SPINAST@HUGSE1.HARVARD.EDU
SPINAST@HUGSE1.HARVARD.EDU
Tue, 19 Sep 1995 08:50:17 -0400 (EDT)
My work deals with the process of classroom life as it pertains to social
constructions of knowledge and the self, building on neo-Vygotskiian, feminist,
critical, and poststructural theory grounded in a significant amount of
practical classroom experience. Achieving equity in educational access
through the arts is the current focus of my work, which is organized around
two interwoven lines of inquiry. One arises from and questions the privileged
status of linguistic and instrumental ways of knowing and communicating
over alternative modes, which is core and corollary to issues of social
stratification. The other derives from the extinguishing of creativity
as children grow older. These two strands reflect a Vygotskiian framework
of learning and center on five interrelated themes: The authenticity of the
learning experience; The emphasis on social interaction; The developmental
interplay among sign systems, including the mediation of materials and
audience and the appropriation of meanings; The role of play and imagination
/fantasy in development and learning; The effort to overcome the dualism
in the separation of object and subject.
For several years I have been deeply involved in ethnographic and interpretive
analysis of instructional and classroom interactions as they apply to a variety
of categorizations including gender, cognitive strategies, and first and second
language learning. This includes exploration of alternative units of analysis
(such as Cognitive Response Tendencies) and visual representation (such as
Multi-layered Continuum Wheels) to better capture the complexities of the
dynamics between and among these categorizations.
This year, I will be working with PACE (Performance Assessment Collaboratives
for Education) and taking courses at the Harvard University Graduate School of
Education. During the summer and on weekends, I am an adjunct instructor in
the Adelphi University School of Education where I teach graduate level
foundations and methods courses including Cognition and Teaching, School and
Society, Interdisciplinary Curriculum, and Language and Culture at their Garden
City and Manhattan Campuses. I plan to enter the PhD program in developmental
psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center in September of '96.