From today's class discussion, I got somewhat of a better understanding of Bruffee's writing. One question I had after my first reading of the work, was that I didn't understand the concept of knowledge as a social artifact. However, now I am starting to get that an artifact is something that has been made my humans, therefore a social artifact is a concept among society that has been determined by people. Knowledge, or facts of knowledge I guess, is a social artifact because everything we know was once determined by a consensus of people that came before us. As time continues and the cycle of human life and knowledge revolves, new general opinions within society with evolve. The concepts that we currently consider to be fact are considered "normal discourse." In turn, when new or sometimes radical ideas come about we call them "abnormal discourse." As we continue to learn, abnormal discourse eventually becomes normal discourse, and the old normal discourse is forgotten about. It is this cyclic event that keeps us, as humans, advancing.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Bruffee Response
I, obviously being a member of this class, am a firm believer in collaborative learning, and I think that Bruffee's points explaining its importance are extremely valid. While beginning to read Bruffee's essay, I was extremely in accord with his opinions on internal conversations compared to everyday discourse and their importance to collaborative learning. I sat for a minute and thought to myself, and realized that in fact the way i speak to myself is an internal version of the way I speak, except maybe that the things I say to myself are less censored. However, as I continued reading, my understanding of his points got blurred. I don't really comprehend his latter ideas and concepts like I do the beginning of the writing...whether that is because by the end of it my brain was sick of reading or if I truly do not understand what Bruffee is trying to say, I guess we will see in the morning!
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I agree with you when you say that writing is essentially putting down what you would say out loud on paper. But sometimes there is a disconnect and others have trouble doing it. I think Bruffee would say that for students, the more they talk with each other academically, the practice they get internalizing intelligent conversation will eventually make them into better writers as a result. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteA couple of thoghts on this:
ReplyDeleteMany of us English teachers believe language skills, including writing, are affected as much by listening skills as from oral speaking skills. The modeling of various speaking styles to the listener can be powerful to the listener who pays attention. Children's speech, and therefore their writing, is greatly influenced by their experience of their parents' (and teachers') speaking styles. Good listening skills are critical in the development of writing skills.
OOOPPPSSS! I should have checked my spelling - "thoughts"!
ReplyDelete