Two presenters, Staphanie Spina and Elena Lampert, could not appear but
Carolyn Panofsky's presentation, "What the Zone of Proximal Development
Conceals" and Judy's "Keeping Resistance in View in an Activity" were very
well done and consistent in theme as it became clear that resistance was, at
least, an indicator worth exploring. Whether conceived as disparate motives
of participants engaged in joint activity (Carolyn's child/mother diad) or
the alteration of an utterance's meaning in a contested space (Judy's
analysis of the struggle for control in developing a group report) or, as
Debra Hicks discussed, a possible avenue by which affective factors might be
added to the CHAT equation or even, as one spectator insisted, simply the
detectable trace of contradiction it seemed (and seems) a productive area
for exploration.
I was busy operating the OHP and didn't take many notes (and also had to
leave fairly quickly at the end -- more scurrying I'm afraid) so others may
wish to add more. Still, it was a pleasure being able to attach faces to
online personalities I have come to know well over the years: one of the
things that makes AERA so much fun despite the scuttling about.
Ciao,
Rolfe Windward
Dept. of Education, Lindsey Wilson College
windward who-is-at lindsey.edu
"We know more than we can say" -M. Polanyi