126 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2015
    1. The cases of Rachel and Katarina illustrate otherwise—whatindividual players bring to the game shapes not onlyhowthey play, butwhatthey play.Confronted with identical game packages, the girls had very different goals and expectationsof what it meant to playZoo Tycoon.In turn, these individualized endpoints influenced whatparts of the game they attended to in learning how to play.

      This relates to my individual project, I'm looking at the interaction and learning happening on Tumblr with social justice related content. The individualization that the authors discuss here is central to activity on Tumblr, the experience is customizable based on users' intentions, goals, and activity while on the site.

    2. in-room” interaction provides opportunities for sociality, joint projects, and empowermentthrough sharing one’s knowledge and seeing it used for concrete success by others. Sincethis interaction occurs primarily without adult guidance or direction, it may be that thekid-organized and kid-managed aspects of these contexts—for kids of this preteen and earlyteen age—make them powerful learning contexts

      Their key elements of a "good learning environment" - sociality, joint activity, sharing knowledge, concrete successes, self-guidance and organization.

      I understand these elements to be related closely to those described in Lave and Wenger's discussion of LPP and apprenticeship learning

    3. our goal isnotto provide causal explanations of transfer between videogame play and other life activities, but rather to provide a set of careful descriptions of how“in-game” activity is tangled up with activity “in-room,” and in the wider worlds of activitythat young people inhabit.

      I like thinking of this game play as "tangled up with other cultural practices." I see this as multisited work, and actually helps me understand the interconnectedness of multisited work better.

    1. access to resources, whether theyare economic or cultural, is key for participation to the fullest extent.

      Access to resources are crucial to full successful participation. This relates back to my questions about privilege and access earlier in the semester in relation to LPP. I'm interested in this aspect of privilege in gaining access to resources for learning (both economic and cultural)

    2. impossible to cre-ate clear boundaries between online and offline, and our participants did not seem tocare much about such a distinction in their interactions. Some of our observations inWhyville provided further evidence in support of merged realities

      I see this as related to multi-sited work. If virtual spaces are a real piece of a person's experiences, learning, understanding, and development - it seems inappropriate to dismiss it as "not real." Especially then if you start to consider who has the authority to dismiss it.

    3. Whyvillians are not required to participate, but that everyone in the community issomehow impacted

      This is an interesting feature that seems to be pretty unique to Whyville, I think it could have some really interesting applications for using Whyville to relate social justice and activist concerns. (It impacts everybody! - "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - MLK)

    4. Being rich inWhyville means having clams, many possessions (e.g., fancy face parts), and morerecently, a virtual Toyota Scion. In Whyville, such as many other virtual worlds, wesee more and more blurring of boundaries between real and virtual life

      Whyville is blurring the boundaries of real and virtual as this site seems to mirror society. It's interesting to me because from this section it seems to me that what Whyville is promoting is acquisition of money and possessions (capitalism) and upper-middle class aspirations. I'm curious about the demographics of users of Whyville beyond age and gender, particularly their socio-economic backgrounds.

    5. ideo games—andby extension virtual worlds—offer freedom of movement that many children in theWestern hemisphere no longer have. Due to safety concerns, roaming the streets oftheir real-life neighborhoods is often no longer a welcome outlet. For that reason,researchers like Boyd (2006) have called places such as Whyville digital publicsbecause they provide a ‘‘youth space, a place to gather and see and be seen bypeers.’’

      This reminds me of Nespor's work on Field Trips. It seems that this argument is in alignment with Nespor's discussion of mediated experiences and spaces.

    1. The company specializes in designing and building custom crates for the transport and storage of art

      Love this site! I used to work in the security department of an art museum (which often included packing and unpacking art). It wouldn't seem like it, but the place was a wild experience!

    2. However, the learning environment at the crating company is more collaborative than it is hierarchical, with oldtimers also learning new things (sometimes from other oldertimers and sometimes from relative newcomers)

      This is important! However, I'm curious why you say it's more collaborative than hierarchical... Is this from your own observations so far?

    3. How does the claim that observation is participation change what might count as learning in this setting?

      Good question, I like this!

    4. intent participation only occurs where there is (or will be) space for the observer to become an active participant and thus to collaborate with the specific means of learning

      I like that you included this aspect in your definition of intent participation, helped me better understand when intent participation occurs!

  2. doc-0g-ag-prod-03-apps-viewer.googleusercontent.com doc-0g-ag-prod-03-apps-viewer.googleusercontent.com
    1. In line with the cultural-historical approach outlined above, we also question the presumed reification of spatial, linguistic, and geo-graphic boundaries by understanding all learning as situated in multiple activity systems; some of these may be more overt and others of which may be less readily visible, but no less powerful in their organization of an experience.

      This seems to be a crucial piece of multi-sited work. I think this could apply to the case of the non-drinking alcoholics, because there is so much to this identity and the community of practice that occurs as activity systems outside of their "safe space" in AA meetings. Although maybe not as visible as the activity in AA meetings, daily activities, interactions, motivations are all linked to and inform the identity practice of being a non-drinking alcoholic

    2. As equity-oriented researchers, we emphasize the fact that such movement is always mediated by questions of power and politics. In this vein, we ask: Whose linguistic, cultural, and intellectual resources are free to move across settings or hybridize, and whose are prohibited, devalued, and marginalized?

