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Re: [xmca] Jones on Learning under capitalism



Hello --

I'm attaching a brief article that's coming out in the "Innovations" section of Labor Studies Journal, which is read by a lot of labor educators.  It's about the use of various theories for designing labor education programs and classes.  It takes as a given that people aren't born knowing how to improve a job and make it fair, safe and decent. It also assumes that you can use one framework for one purpose, another for something else. 

Most labor educators are either activists from the workforce, sociologists, historians or political scientists; when they think about designing classes and programs, they turn to Freire.  But there are now some who are drawing from Activity Theory. AT accounts for the kind of learning that takes place in the context of conflict, especially its speed, collective/distributed nature and emotional intensity. My purpose is to get people to think beyond Freire.

This little article is extremely practical and intended only to whet the appetites of people who are doing this kind of work. But I'd be interested in hearing what people on xmca think about it.

Helena


Attachment: LSJ425658[1].pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document



Helena Worthen
helena.worthen@berkeley.edu
21 San Mateo Road
Berkeley, CA 94707
Visiting Scholar, UCB Center for Labor Research and Education
510-828-2745

On Nov 2, 2011, at 3:19 AM, Peter Smagorinsky wrote:

> Here's the ms. Version, which may have been edited on its way to publication. p
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Helena Worthen
> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 3:46 PM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Jones on Learning under capitalism
> 
> Robert, do you have the link for the Smagorinsky article?
> 
> Helena
> 
> 
> Helena Worthen
> helena.worthen@berkeley.edu
> 21 San Mateo Road
> Berkeley, CA 94707
> Visiting Scholar, UCB Center for Labor Research and Education
> 510-828-2745
> 
> On Nov 1, 2011, at 11:13 AM, Robert Lake wrote:
> 
>> *Hi Everyone,*
>> *Don't forget this from  Peter  Smagorinsky (See below).*
>> *
>> *
>> *Robert Lake*
>> 
>> In case anyone's interested, I coauthored a book chapter on Freire and 
>> Vygotsky. In my view, they're a hard pair to match, as we outline in 
>> the chapter. I don't have the final pdf but am attaching the last 
>> version I have of the manuscript during editing.
>> The reference:
>> Souto-Manning, M., & Smagorinsky, P. (2010). Freire, Vygotsky, and 
>> social justice theories in English education. In sj Miller & D. 
>> Kirkland (Eds.), Change matters: Critical essays on moving social 
>> justice research from theory to policy (pp. 41-51). New York: Peter Lang.
>> 
>> On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 11:53 AM, Tony Whitson <twhitson@udel.edu> wrote:
>> 
>>> I don't know of anyone who's analyzed Freire in terms of CHAT, but it 
>>> would really interesting.
>>> 
>>> In Freire's alphabetization/**conscientization work with adult 
>>> peasants, the motivation for the activity is not literacy itself. 
>>> Literacy is attained as a means for conducting the activity that is 
>>> constructed in pursuit of motivating objects that are identified by 
>>> the learners themselve; and there is a systematic use of written 
>>> artefacts mediating the activity.
>>> 
>>> On Tue, 1 Nov 2011, Silvio Marquardt wrote:
>>> 
>>> Dear Ana,
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> Could you "situate" Freire`s statement within the activity system ?
>>> "Critical reading" as "Activity" seems to be something worth trying.
>>> How far is the "Freire-CHAT" debate up to now ?
>>> 
>>> Yours, Silvio
>>> 
>>> ______________________________**__
>>> From: Ana Paula B. R. Cortez <apbrcortez@yahoo.com.br>
>>> To: Haydi Zulfei <haydizulfei@rocketmail.com>; "eXtended Mind, 
>>> Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, 2 November 2011 12:10 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [xmca] Jones on Learning under capitalism
>>> 
>>> Hello, everyone!
>>> 
>>> Here is Freire's definition of reading, in "Carta de Paulo Freire aos 
>>> professores" (Freire's letter to teachers - In Portuguese at:
>>> http://www.scielo.br/scielo.**php?script=sci_arttext&pid=**
>>> S0103-40142001000200013<http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_ar
>>> ttext&pid=S0103-40142001000200013>
>>> )
>>> 
>>> 
>>> "Ler é uma operação inteligente,    difícil, exigente, mas gratificante.
>>> Ninguém lê ou estuda    autenticamente se não assume, diante do texto ou do
>>> objeto da curiosidade    a forma crítica de ser ou de estar sendo sujeito
>>> da curiosidade, sujeito    da leitura, sujeito do processo de conhecer em
>>> que se acha. Ler é procurar    buscar criar a compreensão do lido; daí,
>>> entre outros pontos fundamentais,    a importância do ensino correto da
>>> leitura e da escrita. É que    ensinar a ler é engajar-se numa experiência
>>> criativa em torno da compreensão. Da compreensão e da comunicação."
>>> 
>>> My free translation of the extract:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> "Reading is an intelligent, difficult, demanding,  but gratifying 
>>> operation. Nobody authentically reads or studies if, facing the text 
>>> or the object of his/her curiosity, he/she doesn't take a critical 
>>> stance as the subject of curiosity, the subject of reading, the 
>>> subject of the process of knowing where he/she is. Reading is to try 
>>> to create the understanding of what's being read; therefore, among 
>>> other crucial points, there lies the importance of teaching reading 
>>> and writing in a correct way. Teaching how to read means engaging in a creative experience revolving understanding.
>>> Understanding and communication."
>>> 
>>> Well, I don't think there is anything else to comment about it.
>>> Enjoy!
>>> Ana Paula Cortez
>>> __________________________________________
>>> _____
>>> xmca mailing list
>>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> *Robert Lake  Ed.D.
>> *Assistant Professor
>> Social Foundations of Education
>> Dept. of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading Georgia Southern 
>> University P. O. Box 8144
>> Phone: (912) 478-5125
>> Fax: (912) 478-5382
>> Statesboro, GA  30460
>> 
>> *Democracy must be born anew in every generation, and education is its
>> midwife.*
>> *-*John Dewey.
>> __________________________________________
>> _____
>> xmca mailing list
>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
>> http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
> 
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> <Freire, Vygotsky, and Social	Justice Research in English Education [Kirkland & Miller].doc>__________________________________________
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