The Problem of Context Talk by Andy Blunden 23 rd February 2011

Michael Cole’s investigation of learning in context

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

Michael 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? Bronfenbrenner’s idea of context microsystem mesosystem exosystem macrosystem

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? Rene van der Veer “what may be an inhospitable environment for one organism may be an El Dorado for another.”

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? 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 Context from other currents Environment Everything is …

Conceptions of Context from other currents Tradition Motivates Motivates Develops Develops Restricts Restricts

Conceptions of Context from other currents Genre What rules apply here?

Conceptions of Context from other currents Frame

Narrative

Discourse

Field

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 Projects Contextere = “to weave together”

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

Collaboration & Agency, Identity and Ethics Contextere = “to weave together” Me, in 1966

Collaborative Projects Any Questions?