We (have arrived) at a most surprising conclusion: . . . the things supposedly contained “in” (our inner lives) are not to be found “inside” us as individuals at all, but “in” the continuously unfolding relations occurring between ourselves and others (or an otherness), in our surroundings. (We cannot) hide the contents of our inner lives wholly inside ourselves, for, Like it or not, we “display” them in the unfolding movement of our living out our lives, responsively, amongst others. . . . we cannot but be immersed in it. (Quoting Wittgenstein) “Only in the Stream of thought and life do words [and our other activities] have meaning”. John Shotter, 1998, Social Construction as Social Poetics
Compare the activities of 2 students.
- One studies a book, hears a lecture, and memorizes facts and theories of lead-base paint as an environmental hazard, before taking a test of recall. This is educating the latent mind of a student. But realistically, how long will this information be available? How well prepared is that student to be a productive part of society?
- A second student also studies this book, but is not concerned with recall, confident that the content exists in digital resources that act as a scaffold to their understanding and can be located whenever needed. This students then participates in a peer discussion locating potential lead problems in their community and strategizing how this problem might be solved including additional research for resources through governmental and environmental organizations. The students defends their activities and strategies orally and they include a record of the resources they used in devising and supporting their strategies. They also documents their actions in a digitalized portfolio. How well prepared is this student to participate in society, to understand this topic in depth and over time, and to be responsible to their peers and their teacher for their engagement and their actions?
This is the educational relevance of Wittgenstein’s preference for finding meaning through practice. We have an idealized view of cognition, that our knowledge can be contextualized without contextualing cognitive skills. Knowing something is a cognitive skill. Being able to apply that knowledge within practice is also a cognitive skill, abet at a much higher functional level of cognition. This higher functional level represents the difference between project-based learning with performance assessment and lower level pedagogy with recall-based standardized assessment. Certainly the second student has emerged from this activity as a more capable, confident and engaged person. This doe not mean that facts and theories are not important. These types of things make up a significant portion of the discourse that students must have in order to engage each other, as well as the experts in this topic. But until they have engage responsively with others in authentic situations, this higher level of cognition will not be fully developed and even the lower level knowledge will not be significantly understood.