Representation: Deciding What to Convey July 22, 2011 (Note: some points borrowed from a presentation by Tone Saevi)

Representation: Deciding What to Convey

July 22, 2011(Note: some points borrowed from a

presentation by Tone Saevi)

Overview

• Comenius, pointing out, the birth of modern ed.• Las Meninas, the hall of mirrors of the baroque• Bringing together presentation and

Representation• Cultivating sensitivity and responsiveness to the

child’s experience/inner life• Done through the “pedagogical relation”• A big part of this is “pedagogical tact”

the realm of schooling consists of a huge montage of images and representations which

are not “the things themselves” but instead “point out” things and phenomena.

Comenius’ Aim

• The modern world offers such a vast and confusing range of ways of life that their presentation must be structured and framed properly for the child from the very outset.

• Each fact or phenomenon should be represented in such a way that the meaning of each entity within the overall scheme of things and life itself is clear to the child.

Comenius’Time

1656

The world asa stage or

a hall ofmirrors

Shakespeare: 1599-1600

All the world's a stage,And all the men and

women merely players:They have their exits and

their entrances;And one man in his time

plays many parts,His acts being seven ages.

Orbis pictus: birth of modern educ.

• The underlying dilemma of Education was: “How do we represent of our way of life for children that will enable them to become active members of our society and take on our way of life as their own?”

• It now is: “How can we design the hall of mirrors of schooling in such a way that children will learn what they should learn and in the proper manner?”

14 year old student “I hate school. I’m sick and tired of the shit we do there.

It’s totally pointless. I’m quitting after my exams.” Her mother responds:“You’re making the same mistake I made twenty years

ago.” The father interjects:“I’m sick and tired of always hearing the same complaints

from you! You’re staying ‘till you graduate, and that’s final! You’re not in a position to judge whether the stuff you’re learning in school is good for you or not!

The daughter yells:“It’s always the same story! Enough!” She storms out of the

room.

Bringing together Presentation & Representation

The incident with the 14 year old involves:• Pointing out (presentational action)• Historical: cultural and biographical; relation• Representational: ways of life

J. F. Pestalozzi

• “I am a work of nature, a work of my heritage and a work of myself”

• the concept that “my relation and actions with (not toward!) the children”

• “The children,” as he says, “outside of the word, they were outsiders in Stans, they were with me and I was with them.”

Pestalozzi, con’t...

• ...felt that the circumstances of everyday life no longer had any inherent educational value.

• ...a basis for principled schooling had to be found in the indispensable and minutest components of all teacher-learner relationships.

• It has nothing to do with the theoretical underpinnings of an interactive structure between adults and children

Pestalozzi, con’t...

• but is instead concerned with concrete social arrangements – a “household.” Only this approach, according to Pestalozzi, has the capacity to represent the key elements of a way of life because it is based not on human relationships alone but is instead defined by concrete circumstances, i.e. the problem of living together as a household.

Tone Saevi’s Story of Per

• When my answer is wrong, I know it immediately because Per [the teacher] looks at me with this particular humourous glance and says, after just a tiny little pause: ‘Yes …?’ Then I understand that he wants me to give the question a second thought. He just leans back comfortably and waits. That’s why I like him so much. I feel relaxed and smart with him.

Pedagogical Relation: sensitivity to children’s experience

• Pedagogy requires a phenomenological sensitivity to lived experience (children's realities and lifeworlds). Pedagogy requires a hermeneutic ability to make interpretive sense of the phenomena of the lifeworld in order to see the pedagogic significance of situations and relations of living with children. And pedagogy requires a way with language in order to allow the research prosess of textual reflection to contribute to one's pedagogical thoughtfulness and tact (van Manen 1991,2).

Characteristics of the Pedagogical Relation

1. In the pedagogical relation the adult is directed toward the child (asymmetrical)

2. In the pedagogical relation the adult wants the pedagogical good (for his/her future)

3. The adult is responsible4. The pedagogical relation comes to an end5. In the pedagogical relation the adult is tactful

The pedagogical relation comes to an end

• the nature of the call to self-activity directed to the child should evolve to the point where it ends completely. In other words, upbringing comes to an end when the child no longer needs to be “called” to self-activity, but instead has the wherewithal to educate himself.

Tact

• Tact is a kind of consideration facilitating the other - "tact is the effect one has on another person even if tact consists, as it often does, in holding back, waiting" (van Manen 1991, 127).

• TACT expresses itself (Muth 1962) in:– Attunement to the situation– Dramaturgical capacity– Improvisory ability

Tact (Muth), con’t

• Preventing injury to the child• Maintaining a certain distance implied in the

pedagogical relation