I'm sure I speak for the class when I say everyone will remember our first
learning experience with Donovan. We were engaged in making Bowline knots, and
Donovan was very committed to educating everyone until there was a room full of
wonderfully tied ropes! I paid close attention to the ways he taught us this
handy skill. He demonstrated making the knot for learners that learn visually,
he gave us a handout for students that prefer to follow an instruction sheet,
and encouraged the ones who caught on more quickly to share with peers still
trying to grasp the task.
We have been learning through and with each other. Blogs are one of the most
interesting and effective learning experiences I've had thus far in
post-secondary education. I have often written papers or my position on things
I am learning about in class only to have it viewed by one set of eyes. There
have been times when I have said to myself 'I wish more people could read
this'. I have shared writings with family or friends, but it's different when
you are sharing it with people who are involved in the course readings, lectures,
and discussions. It’s a good feeling to know that the hard work I put into my
Blogs will be viewed by many people. And unlike a paper that is passed in and
then returned with a grade, this social media experience allows readers to
access the blogs over and over again. I have really enjoyed sharing my thoughts
and learning with our community of practice. The blogs compliment our small
group and/or class discussions as we have been referring to our peer's blog
posts when engaged in conversations. During our last class we negotiated
meaning to come up with collective definitions of the combined learning ideals
from Tomasello, Wenger, and Bracher. Through our mutual engagement we discussed
the readings and individual blogs to assist with definition negotiation.
At this point I would like to share a brief description of my Practicum and
Project courses that I just completed as part of the Lifelong Learning graduate
degree requirements. For both of these courses I decided to use my background
in the Arts to illustrate lifelong learning. For those of you that missed my
Academic Poster Presentation a couple of weeks ago, I’ll give a quick account
of my Practicum experience. I facilitated a workshop at a local organization
called reachAbility for people with disabilities. I utilized theatre skills to enhance
self-confidence and develop job interview skills. Research shows that people
with disabilities have lower self-esteem and are unemployed more than people
without disabilities. Therefore adult education with goals such as increasing
confidence and becoming more employable are beneficial for people with
disabilities. For my project paper I focused on the impact that the Arts have
on adult education. I’m a true believer in the multiple learning that occurs
through arts-based education.
What am I trying to say here? That everyone learns differently, and that
creativity in education teaches more than the intended skills of the Arts
domain. I believe that Donovan started our learning off with “how to tie a
Bowline knot” for many reasons other than just to teach us this skill. First of
all, he must have wanted us to explore the ways we learn. After all, Lifelong Learning Processes is about ‘learning how we learn’
from different perspectives. This rope exercise is also a way for Donovan
to share a part of his identity with us in a creative way. From now on, every
person I meet that possess a strong interest for sailing, I will remember that
I had a professor that was passionate about the same thing, and that he taught
me a valuable skill for this recreational hobby. I’m sure another objective for
teaching us to tie a Bowline was to have the class engage in an icebreaker
activity. Chlup & Collins (2010) suggest that icebreakers are an effective
tool for adult learners in that they “help group members get acquainted and
begin conversations, relieve inhibitions or tensions between people... brings
humor into the class, establishes rapport, fosters a safe learning environment,
and overall assists with content learning” (p. 34).
From a personal perspective, I owe a lot of credit to my background
experiences in theatre and dance. The skills I have developed far surpass the
immediate goal of acting and dancing techniques, and span across multiple areas
of my intellectual, social, and emotional learning. What I have learned through
the Arts has shaped my identity, increased my academic success, and developed my
social skills. Memorizing lines for a 2-hour production makes studying for
exams a breeze, performing in front of large crowds is a major confidence
booster, and reciting monologues on stage is great practice for public speaking
skills. My love and respect for the benefits that the Arts have on learning is
something that I hope others will explore by trying to integrate the Arts into
teaching practices for adult learners.
References
Bracher, M. (2006). Radical pedagogy: Identity, generativity, and social transformation. New York:
Palgrave Macmillian.
Chlup, D. T., & Collins, T. E. (2010). Breaking the ice: Using icebreakers and re-energizers with
adult learners. Adult Learning, 21(3-4), 34-39. Retrieved from ERIC database.
Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard
University Press.
Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity (1st ed.). New York:
Cambridge University Press.
The words we use to describe ourselves or others are significant in terms of identity "The identity register with the most evident impact on learning is the linguistic" (Bracher, 2006, p. 17). As I consider lifelong learning and how it relates to my sense of identity, I can't stop thinking about formal institutions and the context that it fosters in my identity development. (I am a student)I started valuing education in university. In my high school years I always knew I wanted to go to university but wasn't sure exactly what I would study. But one thing was clear, and that was 'I wanted a degree!' Obtaining a degree was part of my status identity. I felt I needed it to feel accomplished. Achieving higher education reinforces how I feel about myself, and how I want to appear in the world. Adult education has a clear connection with obtaining better employment, and I want a career! (I am a hard worker) What can formal institutions do to our identities? Well for one thing grades create labels, which thus reflect students' identities. I can touch on this notion by using an example that I talked about in class a few weeks ago during a small group discussion. Discussion arose about schooling, what is being taught, and what learning is actually taking place. I mentioned a recent conversation I had with my 16 year old niece concerning her efforts in obtaining her first part time job. (I am an aunt) She expressed her frustration as she had put out numerous resumes to fast food and retail shops to gain after-school employment. I explained to her that sometimes it takes a little while to hear back from companies, and I was giving her pointers on things to say during an interview. For instance, I mentioned that she can say she's a fast learner. My niece replied by stating that she is not a fast learner as she struggles with school. I explained to her that she is a very quick learner for practical things that are applicable to the real world. I gave the example of her blackberry, and how she knew how to do everything on it within a few hours, and how I'm working on my third degree and don't know how to use her phone or do other things on computers that she can! (I am not good at technology) I explained to her that although I went to university to become an elementary teacher, doesn't mean I believe in everything that the system "claims" is education. (I am a teacher) Reiterating facts to pass a test that you will only forget in 2 weeks is not real learning to me. Real learning is about skills, experiences, and having a role in negotiating meaning - the things that stay with you. If I have an excellent memory and pass an exam, but then you ask me the same questions a month later and I don't have a clue, was that real learning? This conversation helped her confidence, whereas the public education system has done just the opposite and made her feel less smarter than others due to the identity that is associated with certain letter grades (C's or B's). Is the Education vehicle changing its identity? I saw a segment on TV the other day about the end of the era for the written encyclopedia 'Britannica'. With online versions such as wikipedia, people are meeting their encyclopedia needs through this channel. What does this say about our value for printed text? What does this mean for the identity of such objects?? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that internet-based knowledge is not a positive gain. It just seems that people think having immediate access to knowledge right at the click of a button is becoming a mainstream identity marker. What happened to the novelty of searching for information via written text? People in society are in a rush for information. We are disassociating with human contact by avoiding social situations to interact with one another. We have replaced this with social media networks such as facebook and twitter in which notifications from these online gatherings are instantly accessible through cell phones. Although Britannica's knowledge production has been shifted from print to computerized text, some education is proving to be a positive extension from online access. For example, students are making progress in Mathematics through free online teaching sites such as Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/. This website was created by Salman Khan, and is a non-profit company with over 3000 video tutorials. Khan first started making these online math sessions to help his 7th grade cousin with her Math. It has grown internationally and Bill Gates has remarked on how successful the teaching methods are as he uses Kahn's videos for his own children. Khan Academy wants to transform how classroom teaching tackles Mathematics. I believe this an excellent tool to assist students with concepts they may not be grasping from teachers or text books. But is this pushing us a step closer to the end of classroom teaching? In the future, will our schools meet the same fate as the Britannica encyclopedia?
References:
Bracher, M. (2006). Radical pedagogy: Identity, generativity, and social transformation. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.
