Re: [xmca] Kindergarten as Activity System

As we talk about it, I would love references about connections
between Montessori and CHAT as well.
david

On May 30, 2007, at 2:30 PM, Anton Yasnitsky wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> we are presently starting a research on, roughly,
> voluntary behaviour development in preschoolers
> in Kindergarten settings. So, I wondering if
> anybody is aware of any research done on
> Kindergarten (child day care center) as an
> Activity system, from any research perspective. I
> believe there is a lot of literature on this out
> there, but this is a fairly new topic to me, so
> -- any help will be very much appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Anton.
>
> --- Paula Towsey <paulat@johnwtowsey.co.za>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Mike and Anton
>>
>> Although Vygotsky maintains that solving the
>> problem of the blocks isn't
>> dependent on 'previous experience or knowledge'
>> (T&L, 1986, pp.97-98), I
>> found that there are other elements of a
>> school-like nature that Vygotsky
>> apparently did not discuss in Chapter Five of
>> T&L. His introduction to this
>> (finely crafted and delicate) instrument starts
>> along these lines:
>>
>> "The functional method of double stimulation in
>> the study of concept
>> formation begins by introducing nonsense words
>> that from the beginning have
>> no meaning for the subject. According to
>> Vygotsky, the introduction of
>> nonsense words was adapted from Ach's (1921)
>> use of nonsense words in his
>> experimental procedures. These nonsense words
>> are artificial concepts that
>> actually mean a combination of characteristics,
>> of real attributes, but "for
>> which no ready concept and word exist" in the
>> given language (1986, p. 97).
>> This experimental method is designed to reveal
>> the processes involved in the
>> subject's coming to understand the nonsense
>> words and, at the same time, to
>> reveal the development of these concepts. The
>> procedure can be used with
>> adults and children because solving the problem
>> doesn't depend on or
>> presuppose prior experience or knowledge of the
>> words and concepts in the
>> experiment: the experiment doesn't use 'tall',
>> 'short', 'large' or 'small'
>> on their own, but combines these into new
>> relationships exemplified in the
>> words cev, bik, mur, and lag." (Towsey, 2007,
>> p.58)
>>
>> For your interest, I've attached my discussion
>> of the three-year-olds'
>> responses to the blocks - the 'hidden
>> curriculum' seemed to be preparing
>> these children well for a rote-style approach
>> to education!
>>
>> Paula
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu
>> [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
>> Behalf Of Anton Yasnitsky
>> Sent: 30 May 2007 08:18 AM
>> To: mcole@weber.ucsd.edu; eXtended Mind,
>> Culture, Activity
>> Subject: Re: [xmca] FW: The functional method
>> of double stimulation - and
>> somephotographs
>>
>> Just in case: we are meeting with our Ukrainian
>> team in a couple of days and are open to any
>> research initiative of this kind. A good
>> starting
>> point for a cross-cultural project, eh :)?
>>
>>
>> --- Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Might some kind of collective, distributed
>>> effort at conducting a small
>>> study using these materials
>>> be of interest to XMCA folks?
>>> mike
>>>
>>> On 5/29/07, Carol Macdonald
>>> <carolmacdon@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> P
>>>> Great to get this. I tried at the weekend
>> to
>>> see how you were, but you
>>>> were
>>>> out.
>>>>
>>>> I am about to contact Nicoleen for the 2nd
>>> time, and will let you know
>>>> directly I hear something.
>>>>
>>>> Jaki's results are back--with 16 pages of
>>> corrections. But at least they
>>>> are finally back from the second examiner.
>>>>
>>>> I am now drowning in work on four projects.
>>>>
>>>> On Thursday I am to have a two hour meeting
>>> with the Kellogg Foundation
>>>> about the bibliotherapy project proposal.
>>> Wish me luck.
>>>>
>>>> Rush, rush
>>>> Love
>>>> C
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 29/05/07, Paula Towsey
>>> <paulat@johnwtowsey.co.za> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear Ana
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Thank you for your suggestion that I
>>> forward this email to the
>>>> group. The
>>>>> blocks I used for my cross-sectional
>> study
>>> were made by Stoelting Co.
>>>>> (USA),
>>>>> according to the specs. provided by Jacob
>>> Kasanin and Eugenia Hanfmann
>>>>> (+/-1936/37).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> My research exercise, 'In Search of
>>> Vygotsky's Blocks: exploring cev,
>>>> bik,
>>>>> mur, and lag in South Africa', was
>>> conducted for my M. Ed. (Psychology
>>>> in
>>>>> Education) by course work and research
>>> report at Wits University.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Paula Towsey
>>> [mailto:paulat@johnwtowsey.co.za]
>>>>> Sent: 28 May 2007 04:47 PM
>>>>> To: 'ana@zmajcenter.org'
>>>>> Subject: The functional method of double
>>> stimulation - and some
>>>>> photographs
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Dear Ana
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> To introduce myself: my name is Paula
>>> Towsey and I followed, with a
>>>> great
>>>>> deal of interest, some of your
>> conversation
>>> about the method of double
>>>>> stimulation - Vygotsky's Blocks - on the
>>> XMCA in March. I conducted
>>>>> research with this method last year but
>>> wasn't able to join in with your
>>>>> conversation because I wasn't on the XMCA
>>> mailing list in March. I am
>>>> now
>>>>> -
>>>>> but am writing to you separately because
>>> the topic is no longer current
>>>> on
>>>>> XMCA. I do hope that by writing to you
>>> directly I'm not breaking any
>>>> XMCA
>>>>> protocols!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> In reading between the lines, Ana, it
>> seems
>>> to me that the pathway you
>>>>> followed with the method of approach with
>>> the blocks at the University
>>>> of
>>>>> Belgrade was more directly linked - for
>>> historical and geographical
>>>>> reasons,
>>>>> perhaps - in source to Sakharov's
>> approach.
>>> The sources I was most
>>>> easily
>>>>> able to find flowed mainly through
>> Hanfmann
>>> and Kasanin via Kozulin's
>>>>> translation of Thought and Language
>> (1986):
>>> suffice it to say here
>>>> (though
>>>>> I
>>>>> can send you more) that I noticed a
>>
> === message truncated ===>
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David Preiss, Ph.D.
Subdirector de Extensión y Comunicaciones
Escuela de Psicología
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
Av Vicuña Mackenna 4860
Macul, Santiago
Chile

Fono: 3544605
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Received on Wed May 30 13:11 PDT 2007