      I really like this emphasis on power dynamics in movement. I think this comes into play in the Counter-Mapping article, which I understand to be actively and intentionally redistributing privilege for the young people. they are given the opportunity for movement and meaning-making which is historically relegated to dominant groups in power

    1. Power is deeplyimplicated in both of these tensions, and because power is not fixed but embodiedin social practices, it is to these practices that we must attend

      I'm happy the authors explicitly discuss the dynamics of power and tensions in practices, especially in regards to my earlier comment. Because of my position toward equity and social justice, I think it's incredibly important to consider power, centrality, and marginalization when looking at multi-sited work and practices across space, cultural, and historical circumstances.

    2. A scale perspective on these changes draws attentionto the ways in which practices not only are social and historical but also have spa-tial dimensionality, which affects how practices are made to become consequentialover time and across contexts.

      This scale perspective focuses on the spatial dimensions of practices in addition to the social and historical aspects, this definitely relates to multi-sited work. I also think there is a dynamic of power/privilege and centrality/marginalization happening here. Which is also discussed in the multi-sited article, specifically as movement mediated by power dynamics.

    3. there is a transformation in the scale relations defining com-munity. Caring and responsive relationships between residents working with thenonprofit and community members have developed over multiple years in andacross the privacy of people’s homes and gardens.

      This example of scale making illuminates the work that the people are doing to across idea flows, practices, and space for equity. At this point, I'm understanding multi-sited work in relation to this article to almost be like intersectionality or the multiplicity of identities. Scale is a system of different relations (temporal, social, spatial...) that seem to intersect or exist simultaneously. Or maybe not?

  3. Oct 2015
    1. Gesture, thus, is an embodied activity that coordinates both social action and conceptual work.In addition, gesture can be a process of depiction and representation.

      Gesture as an embodied activity - process of depiction and representation. Using their bodies to respond and adjust to the "posed question" and construction of meaning

    2. ternalization processes are socially visible dis-plays of symbolic meaning. Internalization processes explain how these external representationsdevelop in cognition. These psychological processes of internalization and externalization aredialectically related

      Distinction between externalization and internalization. I'm understanding this to essentially be a dialectic of External: visible physical displays of meaning in the body's movement Internal: developed in cognition, process of learning and understanding

    1. "They help you here to know that you gotta learn to walk around what's out there. Keep your head up and keep on gain'.

      This quotation addresses actually moving the body in relationship to what is potentially learned, such as Narrative, Identity, Self-Esteem, Perseverance

    2. Throughout this production, youngsters heard Liberty's staff explain that the news commentator at the scene of the shoot­ing and on the evening news hour could not use African American English vernacular but only mainstream American standard English, For those who played the roles of reporters and broadcasters to achieve appropriate dic­tion, word choice, and eye gaze required considerable attention and prac­tice

      Connecting dance and their everyday lived experiences - not just abstract concepts or themes. Also by emphasizing languages, validating their own literacies while roleplaying different perspectives. This roleplaying is often used in social justice education to build empathies and different point of views.

    1. We argue that by participating in theseactivities, youth began to understand real and abstracted urban space differently, whichafforded new opportunities for imagining and showing their futures within that space

      Because of my background and areas of interest, I understand these young people to be learning primarily about identity and agency. Specifically, locating oneself in space and understanding movements within the space. I am very interested in the new opportunities for imagining and engaging with futures in a space, and I think the identity work is especially crucial for that.

    1. disciplined identity, I mean identities shaped by specific academic

      Okay - you sort of addressed my above question about identity. I was conceptualizing identity differently at first.

    2. thus shaping their identity as a “robotics club participant”instead of being a student (or freshman, or sophomore, etc.)

      Is there a space for intersectionality and multiplicity of identities?

    3. What moves learning away from a didactic, dichotomous view of teacher and learner to a more LPP form and how does that form of learning take shape for newcomersand oldtimers alike?

      Interesting question - are you saying that learning environments (like this club) are inherently dichotomous until there is an intentional shift away from that form to be more LPP?

    4. he roles of teacher and learner have started to merge working toward an LPP form of learning, instead of a passive “school-like”form

      Perhaps you explained this in your previous fieldwork report... Is the club only for students? Are there any adults or teacher supervisors present?

    5. The learning curriculum is thus being co-constructed by both newcomer-learners and oldtimer-teacher-learners; therefore, the curriculum, and eventually thecommunity of practice, the learners are working towards is not specified before the interactions

      Nice observation, I like the consideration of a learning curriculum here

    6. younger students, mostly comprised of 9thand 10thgraders, be inducted into the group in various ways by “oldtimers.”

      Are the roles of newtimers/oldtimers exclusive to the age of the student? Like are all newcomers younger and all the oldtimers are older students?

