Excellence is achieved by mastery of the fundamentals

View fullsize

When we read, we are brought into a wonderful tradition

When we read, we are brought into a wonderful tradition that involves both a cognitive and social transformation.

When we gain knowledge, we are brought into an understanding that is eye-opening and illuminating.

Both suggest a disposition to persevere with establishing the habits of mind that will open the individual to discovery.

There is something meditative in the ritual of reading and learning. One must become open to the act and open to the imagination that will serve to transform the way in which one sees the world.

Bit by bit the curious mind seethes with the urgency to accumulate the command for skills and the thirst for knowledge.

The Difference Between Making Sense & Meaning

I have always found it significant that Wittgenstein distinguished between a proposition's sense and its meaning, which is why a sentence can be nonsense (or rather senseless) and be quite meaningful at the same time. An example of such a proposition would be "God is good." Whilst I may not be able to derive a tangible sense from that statement, I can imagine how the statement can be shown to be significant in a form of life, particularly in how and where it is uttered. The opposite is also possible. (NOTE: for the purposes of this entry, I will use the terms sentence and proposition interchangeably.)

To start with, something that makes sense is something that one can imagine clearly or that is perceptible (or simulated) via the senses once the proposition has been decoded and projected. As an aside, a proposition that makes sense does not need to be true. Instead, it must be open to the possibility of being true or false (of being the case or not the case). Consider the sentences of a riveting adventure novel. A world full of characters and events can unfold before the (mind's) eye. And the story can be entertaining, yet maybe not "meaningfully" to all readers.

Consequently, a proposition is meaningful to an individual if it happens to be significant to that individual, which amount to saying, "a statement is meaningful because someone finds it meaningful." That is not quite adequate, so we must go further. I can find a proposition meaningful because it strikes me in such a way, or I know what to do with it, or it plays a part in a practice in my life.

In other words, I sit down and read the proposition and it resonates with me. I find it meaningful. It not only makes sense.

Consider four people who are reading a car magazine article about a new engine modification technique. One person cannot make sense or meaning of the article because the person has little experience with the content. The person can read, but that's not enough here. Another person can make good sense of the article but doesn't draw too much meaning from it, since he has no real need to modify a car at present. The third person finds the article both sensical and meaningful, since he sought out the article since the technique resolves an issue that he must resolve. He reads intently and critically to make sense and to test this understanding in practice. The fourth person is a person who would find the article meaningful if he could make sense of it. In other words, the individual's literacy skills are the limiting factor.

What - then - is the significance about all this chatter? It relates to one learning to read. We must encourage readers to engage with both sense and meaning. We want students to think, "can I make sense of this?" And "now that it makes sense, what can I draw out from it? What has happened and what is significant about this fact?" "How should one interpret this or respond to it?"

We must respect the significance of both steps. It is possible to draw hasty judgements from superficial comprehension as it is possible to get the picture but miss the point.

The Learning Tree (Part One): an exploration of development

1. Every drop of water feeds the emerging plant.

2. To sustain a plant, it requires regular water, plenty of sun, and the right nutrients.

3. Pollute the soil, sour the growth and mutate the plant.

4. Even with the best soil and regular watering, the plant cannot thrive without sunlight.

5. A garden - though made of natural things - is shaped (or cultivated). We shouldn't forget that its order is not reflected in the natural world, though the natural world may be its inspiration.

6. There are those malicious souls who find no harm in pulling up a plant by its roots.

7. Whilst a general rule of thumb pertains to the needs of a plant, this does not mean we shouldn't be sensitive to the unique needs of individual species and their habitats. 

8. Different plants have different growth requirements (e.g. different soils, growth rates, flowering and fruiting, and levels of sun)

9. A good weeding of the garden is well worth the effort.

10. When the tree grows it branches outward, extends upward, and feeds its base, it invests in its future.

+ There are no quick fixes. Time and care are the realities. And the careful hand of the gardener is vigilant to protect its cherubs from the pests and weather that loom and swirl.

The Pursuit of Knowledge - for a Clear View

Wittgenstein emphasised that thinking is subject of the will, and that philosophy is a tool to avoid bewitchment. It is important to emphasise the significance of knowledge as a core dimension on this website. 

When people speak about language, literacy, numeracy and even learning, they tend to focus on skills and processes and competences, which do not necessarily engage with the content of understanding the world.  

In my opinion, Wittgenstein was constantly grappling with the question of understanding the world, from the opening lines of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus  ('the world is all that is the case") to the preoccupation with world pictures in On Certainty. He often asked his readers to investigate "what is the case" or "what is the state of affairs".

Therefore, I want to reinforce the sheer challenge that a learner is presented with when he or she must take the time to imagine, synthesise and build a picture of what really is going on in the investigation of any phenomena placed in the path.

