Dear Andy and everyone,
Money: yes, I think Peter Jones has written on money. That is an
interesting perspective.
Math and children: I attached two articles, one from Ricardo Ottoni Vaz
Japiassa from Brazil, who has done work with children regarding theater,
math, etc. The second article is from Carol Lerch in Boston, who is
trying to teach math so that it makes sense for adults. They both take a
Vygotskyian perspective. (will send articles in second note, so people
can just delete if not interested). Perhaps others will report on how
math is taught at El'konin-Davydov-El'konin's School #91 in Moscow (and
across Russia), and at the Golden Key schools. What I saw at School #91
with third graders was simply beyond imagination. They were taught
generalized principles and could then solve problems that were beyond
anything I have seen before. In connecting elementary schools here in
the States with some elementary schools in Russia I watched math lessons
over here (at normal schools) in the second and third grade, and was
completely amazed at how the problems were given without the overall
generalizations first being understood. I am assuming that much has been
written on this in translation, and hope that someone can point us in
that direction. One of the directors of School #91 is a former student
of Davydov, Galina Zuckerman. She speaks excellent English, and there is
a chance that she might be coming to the States on a Fulbright soon. She
would be an excellent partner in discussing Davydov's approach related
to mathematics/children and the new direction of School #91 under Boris
El'konin. If there is more interest on this, we could ask Galina
questions on-line. There are also Russians on-line who experienced
learning math within progressive schools in Russia as children.
Ethics: It is interesting to me that Vygotsky's life was an example
regarding ethics (not just what he wrote). I have never heard of
anything negative about him regarding ethical conduct; in fact, I feel
that it is also because of his ethics that people are so attracted to
his writings, and to his life. Of course, he wrote about emotions, art,
and Spinozian philosophy (which was basically about ethics). In the book
by Gita L'vovna Vygotskaya and Tamara Lifanova (L.S. Vygotsky: Life,
Activity-Brushstrokes [Etchings] of a Portrait) there is a statement by
a former student that Vygotsky once said that he would never hurt anyone
consciously for his own gain. And, there were so many statements of his
kindness to all people, whether high or low in society. There was also
talk that Vygotsky might have died willingly in 1934 with all of the
interrogations and problems, before hurting others. His daughter denys
this completely, but it has been stated by others whose parents worked
with him. The book I am referring to was published in the Journal of
East European and Russian Psychology last year in four volumes (Lev
Semonvich Vygotsky), and in speaking with an editor at M.E. Sharpe about
when it would be coming out as an entire book in English, she stated
that she was still waiting to hear about that. I think that Boris Gindis
gave a summary of the Russian book in English some time ago. And, it has
been translated into German by Joachim Lompscher, titled Lev Semjonivic
Vygotskij: Leben-Taetigkeit-Persoenlichkeit. Dr. Kovac Publishers,
Hamburg. (J. Lompscher and G. Rueckrim are publishing more on Leontiev
and Activity Theory soon, in German, and Wolfgang Jantzen publishes an
excellent journal within the Luria Society in Germany). I understand
that Mario Golder was going to translate it into Spanish, and B.
Schneuwly into French. It was extremely expensive to have it published
in German, and I understand from L. Lompscher that the same thing
happened in Spanish, and I don't know what happened to the French
translation. This book looks at Vygotsky's life and demonstrates the
strong ethical values he lived. It might be interesting to discuss this
book at a later date. For me, Psychology of Art touched upon ethics.
Wishing all of you a very happy holiday season!
Dot
P.S. The idea of streaming video, etc. is very exciting, and the idea of
coordinating teaching, xmca, books used in teaching, etc.
At the same time, I am wondering about how these ideas forge into a
consensus by many people (not just a few) on this list (I have often
wondered who is actually on this list, anyway we could see?). I don't
know what should be done to create a "softer" approach to consensus
building within xmca. What I have heard lately was that some people want
an interdisciplinary approach, perhaps one less dominant in terms of the
English language and the American/English culture (or just my
imagination?), and I would also think that in the readings a balance of
sexes might present a feeling of connectedness for all of the
participants (whether active or not, we all want to feel connecteded to
xmca). One example, there was a softer discussion suggesting that there
be a reading Vera's book or last chapter, and if possible I would like
to see if that is still open. Her book is very new, and I would think it
would expand out to include many voices and it would bring in strengths
and nuances from different sides (including those not living in
English-speaking countries). I hope that consensus building in xmca
takes the intentional direction of inclusion of the softer voices.
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