I am peacefully resting in your bedroom. It's very comfortable and cozy in here. I love the window view overlooking the lake, and the music from my favourite radio station playing softly in the background. I swear you never turn it off! I'm positive that you're playing it because you know how much I like that music. I'm very happy here with you. The peanut butter painted walls, welcoming arrangement of flowers, and aroma of cinnamon candles! But I haven't always been here. You don't really have a concept of my journey up to this point. Don't get me wrong, you know where I'm from but don't understand the full context. Although every now and then as you watch the evening news with your 3 course meal you hear a glimpse into where I came from and feel sorry. You make a comment or 2 to your spouse about how horrible that must be, but then the phone rings and you carry on with your usual evening routine. Are you desensitized? Or do you not recognize your role in these situations? Your house is full of things like me...
What am I you ask? I am a "Thneed". A boundary object that everyone needs! I am the sweater hanging in your closet, the jeans folded in your dresser, the I-pad plugged into your wall, and the body lotion you smooth over your skin. I am all the things that you have no involvement in negotiating meaning with the people who produce them. Dr. Seuss' children's book "The Lorax" explores the effects that corporate greed can have on the environment. The Lorax is a character that speaks for the truffula trees that are being chopped down at an alarming rate by the Once-ler's greed to produce more "Thneeds". Pollution and smog begin to have devastating effects on the wildlife that reside in the local habitat.
How does corporate greed relate to the real world? Just look at the tags on your clothes or the stickers on the bottom of your ornaments and you will get a perspective into the amount of boundary objects that we purchase. Contemporary sociological theorist Naomi Klein exposes the hidden exploitation of workers through production by Brand-name Multinationals. These capitalist companies have taken factory jobs from middle class workers in developed countries, and relocated them to underdeveloped and developing countries where these new employees remain in poverty. Big corporations like Nike, Wal-Mart, Gap, and Old Navy engage in hidden exploitation by shifting responsibility to contractors and sub-contractors. This way they can "hide" their involvement in exploitation as sweatshop factories are managed by contractors instead of the Multinational Brand-name. This is a free-trade-zone industry that allocates tax breaks for big companies manufacturing in these low-wage zones. Zero-risk globalization allows companies to ship in materials, assemble, and ship out (no import or export taxes). Poor countries compete with each other for these companies by offering tax breaks, lax regulations and military support to guard factories and keep things in strict order. These desperate countries also continue to lower their minimum wages in an attempt to seal a deal and attract foreign investment making their people remain in poverty. Factories have horrible working conditions for employees with no benefits (no work = no pay). Contracting can be sub-contracted 3 or 4 times with workers' wages getting lower each time as money is sliced to pay all sub-contractors involved. Minimum wage of 87 cents an hour can drop to as low as 13 cents an hour for production workers (Klein, 2000). People purchase Brand-name products as part of an identity. We see sports figures and super models marketing these Brands and feel that we need to "belong". Do we want others to see us wearing a particular Brand-name so that they assume we belong to a specific identity? Bracher expresses that we all want to be desired. Are we more desirable if we wear Versace? Corporations spend as little as possible on production but the sky is the limit when it comes to marketing. A former corporate chairman of United Biscuits stated that: "Machines wear out. Cars rust. People die. But what lives on are the brands." (Klein, 2000, p. 196).
Just last week I bought 2 new dresses for a great price. The first was $20 and the second one was $25. I was extremely excited to purchase clothing at a "good" price. I must admit that I love shopping for deals. The lower the price, the more excited I become. I read articles/ books and watch documentaries by individuals like Naomi Klein who are enlightening society on the ugly truth behind capitalism. So why do I feel pleased to buy things at a "good" price? When a product is very cheap and considered a "good" price to me, then most likely the person who made it wasn't paid very well and probably lives in poverty. Shouldn't a "good" price be a fair price for buyer and producer? But in a capitalist world the "good" is only applicable to buyer and mainly corporate seller or should I say bully.
References:
Bracher, M. (2006). Radical pedagogy: Identity, generativity, and social transformation. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Klein, N. (2000). No logo: Taking aim at the brand bullies. Toronto: A. A. Knopf Canada.
Seuss, Dr. (1971). The lorax. New York Random House.
Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity (1st ed.). New York:
Cambridge University Press.
