(S1,Ep8) Peter Smagorinsky on Cultural Ways of Thinking

On the topic of education, Peter Smagorinsky has likely WRITTEN more words than I have read. Though long, our conversation was not linear, and listening out of order might be the ideal way to go. (Originally published January 20, 2020 at Chats about CHT http://tiny.cc/kmylsz)

Highlights include:

1:00 - After 31 years, is Peter an expert?

3:19 - Anthony most certainly is not (feel free to skip to 9:22)

9:22 - Peter uniquely describes higher and lower mental functions

13:45 - Challenges of reading Vygotsky and studying 'murky' social concepts

17:10 - Why isn't there scientific agreement on 'good teaching'?

21:58 - Where would Peter locate himself on the purist to pragmatist spectrum?

26:56 - The difference between 'scaffolding' and ZPD -- and ZND!

32:43 - Learning how to write like a scholar - and like a public columnist

34:32 - The emotional confidence needed to write simply

36:40 - Advice for teaching short-term and long-term simultaneously

41:42 - Vygotsky's "great overlooked work" & the topic of 'deficit thinking'

44:55 - Disastrous utopianism and equalitarian blindspots

48:05 - Was Vygotsky more interested in how thinking develops or in how to develop thinking?

50:21 - Distinguishing the unsavory from the useful (includes a bit on perspective-hopping)

1:00:33 - What does Vygotsky have to offer teachers? (Peter's unique take)

1:11:55 - (Vygotskian) frameworks and methodologies for Peter's research

1:22:23 - Why do 5-paragraph papers get a bad rap?

1:25:00 - Rounding out Peter's methodology (telos, setting, and tools is "a way to do it")

1:28:32 - MLK, Vygotsky, nonviolence, and violence

1:34:32 - The development of individuals and the development of collectives

1:38:36 - A.I. and Vygotsky

1:41:25 - Peter recommends . . .

References: "Smagorinsky on Meaning - Text, Tool, Culture" (Excerpt) - http://tiny.cc/gbvkjz

"What Does Vygotsky Provide for the 21st-Century Language Arts Teacher?" - http://www.petersmagorinsky.net/About/PDF/LA/LA2013.pdf

Peter's public essays - http://www.petersmagorinsky.net/Vita/vitaweb.htm#PublicEssays

"Educating the Public on the Public's Terms: An Open Letter to Academics" - https://writerswhocare.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/educating-the-public-on-the-publics-terms-an-open-letter-to-academics/