Re: [xmca] Activity and interpsychological aspects of CHAT

[Carol Macdonald <carolmacdon@gmail.com>]

Haydi

I have generally worked on the macrolevel of Activity Theory.  I think very
highly of Wertsch's *Mind as Action.* For one paper, I used his criteria of
mediation to characterize the situation of three different school systems
--I used  Shirley Brice Heath's characterisation of different literacy
practices as a cross clasification, except her Trackton had to be
indigenised for South African purposes. (This was published in Theory and
Psychology.) When I told Wertsch about it, he humbly said that what he said
about mediation was "pure Vygotsky".

Right now I am working in primary schools as an "expert" on (amongst other
things) how the curriculum is rolled out with outside support, in Grades
1-3--There are five things I am looking for, with by far the most important
feature being how the curriculum is rolled out.  The "underperforming
schools" are aptly named. There is general chaos, with no timetables, and
little idea of progression.  One schools said they work for 56 weeks a year.
(I am ashamed to tell you these things, but then South Africa comes
*bottom*of TIMMS and PIRLS, the international benchmarking
comparisons.) Having said
this, we do have two of the top 100 universities in the world.
Carol
On 11 October 2011 18:21, Haydi Zulfei <haydizulfei@rocketmail.com> wrote:

> Andy ! Thank you for the short lead . Flattering aside , I've always seen
> you do your best to put things on right track if deviated . This way
> principles are secured rather than compromised . I do know I need more and
> more readings . However , one at times feels we're moving along two extremes
> . However , I'm almost known to your investigation of "project" . I'm sure
> others , too , are expecting more to come .
> Best
> Haydi
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net>
> To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, 11 October 2011, 3:45:25
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Activity and interpsychological aspects of CHAT
>
>
> Hajdi, I will limit my comments to why I praise Vygotsky as a great
>
> Marxist, and at the same time I claim that my main interest is in social
>
> change, and not learning or psychological problems as such.
>
>
> It is true that Vygotsky never ventured into the domain of social theory
>
> as such. I think the problems facing anyone wanting to do that in
>
> Stalin's USSR were very great, whether they were loyal to the Party or
>
> not. But he laid the foundations. He showed how consciousness is formed
>
> in a person's interactions. The wider society participates directly in
>
> an individual's interactions because we must use products of the culture
>
> in everything we do, we do not invent a language when we meet someone,
>
> we use the existing language, and everything else the culture provides.
>
> Vygotsky lacked one thing, in my view, that is the source of motivation
>
> for actions, which, as AN Leontyev correctly showed, lies in the
>
> activity of which our action is a part. But in following ANL in studying
>
> activities, I prefer to retain the methodological core of Vygotsky's
>
> work (which ANL did not, in my view) and take the activity as a unit of
>
> analysis. This is of course exactly what ANL claimed to have achieved,
>
> but I think he did not really understand this concept of unit of
>
> analysis, and his analysis suffered from problems as a result. Engestrom
>
> set out to address these problems. Some of them he resolved, but I think
>
> in other ways, he moved further away from a solution. These are all open
>
> questions. But my aim is to reconstruct an Activity Theory which is more
>
> true to the foundations laid by Vygotsky. The purpose of such an
>
> activity theory is to fight capitalism and make a better world, that's all.
>
>
> OK?
>
>
> Andy
>
>
> Haydi Zulfei wrote:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > ________________________________
>
> > From: Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com>
>
> > To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>
> > Sent: Sunday, 9 October 2011, 16:16:53
>
> > Subject: [xmca] Activity and interpsychological aspects of CHAT
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Hi Haydi
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > I'm responding to your concern that activity and the larger macro level
> is
>
> >
>
> > being overshadowed by the more personal and interpsychological aspects of
>
> >
>
> > CHAT.
>
> >
>
> > **1.
>
> > a. Andy , besides his other activities is the editor of the MCA . He said
> in his view Vygotsky was a GREAT marxist .
>
> > b. I repeat the Activity Theory , to all evidence , has its roots in
> Marxism .
>
> > c. I emphasized on distinguishing between "individual" and "personal" in
> discussing  CHAT .
>
> > d. Yes , I believe [[...I believe activity (proper) and the larger macro
> level is being overshadowed by the more (individual)and interpsychological
> aspects of CHAT . ]]
>
> >
>
> > You should have heard about the "leading activity" and the corresponding
> hiararchy of motives . Usually , discussion focuses on "any" activity ;
> leaving the macro-social aside , discussing what happens within the sphere
> of hygiene , let's say , while every pollution and
>
> > corruption is downstreaming from the top in a global capitalist
>
> > formation .
>
> >
>
> >  Leontyev himself ansers no need to quote Wertsch : "   A division of the
> function of sense formation
>
> > and simple stimulation between motives of one and the same activity makes
> it
>
> > possible to understand the principal relationships characterizing the
>
> > motivational sphere of personality: the relationships of the hierarchy of
> motives.This hierarchy is not in the least constructed on a
