It strikes me that a lot of the argument is based on terms and their
meanings (cognitive dissonance and development) possibly neither of which
were actually used by Piaget and Vygotski. For instance, I believe that
Piaget never actually used such a phrase as 'cognitive dissonance,' instead
he talked about something called 'disequlibration' which I do not think was
restricted to the 'cognitive' realm. Cobb, Wood, and Yackel in their
chapter in the book "Contexts for Learning" talk about breeches of
expectations of social behavior. This I believe is an example of
disequilibration, also.
I am not arguing that the discussion is not worth having, but I'd like to
suggest that the argument in the end may not turn out to be a challenge to
either Piaget or Vygotski but to our established notions concerning their
work and our associations with commonly used, but frequently unexamined,
terms such as 'development' and 'cognitive dissonance.'
It strikes me that 'development as progress or as positive' is a very
modern view. A post-modernist view would likely not hold development a
progress toward a particular goal or necessarily positive. It should be
pointed out that one of the paradigmatic developmental theories, that of
evolution, is best not described as one of evolutionary development toward
a goal or 'higher' or better state.
Dewey
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Dewey I. Dykstra, Jr. Phone: (208)385-3105
Professor of Physics Dept: (208)385-3775
Department of Physics/SN318 Fax: (208)385-4330
Boise State University dykstrad who-is-at varney.idbsu.edu
1910 University Drive Boise Highlanders
Boise, ID 83725-1570 novice piper
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