    1. For instance, he writes, "Becauselearning transforms who we are and what we can do, it is an experience of identity. It is notjust an accumulation of skills and information, but a process of becoming-to become a certainperson or, conversely, to avoid becoming a certain person"

      One directional? Learning transforms Identity but Identity doesn't transform Learning

    1. Instead,theaestheticframingof®eld-tripspacespositionedkidsasdetachedspectators,whilemuchsmaller,boundedspaceswithinthesites–giftshopsmodelledafterfamiliarretailsettings,andoftenmorecrowdedthanthemuseumsorhistoricalbuildingsthemselve

      I'm understanding that one of Nespor's key points in arguing the problematics of fieldtrip spaces is this - the positioning of students as detached spectators. This is encouraged by aesthetic framing and small bounded spaces. (I think) I get this argument, but I feel as if this isn't universal of all fieldtrips, and that's a huge thing holding me up on this article.

    2. Women,alongwithminorities,children,thepoor...haveneverbeengrantedfullandfreeaccesstothestreets...theyhavesurvivedand ̄ourishedintheintersticesofthecity,negotiatingthecontradictionsofthecityintheirownpeculiarway

      I think this is so important, and i wish that Nespor discussed the role of identity and privilege in "public" spaces further. Like the above comment questioning if NYC parks are "truly, open public spaces" - I don't believe that they are. Parks in New York are so heavily mediated in their construction, rules and regulations, and police presence. They're mediated in ways that benefit some people but disadvantage and even threaten the safety of other people.

  4. doc-08-bk-prod-01-apps-viewer.googleusercontent.com doc-08-bk-prod-01-apps-viewer.googleusercontent.com
    1. The termdialecticallyis used here in the way thatLave (1988) defined it: “A dialectical relation exists when its component elements are created,are brought into being, only in conjunction with one another”

      I like the discussion and consideration of Context as a dialectical relationship between setting and activity (both social interactions and isolated activity), but then adding in the factors of spatial arena and that there are many participants in the space, each with a specific and particular understanding. This is key in the relationship between context and learning that takes place within that context.

    1. Tho/})aren~ \ ~decide what is worth noting, based on their own knowledg~ terests, their understanding of their child's knowledge and interests, and their current goals for the interaction. Children are making the same calcu-latio¥imultaneously.

      I've been thinking of Islands of Expertise in relation to midwifery LPP. There are some similarities in these knowledge worlds are constructed through interaction and participation in a specific field, curated in some way by parents. This is pretty unique of midwifery LPP compared to other forms of LPP. However there are some pretty stark contrasts, in my understanding, LPP focuses on the process of identifying with and being accepted by a specific community. Whereas Islands of Expertise seems to focus on an individual's socially created knowledge of a certain domain.

    2. through joint activity, guided by a combination of children's and parents' interests, fami-lies can build deep, shared domain-specific knowledge bases, which we re-fer to as islands of expertise.

      The conclusion of this article discusses joint activity as the combination of children and parent's interests. Through joint activity, they can build deep shared domain specific knowledge bases (Islands). This made me think of Kirshner's article on youth activism and adult involvement - I'm curious how an Islands lens would have impacted the young people's active engagement and agency in the activist organizations.

    3. First, it is fundamentally collaborative. Everything the boy knows about trains was learned in social contexts co-constructed with his parents.

      The authors describe Islands of Expertise and this type of learning as "fundamentally collaborative" (pg. 336). This makes me think of Funds of Knowledge in relation to Islands. I understand Funds of Knowledge to be representative of social and community knowledges and Islands to be referring to an individual's knowledges. However, I think there is a connection in that these are created and shared socially. Especially considering that the authors say one of the most important forms of mediation is connecting knowledges back to shared family learning history (pg. 351)

    1. aspects of The Whitney that are not immediatelyapprehendable

      These are great observations, and they seem like they wouldn't be too difficult for The Whitney to improve! Adding more information and signage about ticketing and lines, and printing more copies of the information card!

    2. I think immediate apprehendabilityis also about keeping up with technology, and a user-centered design today needs to consider this

      I like this observation! However I wonder about the accessibility and immediate apprendability for people not familiar or comfortable with smart phone technology (some older people, some people from lower classes, some people with disabilities)?

    3. elevators open directly to the exhibition spaces. Patrons are immediatelysurrounded by theexhibition the second the elevator doors open

      Very cool, good observation. I'm comparing this to my visit to the Brooklyn Museum, people were having trouble locating the the elevators originally and then the exhibition entrances were rather confusing too!

    4. main lobby is made of glass. It is easy to see inside, and therefore determine before even entering what the layout is like

      Great observation - this security to be able to see and understand a space before actually being in it. From my understanding, this a huge element of the space's immediate apprendability!

    1. onsistent attention to monitoring by all members kept individuals from becoming isolated and spread positive evaluations as well as descriptive analyses of moves and actions across all team members. Monitoring was a consistent public activity; it held little value as a private indulgence. T

      I see this practice of monitoring as related to identity development, particularly in relation to Becker's discussion of evaluation. In baseball, this monitoring acts as a constant evaluation. Becker describes the benefit of such evaluation, including that it is immediately observable and is not restricted to just technical matter. I think it's also very important that in baseball, this monitoring is personalized which I think lends itself to identity development

    2. commitment to using sources of knowledge about the game other than those immediately at hand in their own practices. One player summarized his learning about baseball outside of practice as follows: In baseball season, I look at the paper every day. I watch, like, the high-lights on the news, listen to the radio. and I hear different stuff, like what other players are doing and that lets me know, like, that's a new thing for me. I always keep learning new things about baseball, and it makes me do the same things on the field

      Motivation for learning outside the designated learning space (baseball practices or games). I think this relates to constructing Funds of Knowledge, these boys are creating a new specific fund of knowledge by engaging with existing sources of information. Which then that reminds me of LPP, these boys as newcomers reaching out to oldtimers for information and knowledge. However, it's complicated because they are not directly in contact but instead learning through artifacts and secondary sources created by the oldtimers.

