I find it ironic that Yvonne’s session on sociocultural theory exploring ‘belonging’ was one I found most able to relate to and thoroughly enjoyed (I did not feel as ‘lost’ as I have on occasion……)
Was it Vygotsky’s learning through practical activity in a social environment? Bakhtin’s the world actually experienced? Holland’s ‘figuring’ who we are through ‘socially produced, culturally constituted activities’? Or even Wenger’s concept of learning as a relationship between the person and the world? I think it was actually them all, personally (not just in my research ideas) it just made so much sense and was tangible to my understanding. Learning to become a tailor, as Lave described in the lecture and clips we enjoyed, within the community, step by step through guidance and mistakes seemed to me such a valuable model for learning and for personal development valid for all of us.
Within my own work, and exploring the effects for children attending sessions, it helped to make some sense of why it might work effectively for some children. We have long wondered how it is that children who have appeared unable to acquire and use language through teaching and/or speech and language therapy suddenly find their ‘voices’ within our world of donkeys… Could be explained by the sociocultural experience that our Centres provide literally making sense for them of a world which has been unfathomable? Does that ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ lead to a belonging with all it’s associated advantages?
Our Donkey-Assisted Therapy Centres ,as physical environments and communities, are unique and seem to be valued by our users as special worlds and opened up a whole new thought process for myself in why our provision may be effective. It certainly is not a theoretical lesson in how to ride a donkey but very much a participation in a world we appear to have created… so yet more questions to consider……Apprenticeship, learning by example, ‘teaching’ and indeed parenting does however rely on the ‘good’ being identified as the standard to model upon…. So then we come to the realms of what is ‘good? Is what is ‘good’ for one individual also ‘good’ for another? Who makes the judgement?……Oh so many more questions………..
Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Jr., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press
Holquist, M. (2002). Dialogism: Bakhtin and his world (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Lave film Everyday Life and Learning with Jean Lave’ (University of California Television)
‘Lev Vygotsky Archive’ at: http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/
Wenger, E. (2009) Communities of practice and social learning systems / Wenger-Trayner. [Online] [Accessed 29th November 2013] http://wenger-trayner.com/resources/publications/cops-and-learning-systems/
Debbie Coombes 