The movie "Crash" that we saw in class illustrated multiple boundary objects. These terms, artifacts, concepts, etc., were primarily utilized with negative connotations to demonstrate power. Racial and derogatory terms were loosely spewed from the characters lips to confirm perceived power relations. No racial group in the movie was safe from verbal attacks whether stated within a community of practice to reiterate why certain individuals are to remain as outsiders, or used as direct insults to a member of a different community of practice. There were positive instances of boundary objects used in the film, but the negative seemed to stand out like a sore thumb. Wenger (1999) defines boundary objects as: "artifacts, documents, terms, concepts, and other forms of reification around which communities of practice can organize their interconnections" (p. 105).
Keisha Chante and the dancers. (I am the third one from the right.)
Taking a look at how boundary objects have influenced my life reminds me of my experience with dance. As a dancer I have learned two different forms of dance training. To look at the first form of dancing I have learned, let's consider hip hop dance which is a dance style that was created in the streets of New York in the 1970's primarily by Black youth. What differentiates this style of dance from many others is that it is based on freestyle dance moves. Or to put it another way, hip hop dancers create dance moves to the beat of music in an improvisational fashion instead of following choreography. The second form of dance follows structured choreography and use a system of counting which can be seen in dance styles such as jazz, ballet, and contemporary. This system is usually to an 8 count (for example: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...). This concept of learning to dance is fluent within trained dancer's communities of practice. A dancer's ability to follow counts is a fast and effective way to learn lengthy dance routines, and connects dancers from different countries and genres. Over many years dance pioneers have negotiated shared meanings of dance terms and concepts. It also helps you move ahead in a song if there is a challenging part that needs more practice and you don't want to keep starting the dance from the beginning. Someone with a background purely in street dancing with no formal training may find this very difficult. Statements such as "Let's pick it up from the third set of 8 in 5, 6, 7, 8..." have little meaning to someone who is not familiar with dance counts. To a trained dancer that statement is easily understood. They can quickly go over the first 2 sets of 8 in their head, and be confident at where to begin. Dance auditions are even less tolerable with regards to dancers catching on to a routine. Auditions are pressed for time and are only interested in dancers that can pick up a dance number quickly.
Dance rehearsal time. (I am the first girl with long straight hair.)
This reminds me of the time I was at a dance audition for the TV series Mahalia staring Canadian R&B singer Keisha Chante. One of the episodes had a short music video within it, and local dancers were auditioning to be background dancers. I recall one girl at the audition with a background only in street dance. I have personally seen her dancing and she is a very good dancer. But the choreography in this audition was solely taught with counts and she was unable to follow. Out of the 4 background dancers chosen, I was probably the weakest dancer but I had the look the director wanted, and was advantaged over the other girl as I had experience with dance counts. The girl who was cut also had the look the director was seeking but her dancing appeared weak as she struggled to adequately participate in the formal customs of trained dancer's communities of practice. Had she been exposed to this method of dance training, then I'm positive she would have been selected as a background dancer.
I have also been involved in a dance piece that required nothing more than talent, ability, and speed. When I performed my show "What Iz Hip Hop?" in the Atlantic Fringe Festival a few years back, there was a stomp dance routine within the show. There was no need of dance count usage for my dance troupe! Just hardcore stomp with hands, feet, and crushed pop cans!
The system of dance counts is a shared way of connecting dancers in their communities of practice. However, it also excludes dancers who do not utilize this system such as street dancers. There are many hip hop dancers that do not use this system and yet can dance better than any trained dancer. Some of these dancers are so talented that they can follow a dance count instantly without any background experience. There are also trained dancers that have participated in multiple intensive dance courses that know all the moves yet lack rhythm and talent. They are simply doing the correct moves but can't dance.
Do boundary objects always include forms of power relations? I have not answered this question in my blog, but feel it is a valuable question to pose inquiry. Boundary objects are a way of defining membership and prescribing shared meaning. This can be experienced by some as a positive experience as they feel connected and a sense of belonging. It can also have a negative experience to others who want to belong but feel excluded, or outsiders who feel that membership are exclusive to certain people who possess specific resources. An example of this is post-secondary communities of practice in which participants must pay for education and hold academic pre-requisites. I gave the example of the dance community both inviting members to feel a shared connection, as well as excluding some dancers. Can you think of other communities of practice that represent a form of inclusion and exclusion for the participants that appear to be engaged members?