>
> > scale of their proximity to the vital (biological) needs in a way similar
> to
>
> > that which Maslow, for
>
> > example, imagines: [1.The
>
> > necessity for maintaining physiological homeostasis is the basis for the
>
> > hierarchy; the motives for self-preservation are higher, next,
> 3.confidence and prestige; finally, at the top of
>
> > the hierarchy, motives of 4.cognition
>
> > and aesthetics]. The principal problem that arises here is not to what
>
> > extent the given scale (or another similar to it) is right but how proper
> the
>
> > principle of such scaling is in itself. The fact is that neither the
> degree of
>
> > proximity to biological needs nor the degree of capacity to stimulate nor
> the
>
> > affectiveness of one motive or another determines the hierarchical
> relationship
>
> > between them. These
>
> > relationships are determined by the connections that the activity of the
>
> > subject brings about, by their mediations, and for this reason, they are
>
> > relative. This refers also to the principal correlation - to the
>
> > correlation between sense-forming
>
> > motives and motive-stimuli." **
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > I must accept my part in turning the conversations in this direction
>
> >
>
> > as my curiosity does orient more to the interpsychological aspects of
>
> >
>
> > cultural historical theory.
>
> >
>
> > **2. Yes , quite true ! You're quite free to forget about all principles
> of the ideology of Vygotsky and the TROIKA AND THE PYATERKA , Davydov , etc.
> down to V.P.Zinchndo Junior who has begun to repudiate His father's findings
> and whom Mike , as Guest  Editor of JREEP , has talked about and brought
> forth some of His writings . But one thing is crucial : By orienting on
> "interpsychological" , you jump then to "intersubjectivity" and "agency" and
> begin to discuss in a way as if agency is determined within
> intersubjectivity . Just plz answer how in what way within intersubjectivity
> in the absence of any activity and action . an agentive element rises up ;
> in other words just at the level of "semiotics" and without furthering up to
> the all interactions and upheavals and incidences , events , if one can
> reach the powerfulness of beginning to act which satisfies an urgent or
> distant need . Dialogue  could be most effective while in the direction of a
> goal
>
> >  chosen for the action and in the direction of an activity most important
> at any moment which the social relations dictates . **
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >  Wertsch writing about Leontiev suggests his
>
> >
>
> > focus was on how it is possible to assimilate the "experience of mankind"
> as
>
> >
>
> > a foundation for building activity theory grounded in Marx's ideas about
>
> >
>
> > subject-object interaction.
>
> >
>
> > **In my last message , I referred to this point and there is enough in
> the quote above about this matter . The passage I sent which was confirmed
> as related to the perezhivanie also has enough to say about that . Then no
> more discussion . **
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >  Wertsch suggests that Leontiev's notion of
>
> >
>
> > activity does extend Vygotsky's focus on the inteprsychological to the
> macro
>
> >
>
> > account of social interaction.
>
> >
>
> > **No , Let's never forget that the title of Vygotsky's MAGNUM OPUS is
> "Thinking and Speech" . And if he was and is a great marxist , he knows that
> speech is born withing the process of Labour requiring a tool . And I said
> about the hiararchy of MOTIVES and that even this same hiararchy is bound to
> subordinate itself to the requirements of ACTIVITY . Activity is Molar and
> non-divisible in regard to its MOMENTS . **
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >  Wertsch acknowledges this extension is
>
> >
>
> > necessary to give a more complete account of cultural historical
> processes.
>
> >
>
> > However, Wertsch suggests in the move to this macro level Leontiev did
> not
>
> >
>
> > incorporate many of Vygotsky's insights about interpsychological
> functioning
>
> >
>
> > and semiotic mediation. In other words Vygotsky did not produce a
> complete
>
> >
>
> > account of how INTRApsychological and INTERpsychological planes of
>
> >
>
> > functioning are tied to social INSTITUTIONAL factors. This extension to
>
> >
>
> > social institutional processes is required to go beyond microsociological
>
> >
>
> > and interpsychological functioning to become a fullfledged analysis of
> mind
>
> >
>
> > in society.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > **To give the MOST complete account of "cultural-historical" processes ,
> you should , first of all , give  the most comprehensive account of man's
> life on the Earth . Man is material not semiotic and leads a material life
> not a semiotic one ; he uses semiotics because he has stored tons of actions
> and events and operations behind them . Then his best and most effective
> accounts consist of enumerating the actions and activities he has gone
> through . And these were to produce His history and his culture ; when no
> history and no culture were on , activities and actions were and were for
> man to survive . Yes to history and culture but on a final count , and with
> all the results emanating from them , they have a material BASE : MATERIAL
> ACTIVITY .
>
> >
>
> > I prefer to script SOCIAL institutional factors . You quite invulantarily
> and repeatedly get back to Micro-Social . Marxism has Classes and Division
> of Classes . And their Struggle for Power . In  a not developed society in
> which Classes have not come to have distinct boundaries , groupings , layers
> , guilds , communities of practice , maybe habituses come to the surface and
