- Bogotá, Colombia
Martin J Packer
Independent Scholar, Cultural Psychology, Department Member
- Actor Network Theory, Actor-Network-Theory, Cultural Anthro, Cultural Historical Activity Theory, Cultural Psychology, Qualitative Research Methods, and 28 moreResearch Methods (Psychology), Emotion, Developmental Psychology, Psychological and environmental factors that impact immigrant student achievement, Ecological Psychology, Child Development, Critical Psychology, Gestalt Psychology, History Of Psychology, Social Developmental Psychology, Narrative Psychology, Phenomenological Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Existential Psychology, Moral Development, Cross-Cultural Psychology, Learning (Psychology), Educational Psychology, Phenomenology, Psychology, Bruno Latour, Hubert Dreyfus, Qualitative methodology, Sociocultural Theory, Ontology, Qualitative Research, Interpretive research methodology, and Vygotskyedit
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6nrZb4QAAAAJ Journal founding co-editor, Qualitative Resea... moreGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6nrZb4QAAAAJ
Journal founding co-editor, Qualitative Research in Psychology (Taylor & Francis).
Past journal co-editor, Mind, Culture, and Activity (Taylor & Francis).
I am a developmental psychologist who works within the theoretical framework of cultural psychology, conducting research with an interpretive logic of inquiry.
As a developmental psychologist I am interested in how people learn and change. In the big picture, this is the question of how a newborn baby becomes an adult. But it also involves smaller pictures, questions about the ways people are transformed moment-to-moment in their everyday interactions.
The theoretical framework of cultural psychology emphasizes that our existence in the world together with other people is always mediated by cultural artifacts--signs, texts, and tools--and that human relationships and interactions are always located within social contexts, whose change over time is what we call history.
So my research focuses on the development of children and young adults, and the links between this and the construction, reproduction and transformation of society. I typically study interactions among children, and between children and adults, in real-world settings, often using video- or audio-taping to permit a microanalysis of the exchanges.
Every scientific paradigm brings with it presumptions about the appropriate research methods to use, and the broader logic wherein inquiry is conducted. Interpretive research involves a logic of inquiry that emphasizes the interpretation of texts and text-analogs, including human conduct. It calls for the study of people's interaction in context, and a critical sensitivity to power and ideology. Technically, it is a hermeneutic phenomenology. It provides what I call an ontological analysis.
I have a broad interest in the philosophical underpinnings of social scientific research. I believe it is crucial that we examine not only the epistemological assumptions (concerning the character and origins of knowledge) but also the ontological assumptions (concerning the kinds of entities presumed to exist) that underly every interpretation of what counts as 'science,' and consider the historical character of these assumptions.
My research operates at the creative intersection of these three areas of interest. My teaching is also guided by them.
In brief, my view is this. Cultural psychology provides a theoretical framework within which we can begin to explore the ontological aspects of human development and learning, not just their epistemological aspects. To do this requires an appropriate method of inquiry and analysis: interpretive research offers a way to study the ontological work that occurs in human interaction, within cultural practices and social institutions. The ontological analysis that interpretive inquiry makes possible can help us better understand how, for example, schools change the kind of person a child is. Such analysis must include an element of critique, in the twin senses of uncovering the conditions for the possibility of change, and exposing inequity and coercion.edit
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Esta segunda edición ampliada, actualizada y corregida hace una original exploración de la investigación cualitativa en las ciencias sociales y pregunta por qué hacemos este tipo de investigación, para después dar una respuesta. En lugar... more
Esta segunda edición ampliada, actualizada y corregida hace una original exploración de la investigación cualitativa en las ciencias sociales y pregunta por qué hacemos este tipo de investigación, para después dar una respuesta. En lugar de ofrecer instrucciones sobre cómo hacer una investigación cualitativa, La ciencia de la investigación cualitativa analiza las diversas raíces de este tipo de investigación —incluyendo la fenomenología, la hermenéutica y la teoría crítica— para hacer un diagnóstico del estado actual de la disciplina y recomendar una alternativa. Packer sostiene que actualmente gran parte de la investigación cualitativa usa el dualismo mente-mundo, que es típico de la investigación experimental tradicional, y sugiere que es preferible concentrarse en la constitución: la relación entre una forma de vida y sus miembros. La “ontología histórica de nosotros mismos” de Michel Foucault es la base del nuevo enfoque de Packer. Esta segunda edición cuenta con actualizaciones de los capítulos de la primera edición y uno completamente nuevo que ahonda en la discusión sobre cómo poner en práctica el concepto de Foucault.