Constructing, construing and retaining knowledge

“[Wittgenstein] often remarked that the problem ... of thinking well ... was one of the will more than of the intellect - the will to resist the temptation to misunderstand, the will to resist superficiality.” (Monk, 1990, pg 366)

Acquiring ways of thinking and interpreting

“When we learn a new semiotic domain in a more active way, not as passive content, three things are at stake: First, we learn to experience (see, feel, and operate on) the world in new ways. Second, ... we gain the potential to join this social group ... Third, we gain resources that prepare us for future learning and problem solving in the domain, and, perhaps, more importantly, in related domains. Three things, then, are involved in active learning: experiencing the world in new ways, forming new affiliations, and preparation for future learning (Bransford & Schwartz 1999; Gee 2000-2001).” (Gee, 2003, pg. 32)

Building knowledge through discussion

“Few scholars would have been more comfortable with the importance Socrates gave to ‘living speech’ and the value of dialogue in the pursuit of development than Lev Vygotsky. In his classic work Thought and Language, Vygotsky described the intensively generative relationship between word and thought and between teacher and learner. Like Socrates, Vygotsky held that social interaction plays a pivotal role in developing a child’s ever-deepening relationship between words and concepts.” (Wolf, 2008, p 73)

Proposing alternative perspectives to alleviate and liberate

“Wittgenstein seems to hope that the individuals can get away from a particular picture and can make a difference, at least for herself. In the context of philosophy he speaks of giving up the questions that do not make sense and says that this is a kind of resignation and act of the will. Clearly for him there seems to be a kind of hope that is possible after all to resist certain temptations of the time. This might require particular cognitive acts, but clearly something emotional is involved as well.” (Smeyers, 2010, pg 98)

Being critically aware of the cultural foundations of our knowledge

“Of course, only if you adopt Western physics will you be able to fly to the moon. But an Indian may ask what sense it makes to do that, and the discussion of the senses and values is connected to many other issues of a world-picture. The claim that x is better than y in respect of z obviously rests on certain assumptions or convictions - not to say: certainties - concerning the importance of z and is therefore anchored in or dependent on a form of life and its world-picture.” (Kober, 1996, pg. 432)

Ensuring equity in learning through quality, empathetic teaching

“Ensuring that all learners have had equal Opportunity To Learn is both an ethical prerequisite for fair assessment and a solid basis on which to think about educational reforms that will ensure that all children can succeed at [learning].” (Gee, 2008, pg. 76)

On Knowledge

When we refer to knowledge, we are referring to both the content of knowledge and the systems in which knowledge is arranged. One key concern is knowledge of the world. Knowledge, though, is highly dependent upon communities of practice and their beliefs and practices. We become conscious that certain forms of knowledge arise out of particular historical and cultural conditions. If we were to imagine another time and place, we could imagine altogether different and distinct systems of knowledge. Continue to the glossary ...

Exploring the significance and conditions of practices

In the beginning was the deed, or so one could at least speculate that it was. Wittgenstein spent a considerable amount of time reflecting upon the various practices that we (human being) engage in to live through both our communal and individual forms of living.

Practices could involve such meaningful acts as prayer or meals or pilgrimage or fasting or the daly routine of reading a bedtime story to a child. Our practices are what give shape to our life, and they are often what we can hold strongly to or feel that we have lost. Language - then - is not a primary concept. Instead, the languages we speak and write go to serve those very practices, which are significant in the way we live, believe and collaborate.

Please explore the notes on the concept of practice. They seek to answer questions like,

• "what makes a practice a practice?" or "what makes it meaningful?
• "how do we come to adopt a practice into the shape of our lives?", "who introduces it to us and showed us the way?"
• "how much influence do social and material conditions play in the uptake and maintenance of a practice?" and
• "what would it be like to enter a practice as an outsider?" "what challenges would be confronted?" and "why face the challenges at all?"

If I can hit the nail on the head, I would say that actions do not much make sense on their own. They only make sense as actual moves in a form of life or as preparatory ones.

Each of the links below take you to a different set of notes on the topic. 

Practices Defined

“In our view, the crucial concept in Wittgenstein’s later work is practice. He says that it ‘it is not certain propositions striking us immediately as true, i.e. it is not a kind of seeing on our part; it is our acting, which lies at the bottom of the language game’ (#204). The concept of practice is given shape in this notion of language-games: the interwovenness of utterances and actions and how language finds a home within a ‘form of life.’” (Burbles and Smeyers, 2010, pg 170-171)

How do we come to internalise practices?

Vygotsky's (1978). It goes as follows:  'Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people..., and then inside people... All higher [mental] functions originate as actual relations between human individuals' (p.57)

The Apprenticeship Model

“IN ANCIENT times, teaching and learning were accomplished through apprenticeship: We taught our children how to speak, grow crops, craft cabinets, or tailor clothes by showing them how and by helping them do it. Apprenticeship was the vehicle for transmitting the knowledge required for expert practice in fields from painting and sculpting to medicine and law. It was the natural way to learn. In modern times, apprenticeship has largely been replaced by formal schooling, except in children's learning of language.”