    3. strict segregation of roles by agent and recipient of transmission. Moreover, learner progress, especially within formal education, is determined by the display capabilities of the learner, who must provide evidence of matching a path of development laid down by th

      Arguing against traditional transmission oriented forms of schools, rather refers to learning as a social and collaborative process. Not just the "Students" are learning but the "Teachers" as well - encourages empowerment and motivation to participate in the community

    4. eachers need to move beyond the formal confines of the curriculum to parallel, build on, and expand the content and forms of everyday reasoning. H

      References possibilities for motivation by recognizing and engaging different literacies - reminds me of the Islands of Expertise. "Even when a child loses interest and an island of expertise begins to fade, the abstract and general themes that used the island's rich knowledge as a launching pad will remain connected to children's other knowledge" (pg. 334). That knowledges and practices are built and expanded upon, provides for complex means of motivation

    1. deasharing,for both short- and long-termprojectsandgoals,worked in a similar wayto enable the sustaining and extending of a person’slines of practice

      Collective practice and idea sharing as a resource. Group processes support the creation, development, and sustenance of practices - collaborative routines are important resources for extending and supporting a person's lines of practices

    2. short-termprojectsmay feed into long-termgoals,and thisprovides a mechanism for engaging multiplepreferencesacross time.

      This resource is the component of both short-term and long-term pursuits. By structuring goals and activities to be a combination of immediate and long-term, or seeing how short-term can feed into larger projects, practice can be engaging and sustained across sites, communities, individual or collective pursuits, at at one's own pace.

    3. Practicing at different sites/communities was therefore an expedient wayof tailoring one’s amateur astronomy practice.

      This resource refers to the variation of sites and communities - each site provides very specific conditions of practice that results in very specific versions of a given hobby. Participating in a variation of sites allows a person to tailor their practice to make unique and individualized, and thus supports commitment to the practice.

    4. everallines of practice, each of which is an expression of clusters of his or her vari-ouspreferencesattuned to certainconditions of practice

      I understand these components for engaged participation to be resources... This piece refers to the material infrastructures or artifacts of different lines of practice - varied infrastructure supports a deep engagement and involvement with the practice.

    1. The facilitation ap-proachcreated opportunities for youth to participate in a variety of leadershiptasks. Youth participants routinely initiated the meetings, explained the agenda,and helped keep the group on task.

      This seems to reflect Becker's discussion of evaluation in apprenticeships and work settings - progress is made as the learner is ready and success is immediately observable. Practice and evaluation occurs repeatedly and practically, includes human relations too

    2. Adult neutrality extended to decisions about the content of the project. Adultsrefrained from directly teaching a particular political stance or from voting on thechoice of campaign topic.

      I wonder how this student centered (adult out) model supports and encourages Nasir and Cook's Ideational Resources? Does this freedom allow for more exploration and maturation of ideas about oneself and one's relationship to the practice and the larger world?

    3. One of the first decisions about processhad to do with group ground rules about behavior. Youth defined unexcusedabsences, spelled out how many warnings students should receive for absences,specified the consequences of disrespecting others, and differentiated acceptablecurses (directed toward oneself) from unacceptable curses (directed toward oth-ers).

      These "rules" were probably informed by their own prior experiences in classrooms, but I don't expect that they were exactly the same or just a reflection - I've done this exercise in community agreements with classes and usually students create really radical responses to traditional rules that they have had issues with in the past. It also seems to create a sense of community, accountability, and ownership of the classroom space - all play into agency and identity formation

    4. activitieshave high use value rather than exchange value, in the sense that young peoplelearn skills that they put to use to solve meaningful problems, rather than problems

      This reminds me of Resnick's article - that school knowledge is so disconnected and isolated from the rest of what we do, real life, issues that effect us. high use value challenges this isolation

    5. Also, they view their role as temporary, “fad-ing” over time to enable youth to take progressively more responsibility for activi-ties

      This suggests the evolving identities of the students - similar to Rogoff's examples of learners eventually taking over or jumping in on work when they are ready

    6. “guided participation.” Guided participation has a dualmeaning: It emphasizes how adults help to structure children’s developmental tra-jectories and also the active participation by children in these processes.

      Clear definition of "guided participation" - refers to both the role of the adult or teacher and the active participation of the learner

    1. Inuk Mother: You’ll be able to know by watching

      This example just reminded me of that card game always played at summer camp, "Mao" or "Chairman Mao" .... where the main rule of the game is that you can't explain the rules, you just have to learn by observation

    2. In teaching/learning tasks, Mazahua (indigenous Mexican) parents used a par-ticipation structure in which children were treated as responsible contributors toa shared endeavor, coordinating with their parents and sometimes leading the ef-fort

      I think this is really important - to treat young people or new learning as responsible, capable, valued contributors who are expected (but not forced) to participate and lead efforts. Rogoff et al discuss this throughout the article and I really appreciate the emphasis

    3. Inmiddle-class European-American families—the primary participants in researchon child development

      This is refreshing - to remind us that most research on development has been done on White middle-class people (this case in the United States). Euro-centric understandings are not comprehensive and absolute!