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This updated and expanded edition is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. Rather than providing instructions on how to conduct... more
This updated and expanded edition is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. Rather than providing instructions on how to conduct qualitative research, The Science of Qualitative Research explores the multiple roots of qualitative research – including phenomenology, hermeneutics, and critical theory – in order to diagnose the current state of the field and recommend an alternative. The author argues that much qualitative research today uses the mind–world dualism that is typical of traditional experimental investigation, and recommends that instead we focus on constitution: the relationship of mutual formation between a form of life and its members. Michel Foucault’s program for “a history ontology of ourselves” provides the basis for this fresh approach. The new edition features updated chapters, and a brand new chapter which offers a discussion on how to put into practice Foucault’s concept.
Research Interests: Hermeneutics (Research Methodology), Qualitative methodology, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Interpretive research methodology, and 8 moreSocial Ontology, Michel Foucault, Qualitative Research, Hermeneutic Phenomenology, Bruno Latour, Phenomenology (Research Methodology), Foucault (Research Methodology), and Ontological Turn
This volume offers a historical and critical analysis of the emerging field of the learning sciences, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and improving how children and adults learn. It features a wide range of... more
This volume offers a historical and critical analysis of the emerging field of the learning sciences, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and improving how children and adults learn. It features a wide range of authors, including established scholars who founded and guided the learning sciences through the initial turbulence of forming a new line of academic inquiry, as well as newcomers who are continuing to shape the field. This diversity allows for a broad yet selective perspective on what the learning sciences are, why they came to be, and how contributors conduct their work. Reflections on the Learning Sciences serves both as a starting point for discussion among scholars familiar with the discipline and as an introduction for those interested in learning more. It will benefit graduate students and researchers in computer science, educational psychology, instructional technology, science, engineering, and mathematics.
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[http://www.cambridge.org/knowledge/discountpromotion?code=PACKER12] This book is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. It... more
[http://www.cambridge.org/knowledge/discountpromotion?code=PACKER12]
This book is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. It explores the multiple roots of qualitative research – including phenomenology, hermeneutics, and critical theory – in order to diagnose the current state of play and recommend an alternative. The diagnosis is that much qualitative research today continues to employ the mind-world dualism that is typical of traditional experimental investigation. The recommendation is that we focus on constitution: the relationship of mutual formation between a form of life and its members. Michel Foucault’s program for “a historical ontology of ourselves” provides the basis for a fresh approach to investigation. The basic tools of qualitative research – interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and analysis of discourse – are re-forged in order to articulate how our way of living makes us who we are, and so empower us to change this form of life.
"By combining the range of theories from different disciplines, this book makes an excellent textbook for beginners in social and behavioral sciences. Furthermore, this informative book will be useful for all those interested in different theories and methods framing qualitative inquiry. Specifically, this work would be particularly helpful for students employing qualitative methodologies and working on grounding their studies. Although this book covers many theories and methodologies, extensive background knowledge of the theorists and concepts is not required as Packer does a great job explaining in detail those topics required to understand the content."
The Qualitative Report
This book is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. It explores the multiple roots of qualitative research – including phenomenology, hermeneutics, and critical theory – in order to diagnose the current state of play and recommend an alternative. The diagnosis is that much qualitative research today continues to employ the mind-world dualism that is typical of traditional experimental investigation. The recommendation is that we focus on constitution: the relationship of mutual formation between a form of life and its members. Michel Foucault’s program for “a historical ontology of ourselves” provides the basis for a fresh approach to investigation. The basic tools of qualitative research – interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and analysis of discourse – are re-forged in order to articulate how our way of living makes us who we are, and so empower us to change this form of life.
"By combining the range of theories from different disciplines, this book makes an excellent textbook for beginners in social and behavioral sciences. Furthermore, this informative book will be useful for all those interested in different theories and methods framing qualitative inquiry. Specifically, this work would be particularly helpful for students employing qualitative methodologies and working on grounding their studies. Although this book covers many theories and methodologies, extensive background knowledge of the theorists and concepts is not required as Packer does a great job explaining in detail those topics required to understand the content."
