The Problem of The Problem of ContextContext

Talk by Andy Blunden 23rd February 2011

Michael Cole’s Michael Cole’s investigation of investigation of

learning in contextlearning in context

Michael ColeMichael Cole

“cultural differences in cognition reside more in the situations to which particular cognitive processes are applied than in the existence of a [cognitive] process in one cultural group and its absence in the other.”

Michael ColeMichael Cole

What was it about the context which rendered the actions meaningful and how could differences in cultural context be overcome?

Michael ColeMichael Cole

“As often as not the most visible consequence of schooling was alienation of the young from their parents and from the community’s traditional forms of economic life”

What is Context?What is Context?

Bronfenbrenner’s idea of context

microsystem mesosystem

exosystemmacrosystem

What is Context?What is Context?

Rene van der Veer

context is: “... not just the physical and socioeconomical environment with all the possibilities and tools that it affords but also ... the intellectual environment in the sense of available ideas, traditions of thinking, and so on. The physical, technological, socioeconomical, and intellectual environments and their complex interdependency determine the individual’s possibilities.”

What is Context?What is Context?

Rene van der Veer

“what may be an inhospitable environment for one organism may be an El Dorado for another.”

What is Context?What is Context?

Vygotsky

“in a perezhivanie we are always dealing with an indivisible unity of personal characteristics and situational characteristics, which are represented in the perezhivanie.”

What is Context?What is Context?

Mike Cole

“1. There is a basic unit common to the analysis of both cultures’ and individuals’ psychological processes. 2. This unit consists of an individual engaged in goal-directed activity under conventionalized constraints. This unit is variously designated as ‘activity’, a ‘task’, an ‘event’. ....”

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

EnvironmentEnvironmentEverything is …

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

TraditioTraditionn

• MotivaMotiva

testes

• DeveloDevelo

psps

• RestricRestric

tsts

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

GenreGenre

What rules apply here?

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

FrameFrame

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

NarrativeNarrative

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

DiscourseDiscourse

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

FieldField

Conceptions of ContextConceptions of Contextfrom other currentsfrom other currents

Once we set up a dichotomy between the individual and their societal context at the level of theoretical genres, we cement in place a dichotomy people feel in their lives.

Collaborative ProjectsCollaborative Projects

Contextere = “to weave together”

Collaborative ProjectsCollaborative Projects

The project is a process in which a concept is realised.

Collaboration &Collaboration &Agency, Identity and Agency, Identity and

EthicsEthics

Contextere = “to weave together”

Me, in 1966

Collaborative ProjectsCollaborative Projects

Any Any Questions?Questions?