    4. [However, U.S. children whoseparents work at home are often involved in their parents’ work, in a progressionfrom watching, to carrying out simple tasks, to giving regular assistance, to regularwork

      I was wondering if this would come up - it's definitely true in my own experiences. Both of my parents were self employed and worked from home, I grew up working for them without question. I now nanny my cousin's children, she's self-employed and works from home and I'm seeing the same patterns in her children (ages 2 and 3) where they are already participating in her work life.

    5. In the colonial periodthe workplace and the home were typically not separated, and young childrenparticipated skillfully in family work as well as community social events

      This in contrast to the contemporary norm of having work and home life totally separated. This is something we attempt to resist in certain social justice ciricles - that what is important and salient in your home life and personal life will definitely show up in your work (positively or negatively), but that we should not to fight it because that's where we as a society start to loose empathy, compassion, and what makes us actually real and human.

    6. We argue that an emphasis on learning through intent participation—thoughlikely present in some settings in all communities—fits especially with the practicesof cultural communities that routinely include children in the mature activitiesthat are part of the community’s daily life.

      Connection to learning through everyday activities. Also shows importance for intergenerational communities, work, and daily life - a main tenet in social justice movements

    7. What we call “listening-in” has been referred to by other authors as“eavesdropping,” which suggests that the people listened to would object, or “over-hearing,” which suggests passive chancing to hear, rather than active listening.

      This emphasis on active listening helps me understand the nuances of accidental learning and other instances of passive learning by chance

    8. Efforts to transform the structure of formal schooling have encountered chal-lenges related to adults’ difficulties in learning to engage in radically different par-ticipation structures.

      I think this is exactly why young people (or whoever the learners are) need to participate and be given a platform in thinking about crafting and organizing education, learning, and curricula.... What might it look like for adults (or "the teachers") to practice intent participation?

  5. Sep 2015
    1. Their bodily comportment, their orientation, exploration,investigation, manipulation and the like become sensible, by virtue of their‘connection’ to the installation.

      I think my comment a bit tangental, but it reminds me of a principle social justice education - just reading about injustices is not sufficient. People are more effectively engaged with social justice issues if they have encountered injustices themselves or can connect to those who have. Learning to read, comprehend, and understand experiences and your own and other people's actions

    2. seen to witness the activities of others, to responding to their action andhaving them respond to yours.

      LPP connection. In LPP is there a specific moment of motivation and thus participation?

    3. The conduct of others within the same space can feature in how peopleorient, what people choose to look at and how they experience particularobjects, artefacts and events

      I'm thinking of this in relation to the classroom discussion in FoK - the students were contributing different knowledges, this influenced (but not totally replaced) the ways that a student would then understand the topic

    4. The discovery of the functionalities of the piece are largely discoveredin and through interaction with others, both people accompanying otherpeople and others who happen to be in the same space.

      This makes me think of the observations for everyday activities, learning and navigating an activity through interaction in a given space. Also seems to relate to LPP and FW

    5. designed to display and encourage a way of seeing, of making sense, ofexperience by other

      Co-participation within museum setting - relates to Resnick's shared cognition and FoK's emphasis on relationships and context.

    6. how long they spend withan exhibit, and how they look at and experience particular objects andartefacts may well arise in and through interaction with others – not justthose they may be with but others who happen to be within ‘perceptual rangeof the event

      I'm curious what these authors would say about Allen's discussion of "museum fatigue" and cognitive overload

    7. Exhibits themselves are thought of as having ‘stoppingpower’ and the interest and pleasure that people gain arises through theirindividual engagement with the art work.

      Reminds me of the beginning of Allen's inquiry cycle - must start with a surprising phenomenon to engage the visitor throughout the exhibit. With hopes to provoke interest and pleasure

    1. More research is needed to determine whether our instantiations of narrative havesimply beenflawed, or whether perhaps the chaotic, high-energy environment of a sciencemuseum and the nonanecdotal nature of science combine to make storytelling an ineffectivestrategy for learning in these settings.

      I'm curious if there is a way to broaden the notions of narrative to be effective in "phenomenon-based" exhibits in science museums? I feel like narrative based learning can extend much further than just basic storytelling.... Is that what the author is saying though?

    2. he questions“what’s going on?”and“so what?”were usedas label headings to help raise visitors’curiosity at these intermediate steps, as wellas to scaffold them through the cycle.

      Reminds me of the "Project Approach" curriculum method

    3. The environment provides myriad personal choices, withoutany teachers forcing learners to do something unappealing, without curricular constraints

      Connecting to the idea of a "safe space" in Social Justice, museums are a safe space for learning - supportive and nonjudgemental

      Reminds me of Becker's discussion on low-risk testing and evaluations

    1. Our example highlights how, within such a distributedsystem, children can draw on the resources of teachers, materials,and, most important, one another to shape and direct their academicactivities.

