RE: [xmca] Overschooled but Undereducated

Message from Francine Smolucha:
 
Thanks to Andy Blunden for posting the link to Overschooled but Undereducated -
I was intrigued by the title, skimmed the book online,
and I think the argument gets diluted by too much peripheral discussion in the book.
 [Mies Van der Rohe's observation that "less is more" is applicable to writing, as well as,
architecture.]
 
But just look at that title Overschooled but Undereducated.
And, consider one of the main points of the book that the concept
of adolescence as formulated by psychologists at the dawning
of the 20th century is no longer viable in 21st century post-modern world.
David Elkind made this very argument in his book All Grown Up and Nowhere
to Go (1998). In 2002, I expanded upon this theme in papers I presented
at the University of Birmingham, U.K. and at the ISCRAT conference in
Amsterdam (The Semiotics of Childhood and The Teening of Preschool Play
respectively.) The seminal texts on adolescence by G. Stanley Hall, Erik Erikson,
and Lev Vygotsky, as well as Philippe Aries book Centuries of Childhood (1963),
shed light on what is happening today. [Note, I may very well have been the first
English translator to tackle Vygotsky's book The Pedalogy Of the Adolescent
which influenced my thinking early on.]
 
So here we are faced with a momentous socio-cultural transformation of adolescence
and the very notion of childhood itself. And, there has been practically no scholarly
discourse on this important topic.
 
The whole point of Overschooled but Undereducated by Abbott and Mac Taggert
is that the outdated concept of adolescence is reflected in the malfunctioning of
the educational system.
 
Just recently we had a lively discussion on XMCA about the often ineffectual nature of
higher education today. Yes, people do move through the various levels of the current system; but there is this persistent concern about the lack of critical thinking, creativity, discourse
skills and actual knowledge of literature, science, and history.
 
Abbott & Mac Taggert suggest people dissatisfied with the educational system should become
responsive "subversives." I do not consider myself a subversive just because I am a
creative innovator. [My translations and interpretations of Vygotsky's writings on creativity
present the creative innovative adult as the developmental goal in Vygotsky's life-span theory.]
{{And yes, oppressive regimes do label creative innovators as subversives and blacklist, jail,
or shot them.}}
 
What is a creative innovator to do? given the current state of affairs?
The teacher, the professor who teaches the teachers, and parents, all face immediate
real world dilemmas. Some people are circumventing high school by homeschooling that ultimately places high school aged adolescents directly in college and vocational/technical programs.
Perhaps our colleagues who teach in vocational/technical programs, would inform our
discussion about the pedalogy of the adolescent.
 
I do agree with the authors of Overschooled but Undereducated, that the current
state of affairs does not bode well for the economic and the political future, both nationally and internationally.
 
Gee, I hope I didn't violate the "less is more" principle of good writing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 14:23:52 +1000> From: ablunden who-is-at mira.net> To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu> Subject: [xmca] Overschooled but Undereducated> > "Overschooled but Undereducated", by John Abbott and Heather > MacTaggart, 2008, available on-line at> http://www.21learn.org/publications/books/overschooled.php> > Just heard this guy talking on radio, people on this list > might enjoy.> > Andy> Mike Cole wrote:> > Achilles et al--> > > > remember that on the web page of lchc, lchc.ucsd.edu at the bottom of the> > page is a google search of the lchc> > website. You can find the references on xmca to Rodina there. Her posted> > paper can be obtained directly> > at http://lchc.ucsd.edu/MCA/Paper/VygotskyDisabilityEJSNE2007.pdf> > > > mike> > > > On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 7:37 AM, Achilles Delari Junior <> > achilles_delari who-is-at hotmail.com> wrote:> > > >> Dear comrades,> >>> >> Please. Can you help me to find this Rodina's reference?> >> Rodina, K. (2006). Empirical Evidence for ZPD. Extended Mind, Culture,> >> Activity ; LCHC, December> >>> >> Thank you, very much.> >> Achilles> >>> >> _________________________________________________________________> >> Cansado de espaço para só 50 fotos? Conheça o Spaces, o site de> >> relacionamentos com até 6,000 fotos!> >>> >> http://www.amigosdomessenger.com.br_______________________________________________> >> xmca mailing list> >> xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu> >> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca> >>> > _______________________________________________> > xmca mailing list> > xmca@weber.ucsd.edu> > http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca> > > > -- > ------------------------------------------------------------------------> Andy Blunden http://home.mira.net/~andy/ +61 3 9380 9435 > Skype andy.blunden> > _______________________________________________> xmca mailing list> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
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Received on Sat Aug 9 23:17 PDT 2008