On the topic of education, Peter Smagorinsky has likely WRITTEN more words than I have read. Though long, our conversation was not linear, and watching out of order might be the ideal way to go. 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:
"What Does Vygotsky Provide for the 21st-Century Language Arts Teacher?" -
Peter's public essays -
"Educating the Public on the Public's Terms: An Open Letter to Academics" -
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