Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 08:07:00 +1000
From: Peter Kandlbinder <Peter.Kandlbinder-AT-newcastle.edu.au>
Subject: Re: HAB: Discourse


Dear Liam,

I'd be interesting in hearing more about the connection you see with Vygotsky and discourse ethics. I've also been working in the area of applying discourse ethics to educational theory. My own field is higher education so I've been less concerned with Vygosky and  focussed instead on the literature from situated learning. While Vygotsky provides some of the background principles for situated learning, the empirical studies tend to be more adult focused.  

I agree with your intuition that discourse ethics is a natural analytical framework for looking at these questions. Habermas relied quite heavily on the theories of Piaget and Kohlberg to explain his conceptions of learning, so Vygotsky would fill some of the gaps that I see in Habermas's learning theory. Rather than a readiness to learn, my reading of ZPD is a discourse community and I'm currently using discourse ethics to explain the mediation that allows learners to move from the edge of the zone to the centre.

regards

Peter Kandlbinder

PROBLARC
Learning and Development Program
University of Newcastle
University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308
ph:(61) 02 4921 6887  fax: (61) 02 4921 6994   

>>> liam.morgan-AT-uts.edu.au 20/10/01 6:34:51 >>>


Dear List Members,

I am currently grappling with Habermas' concept of discourse and as a long time
lurker on this list, I have finally summoned the courage to ask a couple of
questions -

1. Is it correct to consider discourse in Habermas' use of the term as a change
process? Can anyone's thinking remain totally unchanged following linguistic
engagement of that kind?

2. If this is so, do you think that Habermas concept of discourse can be
related to the Vygotskian notions of mediation and scaffolding? When we are
engaged in discourse, are we in a kind of zone of proximal development?

Liam Morgan



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