      Reminds me of Resnick's discussion of tool manipulation outside of school versus the emphasis of pure mentation in school. Also reminds me of the everyday activity observations, so often I saw people using eachother as tools or resources to learn how to effectively do their task. In this case, these students are using the tools available to direct their learning.

    2. She intention-ally allows Aaron to answer the other children's questions, buildson their knowledge with more information, and asks open-endedquestions to bring focus to the group and encourage individuals toparticipate

      This example seems to be working along the lines of popular knowledge. That each participant brings in a valid set of experiences and knowledges, particular and unique from anybody else. Relates also to Resnick's points about shared cognition out of school versus the emphasis on individual cognition in schools.

    3. Classroom rules, agreed upon andsigned dramatically by the children and teachers, are posted nearthe door.

      Classroom rules or Community agreements - this is used in social justice movements. Typically are agreed upon together, provides a space of respect and a plan of action if something uncomfortable or sticky arises. I see this as an example of building relationships with intentionality, treating all participants as active and important to the classroom.

    4. The books not only provide information in English and Span-ish for the students' thematic research, but are frequently chosen bythe children for "free" reading

      This is so important - books in multiple languages that are equally accessible. Resists the too common deficit thinking of students who speak a language other than English - many different knowledges

    5. the children, as well as the teacher,are active teachers and learners.

      I think this is really important, and goes back to a statement made earlier in this article, "Children are participants in the household activities, not merely bystanders" (p. 141). It's the interdependence across age and position, that every person is an active participant in a setting

    6. instruction builds on the children's interests. The contentis learned through the different social relations and activities that theteacher facilitates in consultation with the children.

      Learning curriculum versus Teaching curriculum - not static or prescribed rather is flexible based on students needs

    7. teacher in these classrooms is that of a mediator, in the Vy-gotskian sense: to provide guidance, strategic support, and assistanceto help the children assume control of their own learning

      I really like this conception of Teacher as Mediator, reminds me of the discussions of oldtimer mentorship in AA in Lave and Wenger and Holland et al.

    8. . These funds of knowledge are sociallyinherited and culturally reproduced and developed (or discarded),and their distribution is a constant and dynamic characteristic ofhousehold life

      This whole section on relationships and networks to build funds of knowledge, especially those that are intergenerational, is directly related to work in social justice efforts (especially in learning ally practices for people from privileged groups)

    1. This finding highlights the critical role of the nature ofthe relationship with the teacher/coach for opportunities both to develop practice-linked identities and to become better at the practice.

      Learner and Teacher relationship is crucial - provides access to resources. Similar to the discussion of community, teachers, mentors in Lave and Wenger, and in Holland et al.

    2. Our analyses show that relational resources sometimes served as akind of gateway to material and ideational resources (and thus as a gateway tolearning

      Access to resources directly relates to positions of power and relationship/proximity to privilege

    3. From Coach J'sperspective, this was an indication of Gozi being both lazy and a goof-off, while forGozi, this was simply a mistake he had made under the misdirection of a more seniorteammate. Unlike Yaheem, Gozi did not choose to approach Coach J directly to repairthe relationship

      Similar to Lave and Wenger's discussion of the Butchers needing to seek out teachers and mentors, the assertiveness to be taught is key.

    4. three levels of analysisthat are required to offer an account of identity, including individuals, social interac-tion, and broader society.

      Identity - must consider individuals, social interaction, broader society. This is consistent with previous readings

  6. newclasses.nyu.edu newclasses.nyu.edu
    1. Both "getting the upper hand" and "keeping ·one man up front" were strategies for achieving the valued outcomes of romantic involvements while avoiding the bad.

      Ways of negotiating power dynamics. Especially "getting the upper hand" -- and the social constructed power dynamics of beauty.

    2. For the women we studied, the cultural interpretation of romance became salient and compelling as their expertise with romantic relation-ships increased and as they came to form an engaging interpretation of themselves in the world of romance

      Within identity processes - reinterpreting the self and their location in the world

    3. This suggests that involvement-the salience of and identification with the cultural system of romance-codeveloped with expertise.

      Identity (and saliency of identity) is developed with expertise in a field. There are varying degrees of identity saliency - within multiple and simultaneous figured worlds.

    4. Those who ap-peared to be less knowledgeable or less expert closely copied and took direction from others, attended to relatively circumscribed aspects of relationships, and had difficulty generating possible responses to roman-tic situations.

      Participatory learning through observations (romance as an apprenticeship) - this identity as something that evolves

    5. The themes of male/female relationships also dominated a vocabulary that the students used to talk about one another.

      Within communities of practice - unique vocabularies and norms to be learned

    6. ;, our neo-Vygotskian developmental approach, thoughts and feel-ings, will and motivation are formed as the individual develops. The individual comes, in the recurrent contexts of social interaction, to per-sonalize cultural resources, such as figured worlds, languages, and sym-bols, as means to organize and modify thoughts and emotions.

      definition of culture for this context - in contrast to other anthropological positions. Motivation is developed within social processes

    7. Tlie figured wortaD£ romance acquired motivating force as ---the women developed mastery of it, and their mastery, in turn, depended upon their development of a concept of themselves as actors in the world of romance.