References
Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity (1st ed.). New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Picture 1 & 2: Personal pictures I uploaded.
Mahlia TV series (the episode that the dance routine for "Let It Rain"):
When I began reading Wenger's book, a particular statement stood out to me on the first page of the Introduction: "To assess learning we use tests with which students struggle in one-on-one combat, where knowledge must be demonstrated out of context, and where collaborating is considered cheating" (Wenger, 1999, p. 3). As a recent Elementary teacher graduate this sentence hit me hard. Will I consider collaboration to be cheating? It never occured to me until now that collaboration should be included in student testing. Classroom management is a major focus in teaching practices. Finding ways to "manage" a class is often about using techniques to have students become silent and listen for instruction. Classroom management is imperative and needed for effective classrooms. Teachers can't have their students talking non-stop all day. There needs to be a balance of student collaboration and quieter moments to listen to instruction. Considering that students learn through shared experiences, why is testing always done individually? Is there a way to test students collectively (other than for skills such as team work)? Would this form of collective testing disadvantage students whom enter into new classrooms where testing is limited to individual skills? For example, let's suppose I have a grade 3 class with students coming from earlier grade levels with only individual testing of skills. Imagine that I decide to utilize collaborative testing for my grade 3's to assess all the outcomes. When these students arrive in a grade 4 classroom, would they be overwhelmed when confronted with individual testing? Perhaps a balance of the two strategies should be mandatory for testing purposes. Teachers encourage student collaboration for in-class activities, however, it is not a common method for testing curriculum outcomes.
A change in testing styles needs to come from higher administration to be effective. A handful of classroom teachers doing collaborative testing is not enough to make change. Especially with school demands to have students' test scores increase in two core subjects; Language Arts and Mathematics, it's no wonder that teachers focus so much on individual testing. These standardized tests are completely based on individual ability, and are ONLY offered as independent examinations. When EEMLA (Early Elementary Mathematical Literacy Assessment) tests are passed out to grade 3 students, silence fills the room for this standardized independent testing. Similar testing is conducted with students in grades 6, 9, and 12. With test scores revealing which schools are ranked the highest for achievement, schools with the lowest scores are under significant pressure to get higher scores. This results in teachers preparing students for standardized tests with practice tests weeks before provincial testing. Thus testing the individual for learning appears to fit into this system.
Collaboration seems like an obvious tool for learning, and thus should be utilized more in testing for learning. When we enter the workforce we are constantly faced with learning situations in which we are collectively engaged in learning and negotiating meaning. Many careers involve employees participating in work place expectations and deadlines with co-workers. Careers such as police officers, nurses, actors, etc. all involve collaboration with colleagues to implement effective duties and build on expertise. Even careers that have a more independent work style involve some form of collaboration with employers or stake holders. Can you imagine a police officer who didn't participate in collaboration with other officers when attempting to arrest a suspect of a crime? It might look something like this:
Officer Ego get's a call that a bank is being robbed. He thinks he has everything under control. He knows the location to go to, what the culprit is wearing, and has been trained on bank robberies in policing school. Why would he need any assistance? "Aha!" he says, "Perhaps I will be promoted if I take down this bank robber by myself". Officer Ego turns off his radio and decides to enter the bank alone with no backup or consultation with any co-workers. Ever so quietly he slides into the bank like the break dance move "the worm"...
Ok so maybe Officer Ego doesn't make an entrance like "the worm". Anyhow, he is in the bank and sees the robber pointing a gun at bank tellers while they are desperately filling bags with money. This lone officer creeps up behind the criminal and slams him to the floor in a wrestling move. Feeling like a hero, Officer Ego puts hand cuffs on the thief and guides him towards the front door. Suddenly, there is a gun pointed to the back of the cop's head and a lady hand cuffs the officer to a rail. She then puts the bag of money in her large purse, unlocks her friend's hand cuffs, and directs everybody out of the bank ordering them not to say a word. By this time other cops have arrived to the scene and rush into the bank. The two villains slip through the crowd and into a getaway car with all the money. Officer Ego did not get a promotion!