> begin maneuvering . And we judge about a revolution be the Nature of the
> State . Leontyev has a discussion about if internals act through the
> externals or vice versa . He gives his example with S.L. Rubinstein who
> believes externals act through the internals . L asks what these internals
> are and how they act on the externals . In my last message I noted :
> TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN , MUST OF NECESSITY HAVE THEIR LOOKS WITHOUT . Do you
> have anything other than Heredity and Lived Experience in the Internal ?
> These have been discussed by Leontyev . And I gave you my coloured / marked
>
> >  version of A.C.P . It is a gist of lots and lots of reading . And I
> don't know if Mind comes with the Birth ; What is it ? If it is fixed or
> liable to change . And where do Marxists put Mind in their structure of
> Philosophy or Psychology . And if we act in such a way to take some blocks
> of heredity and others of our lived experience and try to build our VITAL
> EXPERIENCE upon them like putting stones upon stones ; then what about
> sublimation : TO RETAIN AND RESOLVE THE OLD IN THE NEW . **
>
> >
>
> > More than for one message .
>
> > Cheers
>
> > Haydi
>
> >
>
> > Haydi, I wanted to open with Wertsch's comments to acknowledge the
>
> >
>
> > centrality of these macro levels on the formation of mind. However, in my
>
> >
>
> > work and in my personal life I'm pulled to focus more on the
>
> >
>
> > interpsychological explorations of social organization. The notion of
>
> >
>
> > extending the concept of "psychological tools" to the broader notion of
>
> >
>
> > "tool KITS' points to the recognition of multiple genres or "texts" as
>
> >
>
> > various tools to be used in the tool kit to understand social
> organization.
>
> >
>
> > These tool kits offer a variety of options about what is permissible or
>
> >
>
> > appropriate to include in our accounts and bias our narratives towards
>
> >
>
> > different planes of social organization.  Selecting a particular genre
> from
>
> >
>
> > the tool kit places CONSTRAINTS on what can be said and how it can be
>
> >
>
> > expressed.  From a cultural historical perspective the particular genre
>
> >
>
> > chosen is itself open for exploration and critique.
>
> >
>
> > The issue of these genres or texts and how they are chosen or selected as
>
> >
>
> > mediational means is itself an object for analysis within CHAT. Also
> these
>
> >
>
> > various tools in the tool kit are themselves constantly evolving and
>
> >
>
> > interacting. Activity theory at the macro level is influenced by
>
> >
>
> > explorations of texts written with an interpsychological focus.  Vladimir
>
> >
>
> > Zinchenko is exploring phenomena at the microstructural and microgenetic
>
> >
>
> > level where perception and action are related below the level of
> awareness
>
> >
>
> > outside accessibility to introspection. But he suggests these
> microgenetic
>
> >
>
> > processes follow phases, stages, of genetic development.  This is at a
> level
>
> >
>
> > of the intrapsychological.
>
> >
>
> > My mentioning "active experience" was at the interpsychological level of
>
> >
>
> > analysis.  Active experience contrasted with "habits" in Dewey's language
> of
>
> >
>
> > social organization. Active experience is when RUPTURES occur in the
>
> >
>
> > habitual ways of responding within interpsychological socially organized
>
> >
>
> > spaces.  How we account for these ruptures depends on the tools in our
> tool
>
> >
>
> > kit that we use as explanations and interpretations and justifications.
>
> >
>
> > Different tools lead to different accounts.
>
> >
>
> > The question of how we come to share collective memories of shared
>
> >
>
> > experiences at the interpsychological and activity levels BUT also how we
>
> >
>
> > incorporate "active experience" as RUPTURING experiences of collective
>
> >
>
> > memory is also requiring consideration.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Haydi. as Andy mentioned, I'm one of those hesitant to express my
> opinions
>
> >
>
> > at the political level. My positions on social justice tool kits [genres]
>
> >
>
> > such as discussions of "dominant" and "nondominant" genres is tentative.
> The
>
> >
>
> > book Vygotsky in the 21st Century suggests the authors in that book are
>
> >
>
> > taking an "outlier" position on CHAT genres. They are exploring the
>
> >
>
> > interpsychological genres of CHAT.  They are engaging with themes of
>
> >
>
> > dominant and nondominant genres and the constraints imposed by various
> tools
>
> >
>
> > in the tool kit. I think my exploring "alterity" is exploring similar
> themes
>
> >
>
> > and has its own biases, constraints, and blind spots.
>
> >
>
> > Haydi, your thoughts have made me reflective on the larger issues I may
> be
>
> >
>
> > neglecting in my exploring the interpsychological.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > Larry
>
> >
>
> > __________________________________________
>
> >
>
> > _____
>
> >
>
> > 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
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
>
> --
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *Andy Blunden*
>
> Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1
>
> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
>
> Book: http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857
>
>
>
> __________________________________________
>
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>
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-- 
Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate
themselves.
Ernest Dimnet<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/ernestdimn404995.html>


*Visiting Lecturer
Wits School of Education
Research Fellow*
*Linguistics Dept: Unisa
*
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