      Figured World of Romance - almost like Legitimate Peripheral Participation in Communities of Practice

  7. newclasses.nyu.edu newclasses.nyu.edu
    1. his transformation takes place througl:l rei11_terpret�ion, as_.'!'<:"lber_u<>_m� to 11nders�nd thatthdrpasts have b�en a progr�ssion ofalcoholi£ d,:lllk!!lg_;md_alco­holic -behj.vfor.

      Emphasis on the fluidity and process of identity formation

    2. AA mem­bers knew that I was attending meetings as part of my research, what was said at those meetings was intended for other members, not for the anthropologist, and much was sensitive in nature and private.

      Element of safety and security that can be found in developing identities and entering certain figured worlds

    3. identity reconstitu��Q11- i!l AA. takes place through reinterpreta-tion ()(self and of one'slif�, and that the major ve!ITCTefonhi:Sremferpretation_IS-illeAA persg11�1 story

      Key piece - formation of a new identity. With reinterpreation comes the element of accountability to oneself, as well as the in-group and newcomers of the figured world

    4. This is why, as members often say, "AA is for those who want it, not for those who need it." AA members must agree to become tellers, as well as listeners, of AA stories.

      Entering into the AA figured world as a "non drinking alcoholic" must be an intentional choice.

      I'm curious though what the authors would say about close family and friends of "non drinking alcoholics" - do you need to form an identity as such to enter (struggling with word choice here) a specific figured world?

    5. As a cultural system, and one that no one is born into, this entire figured world of AA is new to neophytes.

      Interesting - especially in thinking about the cultural reproduction and longevity of AA. Located at an intersection of most group identities

    6. There are therefore two aspects important to membership in AA: qualification as an alcoholic, based on ones past, and continued non-drinking behavior, or effort at not drinking, which is a . ne ation of the behavior that first qualified one for membership.J

      Self-Identification, can't form identity based off other people's experiences, realities (hitting rock bottom and becoming motivated versus family/friends requesting person to join AA).

      for "non drinking alcoholics) - the identity is formed as a response, it's reactionary

    7. AA constitutes a figured world, a meaning system within a meaning system. It draws upon spe­cific sets of interpretations and assumptions which circulate alongside many others in the United States.

      This helped me understand Figured Worlds better - it's a meaning system, with specific interpretations and assumptions. Not all encompassing, but just one meaning system, figured world working along side many others simultaneously.

    8. 1_3tiid�ll�!.tz" Jn<::��ll:'_"'.ay a E::��."�.�'.'i<:rst� himself, an� is often viewed by others, at leasUru;main situatigps-a ��Q_Q:[§eTt. ih�i�<in�be:taidy���;;;;;:,tly-aehie,ve�

      Clear definition of identity - culturally, contextually situated

    9. Alcoholics are a labeled group of people who behave inappropriately after drinking alcohol.

      I don't understand this - labeled by others after acting "inappropriately" AFTER drinking? I feel like the label is more contingent on the act or habit of drinking, rather than only after... Guess this speaks to the disagreements and lack of a clear definition of alcoholism

    10. No distinct line runs between "so­cial" or "normal" drinker and "problem drinker" or "alcoholic," and different sectors of U.S. society do not agree on what these terms mean.

      Connects to Goodenough in the previous chapter: that there is no uniform, constant, or coherent set of meanings that applies equally in every situation. It must be situated culturally and contextually.

    11. In this sense AA has created a cultural world, albeit a limited one, which is its institutional reason for being.

      I'm curious about the role of institutions in figured worlds and identity formation - I wish they could explore this further

    1. lt. Discourse (or discursive) theory emphasizes many of the aspects of cultural resources that we discu

      Cultural artifacts don't need to be material - pronouns as artifacts (example of ta/you). I'm thinking more about pronouns as artifacts, I'm curious what the authors would have to say about communities creating their own gender neutral pronouns in response to the gender binary (examples: ne, ve, ze, xe). Imagining and creating artifacts into being, learned within social interaction

    2. the as-if character of possibility that marks fields (and figured worlds) is not an indifferent, "mental" abstrac-tion1 an "imaginary" in its usual sense, but a social rea"!!ty that lives within by relations of power.

      I'm excited to see more discussion about power and privilege in these chapters - I felt like this has been lacking in previous readings

    3. There is, Goodenough con-no uniform, conslstf.nt, or coherent set of meanings-no "cul-ture"-that applies equally in every activity.

      Reminds me of the need for culturally responsive pedagogy - the teaching curriculum v. learning curriculum

    4. Identities

      Identities as products(?) of participation in figured worlds, thus identities are representative of larger sociohistorical circumstances.

    5. A figured world is formed and re-formed in relation to the everyday activities and events that or-dain happenings within it.

      Reminds me of the reproduction of social contexts from LPP

    6. a frame becomes a world-a space

      (had difficulty highlighting) Possibility for figured worlds to exist non-physically? can come into being through experiencing and acting by its rules

    7. "as-if" worlds are sociohistoric, contrived interpreta-tions or imaginations that mediate behavior and so, from the perspective of heuristic development, inform participants' outlooks

      Definition of "As If" worlds - interpretations/imaginations that inform participants outlooks. These are sociohistoric, depends on lived realities and experiences. How to make sense of the many figured worlds

    8. Why is it confusing to ask if the Pope is a bachelor? After all, a bachelor is an unmarried man and the Pope is an unmarried man. Yet there is something peculiar about referring to the Pope as a bachelor. The problem is that "'bachelor' frames ...