The Qualitative Report
Research Interests: Ontology, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Social Sciences, Research Methodology, Ethnography, and 12 moreHermeneutics (Research Methodology), Conversation Analysis, Qualitative methodology, Qualitative Methods, Fieldwork in Anthropology, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Interpretive research methodology, Critical Discourse Analysis, Michel Foucault, Qualitative Research, and Hermeneutics and Narrative
“Las ciencias sociales y del comportamiento necesitan con urgencia este libro. De hecho, debería ser lectura obligatoria para cualquier persona que esté estudiando seriamente los métodos o las metodologías. Es una verdadera hazaña haber... more
“Las ciencias sociales y del comportamiento necesitan con urgencia este libro. De hecho, debería ser lectura obligatoria para cualquier persona que esté estudiando seriamente los métodos o las metodologías. Es una verdadera hazaña haber reunido en un solo tomo a las figuras prominentes, los problemas difíciles y las soluciones imperfectas que plagan los varios tipos de indagación. La investigación cualitativa tenía el propósito de subsanar muchos de estos males, pero, como Packer señala contundentemente, el dualismo oculto de este enfoque de investigación ha evitado que tome conciencia de todo su potencial, lo que ha llevado a que hagamos caso omiso o malentendamos no solamente importantes modos de investigación sino vitales formas de vida. Con este agudo análisis como escenario, Packer redefine la investigación cualitativa por medio de la explicación de nuevas maneras de estudiar la vida y las formas de vida, todo con una prosa elegante, clara y accesible.”Brent D. Slife, Brigham Young University, Estados Unidos. “En este mapeo crítico de la historia de la indagación cualitativa, Martin Packer sobrevuela majestuosamente un extenso terreno epistemológico. Por medio de la disección de contradicciones dualistas, nos desafía a desarrollar un interés en el potencial radical de los enfoques posmodernos y a deleitarnos en la naturaleza emergente, co-constituida y hermenéutica del proyecto. Este texto extraordinario logra ser a la vez académico y accesible mientras ofrece una visión de una manera de hacer investigación que es moral, emancipadora y transformadora.” Linda Finlay, Open University, Reino Unido.
Disponible aquí: http://uniandes.ipublishcentral.com/product/la-ciencia-de-la-investigacin-cualitativa
Disponible aquí: http://uniandes.ipublishcentral.com/product/la-ciencia-de-la-investigacin-cualitativa
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Changing Classes tells the story of Willow Run, a small, poor, ethnically-mixed town in Michigan's rust belt, a community in turmoil over the announced closing of a nearby auto assembly plant. As teachers and administrators began to find... more
Changing Classes tells the story of Willow Run, a small, poor, ethnically-mixed town in Michigan's rust belt, a community in turmoil over the announced closing of a nearby auto assembly plant. As teachers and administrators began to find ways to make schooling more relevant to working-class children, two large-scale school reform initiatives swept into town: the Governor's "market-place" reforms and the National Science Foundation's "state systemic initiative." Against the backdrop of a post-fordist economy, the author shows complex linkages at work as society structures the development of children to adulthood.
Reviews:
"Brings to life the dynamics of the poor, working-class community of Willow Run, struggling to survive in declining manufacturing economy and fearful of the future that lies ahead for its children...Puts the educational process and education reform into the socioeconomic context convincingly and compellingly...A timely resource for policymakers and researchers, and a challenge for reformers who think in abstractions and not through the lens of a single community struggling to do well for its children." Review of Policy Research
"Changing Classes is a must read. Packer gives highly sensitive, compelling, interesting, and creative account of what happens to individuals, schools, and community life as a result of powerful economic and political forces. This story...reminds us how influential schools are to us personally and to those in our surrounding community." Contemporary Psychology
"Humane, straightforward, and accessible...Will be relevant to those interested in whole-school and systemic reform. It should also be read by those concerned with developing new genres of educational research representation that are simultaneously accessible to a range of interested readers and more respectful of the research subjects." Mind, Culture, and Activity
"Martin Packer's Changing Classes is a tour de force. Most ethnographic studies of schooling stop short on one side or the other of the classroom door. This keeps us from a more comprehensive and deeper grasp of the complex interaction between what happens inside and outside the school. Packer, seeking a cultural account of schooling, deftly tells a vivid story of attempts to change schools creatively--through the work and play of children, teachers and administrators--in response to devastating changes in the community. He brings changing national and state political forces into this account to show us how broad, competing school reform initiatives clash with nuanced attempts at local reform. This is a remarkable achievement." Jean Lave, University of California, Berkeley
"Offers a valuable, detailed description and analysis of educational reform...a thorough description of what 'school reform' really means, 'on-the-ground'". Journal of Curriculum Studies
