the Qualitative Methods and Quality in Education and CHAT -- the one
Jay described below. I was so sorry not to be present in person. The
papers I received earlier are very stimulating and thought provoking,
even on the level of skimming.
Jay's remark about "bridging the phenomenology of direct first-person
experiencing with the semiotic (3rd person) analysis" is an interesting
way of conceptualizing and seeing the relationship between the emotional
and the cognitive aspects of interaction with the world, if I am
understanding the mentioned relationship correctly. We also have, to add
to this, work by people like Matusov who are trying to understand the
dialogic nature of development in which the second person (thou, du,
tois, ti -- singular "you" in English, German, French and
Russian/Serbian) seems to play an important role in discovering
relationships and processes and units of analysis.

The CHAT "Mini course" had much fewer students than in the previous
years, and we don't know why that happened exactly. But it was as
stimulating as ever, for those who attended it.

Another excellent CHAT session I attended was the one on the Role of
Pretend and Improvisation in the development of children and adults with
Artin Goncu, Anthony Perone, Carrie Lobman and Keith Sawyer. One of the
very interesting issues that was discussed in their papers and later in
Vera John Steiner's remarks was the issue of the dynamic relationship
between the "scripted" (the known, the stable or the given) aspect of
situations and the "emergent" (the new, the improvisational, the
unexpected, etc). In its own way, this also connects to the issue of
individual and group identity over shorter or longer time-scales and
over the first, second, third person experiencing.

I also have to mention the more than excellent Business meeting panel
and Eugen Matusov's presentation that was so well coordinated with the
panel. The main topic, if I can borrow Matusov's words was really how to
take back the real meaning and action from the hijacked concept of "No
Child Left Behind". Ellice Forman, Leslie Herrenkohl, Kris Gutierrez
together with Eugene Matusov, raised very important issues and showed
optimistic possibilities, if only glimpses, on the way out of the
dead-end quandary in which American education seems to be stuck.

Talking about kudos, we need to give it, first and foremost, to
Jennifer Vadeboncoeur and Keith Sawyer for their incredible work on
organizing the program for this conference. And of course, to all the
participants who worked on their papers and presentations and made the
program so exciting.

Ana

Jay Lemke wrote:
>
> Mike and all,
>
> I also thought that the two CHAT SIG sessions I participated in were
> very stimulating and well organized ... thanks to Ana and to Elina!
>
> In both there was discussion of the role of affect and
> personal-interpersonal dimensions of learning, and of research. I am
> particularly interested these days in bridging the phenomenology of
> direct or first-person experiencing with the semiotic (3rd person)
> analysis of how we engage with learning environments (which means
> really ALL environments!) across different timescales.
>
> There was also interesting discussion of the use of various
> qualitative research methods within a CHAT framework, and of CHAT
> itself as paradigm (including values), conceptual framework, specific
> theory, and research methodology. It seemed clear that various
> researchers adopt CHAT at different levels, from a life commitment to
> a technique of identifying useful units of analysis, and that working
> with it at one of these levels does not necessarily imply the others.
>
> In the Friday session we had a particularly fascinating and personal
> account by Galina Zukerman of a 10-year longitudinal study that made
> connections between the democratic vs. elitist effects of education
> and the structure of classroom organization and student initiatives.
> And many other very good papers for which I was happy to be the
> discussant ... though there was far too much to do justice to in my
> short time for comments. A very active discussion followed, well past
> the end of the session time.
>
> If I get some time, maybe not for a while yet, I will try to post some
> more notes.
>
> And the Damasio and other MB&E articles do look interesting in this
> connection, too.
>
> JAY.
>
>
>
>
> At 08:33 AM 4/15/2007, you wrote:
>> I read the article by Damasio and colleague that Gordon recommended, and
>> found it tremendously relevant to a study I'm currently working on with
>> doctoral student Elizabeth Daigle. It's a protocol analysis of a high
>> school
>> senior who's writing an interpretive paper on Shakespeare's Much Ado
>> about
>> Nothing. What's so interesting is that she (the student) really
>> struggles to
>> interpret the play, but has an emotional disposition that she can
>> produce an
>> acceptable paper, and a set of writing strategies that, coupled with her
>> positive affect toward school, enables her to produce one. The MBE
>> paper has
>> been very helpful to us in establishing what's often missing from
>> discussions about learning strategies, which is a student's emotional
>> orientation toward the general prospect of succeeding in a school task.
>>
>> Peter
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu
>> [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
>> Behalf Of Mike Cole
>> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 9:14 PM
>> To: Cathrene Connery
>> Cc: Culture Activity eXtended Mind
>> Subject: [xmca] Re: AERA Kudos
>>
>> Sounds great, Cathrene.
>> >From all those who made it to AERA, what new ideas and inspirations did
>> >you
>> get that we might want to discuss?
>> I just downloaded the entire issue of Mind, Brain, & Education that
>> Gordon
>> tipped us to. This movement is really interesting in many ways. Has
>> anyone
>> read any of the articles yet?
>>
>> mike
>>
>> On 4/14/07, Cathrene Connery <ConneryC@cwu.edu> wrote:
>> >
>> > Dear Colleagues:
>> > Much thanks to Ana and all the panelists and presenters at AERA. Both
>> > the CHAT symposium, presentations, and business meeting were
>> > outstanding venues to explore new ideas, receive support from esteemed
>> > mentors, and validate our common efforts. The nurturing that was
>> > exhibited toward myself and other novice researchers was especially
>> appreciated.
>> >
>> > I once read Luria commented that Vygotsky was not only a genius, but
>> > one of the most positive, interpersonal individuals he had ever met.
>> > How refreshing that his legacy continues today. My experience has been
>> > that such support and dialogue is devoid from the vast majority of
>> > academic circles. Thanks again to all who shared their talent,
>> > expertise, and commitment to each other and the field as a whole.
>> > Cathrene
>> >
>> > M. Cathrene Connery, Ph.D.
>> > Assistant Professor of Bilingual & TESL Education Co-coordinator,
>> > Bilingual / TESL Program Central Washington University
>> >
>> >
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>
>
> Jay Lemke
> Professor
> University of Michigan
> School of Education
> 610 East University
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109
>
> Tel. 734-763-9276
> Email. JayLemke@UMich.edu
> Website. <http://www.umich.edu/~jaylemke%A0>www.umich.edu/~jaylemke
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>
>

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