Although this was a silly story, the message is an important one. Whether you are a child or an adult, collaboration is a significant component of learning. Collective contributions to learning experiences include sharing ideas, participation in conversations and meaning negotiation, team reflections, etc.
To close I will encourage you to practice "the worm" independently and with a group of friends. Did you learn more when engaged with friends? Perhaps we can all participate in this dance move during our next class like we learned how to tie a knot! LOL :)
References
Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard
Tomasello discusses how humans pass on cultural learning to their children. When people think of culture, they often make assumptions that individuals belong to one culture. You may hear comments such as "In Japanese culture, people live in large households with extended family members" or "Black people listen to rap music". Statements such as these are generalizations that many people in society hold. People are identified by cultural stereotypes. Culture is thus limited to one's racial or ethnic background. My question is: What about people belonging to more than one racial/ ethnic group?
I will attempt to answer that question with examples of my own life experiences. I belong to more than one racial group; my mother is black and my father is white. This has given me a very rich cultural upbringing. When I think of cultural transmission; family traditions, customs, and ways of life come to mind. I grew up with multiple experiences from exposure to different cultures coming together. I would like to point out that it's not just your genetic make-up that makes you who you are. Cultural and social learning have significant connections with the environment children grow up in. Imitative, instructed, and collaborative learning shape children based on the joint attentional scenes they are exposed to (Tomasello, 1999). Therefore just because someone belongs to certain groups through biological inheritance, doesn't mean that they will be exposed to the cultural learning that the specific group(s) traditionally experience. My boyfriend is an example of this. He is black, however he was adopted and raised by white people. Although he was born a member of a particular race, he was never exposed to the cultural learning that takes place in many black families.
Cultural learning experiences in my life have been diverse. Traditions are one way people transfer culture to their offspring. My father is from England, and thus I grew up with many British customs and traditions that my Canadian friends were not exposed to. One clear example was the types of food I was brought up on. Of course I ate foods that are commonly associated with North American cuisines, but I also ate meals that many all-Canadian children did not eat. One of these foods are Yorkshire puddings (one of my favourite foods). Playing with friends on a Sunday evening often commenced with us asking what the other had for dinner. When I replied with meals such as roast lamb, roast potatoes, and Yorkshire puddings with gravy, I often got funny looks or comments like: "You eat lamb!", or "What's Yorkshire pudding?" - By the way it is not a dessert pudding as some may assume (please see Picture # 1). Picture # 1(Yorkshire puddings)
My father had my brother and I christened in the Church of England near where his parents lived. He said he wanted his children to be christened on British soil. I have turned this experience into a little family tradition. I grew up visiting family in England many times (every couple of years), and still go over there to this day. When I have children I also plan on having them christened in the same church, and will bring them over frequently to see family, so that they grow up with some of the cultural learning that their grandfather passed on to me.
Not only did my brother and I have frequent visits to England, but we also went to Digby often to spend time with family from my mother's side. My grandmother and aunts would tell stories of black history to us; especially our own roots. My grandmother wrote a book containing our family's history and how we came to Canada (American slave trade).
Looking into the concept of the "Ratchet Effect", I'm sure everyone can see examples within their life experiences, especially with the advances in technology that are shaping our joint attentional scenes. Although I am not actively inventing new or improved modifications, I participate by utilizing products of the "Ratchet Effect". My mother prefers to communicate and engage in her daily activities with the cumulative cultural evolution that was common during her younger adult years. As Western technologies advanced with collective collaberation resulting in modifications making things faster and more efficient, these improvements were culturally transmitted to me by current society. Although my mother has "jumped on the band wagon" for some modifications, she continues to do some things the "old" way. For example, if she has questions for a company she will go into the facility and ask in person, whereas I will call to see if my questions can be answered over the telephone without needing a face to face encounter. When I try to explain to my mother that it is faster and cheaper (save on gas, parking fees) to phone, she will respond by saying that this is the way she has always done things and that she wants to go in person. I see my way as more efficient because phone calls and emails save time. But perhaps my mom's way of in-person contact is more efficient with respect to saving a piece of human culture that the digital impersonal world is steering away from. How will future modern inventions affect the human race's capacity for communication?