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"Brings to life the dynamics of the poor, working-class community of Willow Run, struggling to survive in declining manufacturing economy and fearful of the future that lies ahead for its children...Puts the educational process and education reform into the socioeconomic context convincingly and compellingly...A timely resource for policymakers and researchers, and a challenge for reformers who think in abstractions and not through the lens of a single community struggling to do well for its children." Review of Policy Research
"Changing Classes is a must read. Packer gives highly sensitive, compelling, interesting, and creative account of what happens to individuals, schools, and community life as a result of powerful economic and political forces. This story...reminds us how influential schools are to us personally and to those in our surrounding community." Contemporary Psychology
"Humane, straightforward, and accessible...Will be relevant to those interested in whole-school and systemic reform. It should also be read by those concerned with developing new genres of educational research representation that are simultaneously accessible to a range of interested readers and more respectful of the research subjects." Mind, Culture, and Activity
"Martin Packer's Changing Classes is a tour de force. Most ethnographic studies of schooling stop short on one side or the other of the classroom door. This keeps us from a more comprehensive and deeper grasp of the complex interaction between what happens inside and outside the school. Packer, seeking a cultural account of schooling, deftly tells a vivid story of attempts to change schools creatively--through the work and play of children, teachers and administrators--in response to devastating changes in the community. He brings changing national and state political forces into this account to show us how broad, competing school reform initiatives clash with nuanced attempts at local reform. This is a remarkable achievement." Jean Lave, University of California, Berkeley
"Offers a valuable, detailed description and analysis of educational reform...a thorough description of what 'school reform' really means, 'on-the-ground'". Journal of Curriculum Studies
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Unique in its attention to both cultural and critical perspectives, this book contributes strongly to the advance of developmental psychology beyond the cognitive-developmental paradigm that has defined the field for the past quarter... more
Unique in its attention to both cultural and critical perspectives, this book contributes strongly to the advance of developmental psychology beyond the cognitive-developmental paradigm that has defined the field for the past quarter century. It provides insights from critical pedagogy, cultural psychology, feminism, postmodernism, critical theory, and semiotics and offers new perspectives into the lived experiences of children, adolescents, and adults in the contemporary world.
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In our article (Packer & Moreno-Dulcey, 2022) we pointed out that the use of puppets in Theory of Mind tasks (1) requires young children to pretend, which (2) introduces a confound, and also (3) reflects a failure to distinguish... more
In our article (Packer & Moreno-Dulcey, 2022) we pointed out that the use of puppets in Theory of Mind tasks (1) requires young children to pretend, which (2) introduces a confound, and also (3) reflects a failure to distinguish scientific and folk psychology. In their comments Lillard (2022) and Wellman and Yu (2022; Yu & Wellman, 2022) claim that use of puppets requires not pretense but an understanding that they 'stand-in' for people, without explaining how this differs from pretense, or how it avoids a confound. Rakoczy (2022) in contrast agrees with us that pretense is required but argues that it uses the same "code" and "concepts" as "the real world." We recall his earlier appreciation that institutional reality has the logical form of pretense. We suggest that 'mind' is a culturally and historically bound institutional fact, and point out that a typical ToM task involves multiple levels of pretense, games, and institutional reality. ☆ The first author declares that as a graduate student his two cats were named Bel and Des in honor of John Searle's theory of mind, in which Belief and Desire are the two fundamental intentional states.
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Much research exploring young children's capacity to understand the actions of other people, either in terms of mental states such as beliefs and desires or in terms of deontic powers such as rights and responsibilities, uses puppets,... more
Much research exploring young children's capacity to understand the actions of other people, either in terms of mental states such as beliefs and desires or in terms of deontic powers such as rights and responsibilities, uses puppets, toys, or fictional characters in stories or cartoons as stimulus materials. This is puzzling, since puppets, toys and cartoon characters have neither beliefs and desires nor rights and responsibilities. In this article we explore this practice and point out that the experimental task is being "framed" as pretense. This framing makes it difficult to interpret the results of such research, reduces its ecological validity, and reveals an odd relationship between the ethnopsychology that is studied and the scientific psychology that is employed. All this raises the concern that what this research actually discloses is young children's "theory of puppets." An important issue for developmental research was articulated clearly in an early reflection on the use of puppets, dolls, and films in such research.