The Social & Material Conditions of a Practice

“People are smarter when they use smart tools. Better yet, people are smarter when they work in smart environments; that is, environments that contain, integrate, and network a variety of tools, technologies, and other people, all of which store usable knowledge ... People are always parts of environments, whether they are particularly smart ones or not.” (Gee, 2008, pg 89) 

Writing as social & cognitive practice

Seeing writing as both a social and cognitive practice recognises that (a) writing is a part of the social practices in our lives and the practices themselves give meaning, contexts and audiences to our utterances, and (b) writing is a deliberative practice that requires one to coordinate the habits of the mind to assess, plan, prepare, process and critique the multi-faced elements (or routines) of composition. 

Entering a Practice as an Outsider

“Exile, in other words, is distinguished by the fact that it is an ‘othering’ experience. It demands a certain kind of learning at the level of practice that is necessary for knowing how to get on within a culture. It also generally involves the risk and prospect of failure: both also failure at the deeper cultural level that helps to determine a sense of what is culturally appropriate. This continual risk of failure and lack of understanding of the underlying agreed cultural judgements requires a kind of learning that can only be obtained through practical encounters.” -- (Peters, 2010a, pg 28)

On Practices

The concepts of practice, of cultural practices, of communities of practice, of activity systems, of rules, and of rule following play particularly important roles in education. A practice is an activity that one does regularly in the course of a form of life where certain standards of excellence exist and which involves a community of practitioners. Practices - such as artistic practices or religious practices - don’t just happen. They arise out of particular cultural, historical and material conditions. Continue to the glossary ...

Updates Aplenty on Wittgenstein-On-Learning.Com

Things have sure been busy on Wittgenstein-On-Learning.Com. We are rapidly attempting to add all the notes to the topics section of the site.  Once complete, it will free up time to explore the ideas more clearly in possible essays or presentations. In the meantime, here are the  10 sections that have been updated in the past week.

Key Principles

The key principles page presents core themes relating to language, literacy, (cultural) practices, knowledge and equity. 

Commanding Language & Literacy

PI 25: Commanding, questioning, storytelling, chatting are as much a part of our natural history as walking, eating, drinking, playing.

“[We are] the species that reads, records, and goes beyond what went before, and directs our attention to what is important to preserve.” (Wolf, 2008, p 4)

With An Emphasis on Acquisition

“We acquire our linguistic capacities and our ability to participate in human life rather by imitation and habituation, by drill and practice … [in] such simple things as learning to direct our attention, practicing the voicing of sounds so uttering them becomes easy, establishing associations between words and objects, etc.” (Sluga, 2011, pg 107)

Seeing language & literacy as patterned & meaningful

It is a marvel that speakers and readers can find meaning almost effortlessly in stimulus that would appear senseless to someone not familiar with a particular language or who is illiterate in that particular language. How is it that we come to adopt a way of seeing, and how is it that something that was once difficult to master has become second nature?

Language & Literacy as Discursive Practice

“What we do in learning language is neither reduced to, nor explained by, purely material processes ... What we do involves the development and exercise of an ability (based on a prior innate capacity) in actual practice. Nothing is hidden, one might say.” (Eldridge, 2010, pg 172)

Commanding Words

'Our experimental study proved that it is the functional use of the word, or any other sign, as means of focusing one's attention, selecting distinctive features and analyzing and synthesizing them, that plays a central role in concept formation... Words and other signs are those means that direct our mental operations, control their course, and channel them toward the solution to the problem confronting us' (Vygotsky, 1986, pp.106-7).

Commanding Sentences

 “[Sentences] promise nothing less than lessons and practice in the organisation of the world. That is what language does: organise the world into manageable, and in some sense artificial, units that can then be inhabited and manipulated. If you can write a sentence in which actors, actions and objects are related to one another in time, space, mood, desires, fears, causes, and effects, and if your specification of those relationships is delineated with a precision that communicates itself to your intended reader, you can by extrapolation and expansion, write anything. (Fish, 2011, pg 7 - 8)

Commanding Numeracy

 “Mathematics is grounded, as it were, both in the biological and in the social. The rules of calculating and so on, established by human beings like ourselves with certain biological capabilities and limitations, are appealed to in judging the correctness of particular calculations and inferences.” (Phillips, 1979, pg 134 - 135)

The role of affect & emotional attachment in reading

 “As every teacher knows, emotional engagement is the tipping point between leaping into the reading life ... An enormously important influence on the development of comprehension in childhood is what happens after we remember, predict, and infer: we feel, we identify, and in the the process we understand more fully and can’t wait to turn the page. The child ... often needs heartfelt encouragement from teachers, tutors and parents to make a stab at more difficult reading material.” (Wolf, 2008, p 132)

Construing the self through autobiography

“Murdoch wrote, “Re-thinking one’s past is a constant responsibility”: it should be constant because of new light shed by the ongoing recontextualisation of our past deeds, words, and thoughts ... And that ongoing work-in-progress then becomes a picture we come to resemble, in that it determines which experiences are salient and which are not, thus shaping, at least partially, our subsequent choices in response to the picture, the unfolding narrative.” (Hagberg, 2010, pg 118 - 119).