      The possibility for multiple, simultaneous figured worlds. Figured worlds as a frame of understanding

    9. "figured world," then, we mean a socially and culturally con-structed realm of interpretation in which particular characters and actors are recognized, significance is assigned to certain acts, and particular outcomes are valued over others.

      Clear definition of "Figured Worlds" - People, Activity, Context

    1. Itneveroccurredtomethattheprocessofenteringacoffeeshopandorderingacoffeecouldbebrokendownintosomanymovingparts.

      and you totally could have focused a whole observation on one activity within the coffee shop (entering/exiting, standing in line, ordering, paying, waiting....)

    2. Westartedoutstandinginlinewitheveryoneelse.

      interesting to go through the process of what you're observing while doing the observation

    1. g  a  fellow  

      using each other / other people as resources in a space

    2.  taskto  find  the  books  neededa  bit  more  complicate

      specifically textbooks or just finding books in general?

    1.  so  it  seems  that  the  first  securityguard  using  the  manual  doors  was  probably  an  exception

      i'm curious about the power dynamics at play here - would love to explore this further

    2.  Most  of  the  people  I  observed  seemed  to  be  students  or  otherwise  affiliated  with  New  York  

      total assumption

    1. She told me that this was her first week on campus and first week using these doors regularly. She articulated to me that she was afraid of“messing up.”

      I like that you included this bit about the "fear" of learning these doors - I personally had a lot of issues learning them when I first moved here. But also that there really aren't many resources available to learn how to successfully navigate them (as you explore later).

    1. In contrast, to insist on starting with social practice, on taking participation to be the crucial process, and on including the social world at the core of the analysis only seems to eclipse the person. In reality, however, participation in social practice -subjective as well as objective -suggests a very explicit focus on the person, but as person-in-the-world, as member of a sociocultural community.

      I like this consideration of individuals situated within the social world - it relates to Resnick's consideration of "individual cognition in schools versus shared cognition outside" (pg. 13) and and my own issues with individualism in the context of social justice.

    2. They share our interest in extending the study of learning beyond the context of pedagogical structuring, including the structure of the social world in the analysis, and taking into account in a central way the conftictual nature of social practice

      "Beyond the context of pedagogical structuring" Are the authors claiming that pedagogy is exclusive to schools? I'm curious if pedagogy can be conceptualized and applied in out-of-school contexts as well. I feel like pedagogy is a really broad, and potentially radical concept to be only assigned to schools. Perhaps they aren't saying this though?

    1. tries to help the drinker see herself as an alcoholic if she is ''ready.'' [Members] claim that telling their own sto-ries to other alcoholics, and thus helping other alco-holics to achieve sobriety, is an important part of maintaining their own sobriety. [At the same time] telling a personal story, especially at a speaker's meet-ing or on a Twelfth Step call, signals membership be-cause this "is the time that they [members] feel that they belong enough to 'carry the message'.''

      This reminded me of Becker's discussion of evaluations in apprenticeships: learners be evaluated repeatedly as they are ready, and that progress is immediately observable (pp. 99-101). It also relates to the larger discussion of the mentor/teacher's role in learning, that they cannot learn for the learner, it is up to the learner to be successful.

    2. structure of the A. A. story, the newcomers must also learn the cultural model of al-coholism encoded in them

      This whole example of AA really helped solidify my understanding of LPP and apprenticeship outside the traditional models. I think that AA is a perfect example that considers each person relationally - as an individual, their actions, and the world they are in.

    3. A. A. is the reconstructign of identity, through the process of constructing personal life stories, and with them, the meaning of the teller's past and future action in the world.

      This quotation also made me think of Resnick's adaptive learning... "school should focus its efforts on preparing people to be good adaptive learners, so that they can perform effectively when situations are unpredictable and task demands change." (pg. 18)

    4. Stories do not just describe a life in a learned genre, but are tools for reinterpreting the past, and understanding the self in terms of the A. A. iden-tity.

      Thinking of stories like this made me think back to Becker's provocative use of the word "myth." By using the word he located schools within the long tradition of mythology and storytelling. Essentially, mythology can be understood as just a tool to interpret the past and make sense of the present. Mythology isn't dead or static but is still a really radical tool if used to reinterpret and reconceptualize learning and schools and their relationships - which is what Lave and Wenger are attempting to do with LPP.

    1. The first, which is al­ready under way in some experimental schools (28), is to move everyday life into the school so that its subject mat­ter and activities deal with some of the same aspects of social and physical reality that the pupils confront outside of school

      The need for culturally relevant pedagogy!

    1. we emphasize the significance of shifting the analytic focus from the individual as learner to learning as participation in the so­cial world, and from the concept of cognitive process to the more-encompassing view of social practice

      In alignment with social justice education - excited to see more discussion of this

    1. Mental activities make sense in terms of their results in a specific circumstance; actions are grounded in the logic of immediate situations

      I'm curious what role interdisciplinary could play in this. It seems that the disconnect between school and outside world is further emphasized by the strict separations of subjects.