Below is an "I Am From" poem I wrote about my cultural learning. These poems are fun to write. You should make one up about yourself!
I Am From
By: Natalie Hodgson
I am from the motherlands of Africa and England
Digby clams to Yorkshire puddings
Braids and side ponytails swaying to old school beats
I am from "Who's your people?"
To terms like "high yellow" and "light skinned"
English fish-n-chips with mushy peas
I'm black and white, and oh just right!
References
Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard
Tomasello claims that we must begin our understanding of human cognition by exploring how human beings came to be; by an evolutionalists' view of evolving from the ape species. I disagree with his position based on a different view shared by many people in the world. I am referring to the Christian belief system that God created mankind in his own image (Genesis, The Holy Bible). I don't believe that God is an ape, and thus I feel that mankind was created by God as one species, and not a species that came to be after millions of years with great ancestors that are apes. There are multiple theories and explanations of how we got here (some scientific and some religious) that would dispute Tomasello's pure evolutionary account. Based on the fact that evolution as the beginning point for humans has not been proven as a fact, the author should present alternative views for the origins of human cognition in a neutral way. I found Tomasello's arguments to be biased and weak. He argues against common beliefs such as nonhuman primates having an understanding of others as intentional agents; put simpler, the awareness of other members in their species having goals for their actions, but his only evidence is his own research (Tomasello, 1999). I am not doubting his role as a well-established and educated researcher, however, he references himself far too much which gives me the impression that his position is biased. I also found that his examples focused on limited sources of chimps and infants/ young children (presumeably from middle-class Western culture). It would have been beneficial to read about studies conducted on infants/ children from different cultures/ languages. Another area I was interested in learning about but wasn't mentioned or covered by Tomasello was if there was any research on twins with respect to the learning processes of infants/ young children. I am curious to know how twins would respond in some of the studies (especially studies that conclude that infants are able to cognitively do certain things at certain points and in a specific order; 9 months, 12 months, etc.) given that they would have been exposed to the same cultural experiences (my assumption is that they are raised in the same household). I am not suggesting that I challenge all of Tomasello's points. In fact he has made some very persuasive claims of how humans are different than other animals on a social-cognitive level, and provided descriptions of studies that appeared reliable (his own research and that of others). In fact, he is right on the money when he states that the social shared learning that exists in human culture sets us apart from other primates. It is through our complex language systems and cultural bonds that we can share knowledge and build on/ modify our accomplishments. Our ability to communicate and share information allows us to collaboratively learn and advance together (Tomasello, 1999). I believe that other animals are capable of simple language systems that we will probably never understand. Animals can't talk our human languages. Parrots and some other animals can learn words or phrases but this does not result in them being able to carry a functional flowing conversation with another person. Just as we can bark with dogs but it doesn't equate to shared social dialogue. Many animals can produce a range of vocalizations, and
I feel that these are forms of simple language in which they are capable of some variation of shared understanding. For example, dogs have different barks/ sounds in different situations: playful barking with other dogs, angry barking at dogs where there is a threat/ conflict, barking to inform owner of an intruder, growling, etc. Especially with examples where dogs are interacting with each other, I believe they have the ability to understand some meaning when they exchange sounds.
If the main message that Tomasello wants to share is how our species
is unique in the fact that we have culture and can come together with a shared social purpose, then why does he push his evolutionary position so hard? It would be perfectly fine for him to declare his view as a possibility, however, he should skip the lengthy conversion-style evolution introduction. There are many parts of his writing that I disagree with, however, there are also many aspects that I completely agree with. I will close for now as I have plans to share knowledge with other intentional agents over a nice tall glass of wine!
References
The Holy Bible: King James Version. (1974). New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.
Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard
Picture # 1(Yorkshire puddings)