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We describe seven challenges that confront the kind of cross-cultural research currently practiced in experimental philosophy, illustrating them in an example in which intuitions about moral responsibility were studied in participants in... more
We describe seven challenges that confront the kind of cross-cultural research currently practiced in experimental philosophy, illustrating them in an example in which intuitions about moral responsibility were studied in participants in four different countries. The seven challenge are (1) defining culture, (2) finding representative samples, (3) defining cognition, (4) task variation, (5) ecological validity, (6) interpreting the results, and (7) conducting ethical research. We suggest that these challenges can be overcome or avoided by attending to the ways cognition arises in everyday life, and briefly describe an approach which regards culture not as an independent variable but as the medium of human action and human life, and which regards cognition as situated in time and place.
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How to cite Complete issue More information about this article Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Scientific Information System
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This symposium brings together researchers from different countries, research disciplines and theoretical orientations, all of whom are engaged in the empirical study of connections between epistemologies and identities in educational... more
This symposium brings together researchers from different countries, research disciplines and theoretical orientations, all of whom are engaged in the empirical study of connections between epistemologies and identities in educational settings. By comparing and contrasting their conceptions, methods and findings we seek to identify common themes and challenges, on the basis of which learning scientists might develop a more coordinated agenda for future research. Specifically, we propose to examine the timescales of processes studied, researchers' assumptions about the conceptual relations between epistemologies and identities, and the extent to which particular kinds of interaction between epistemologies and identities are local or universal.
El artículo proporciona una introducción y una visión general de la psicología cultural. Comienza con la introducción de las tres figuras principales del "Círculo Vygotskiano” en los años 20 y 30: Lev Vygotsky, Alexander Luria y... more
El artículo proporciona una introducción y una visión general de la psicología cultural. Comienza con la introducción de las tres figuras principales del "Círculo Vygotskiano” en los años 20 y 30: Lev Vygotsky, Alexander Luria y Aleksei Leontiev. La colaboración entre ellos es importante porque demuestra que el estudio de la cultura y de la neurobiología no son líneas de investigación opuestas, sino complementarias. También proporciona un contexto para la fundación de la International Society for Cultural and Activity Research (ISCAR) en 2002 mediante la fusión de la International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory (ISCRAT) y la Conference for Sociocultural Research. El artículo luego bosqueja brevemente la historia de la psicología cultural en el mundo de habla inglesa y presenta algunas de sus principales figuras. Después pasa a considerar el proyecto de Vygotsky con más detalle, explicando su diagnóstico de la crisis en la psicología de su tiempo y su solución...
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A global phenomenon is the reorganization of care for very young children. Institutions are replacing the context of family and community. Increasingly in Colombia young children spend hours each day in institutions directed by public... more
A global phenomenon is the reorganization of care for very young children. Institutions are replacing the context of family and community. Increasingly in Colombia young children spend hours each day in institutions directed by public policy and administrative guidelines. We explore, first, how research on this phenomenon adopts a reductionist perspective, a focus on “quality” and “outcomes” measured in ways that assume a Western axiology. Second, we consider how the institutionalization of childhood amounts to a “government” that imposes Western individualism. Third, we illustrate the tension created for childcare professionals and for Indigenous communities as their rights to make decisions about the best ways to care for children are threatened.
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This volume offers a historical and critical analysis of the emerging field of the learning sciences, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and improving how children and adults learn. It features a wide range of... more
This volume offers a historical and critical analysis of the emerging field of the learning sciences, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding and improving how children and adults learn. It features a wide range of authors, including established scholars who founded and guided the learning sciences through the initial turbulence of forming a new line of academic inquiry, as well as newcomers who are continuing to shape the field. This diversity allows for a broad yet selective perspective on what the learning sciences are, why they came to be, and how contributors conduct their work. Reflections on the Learning Sciences serves both as a starting point for discussion among scholars familiar with the discipline and as an introduction for those interested in learning more. It will benefit graduate students and researchers in computer science, educational psychology, instructional technology, science, engineering, and mathematics.
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Developmental psychologists can contribute in various ways. One of these, I believe, is to help educators, politicians, and others who work with children, understand how such challenges impact children's psychological development. I... more
Developmental psychologists can contribute in various ways. One of these, I believe, is to help educators, politicians, and others who work with children, understand how such challenges impact children's psychological development. I would maintain that there are important, and mutually constituting, linkages here between theory and practice. Practical initiatives will fail if they are undertaken without the knowledge that an adequate theory provides. But it is equally true that practice can contribute to the building of theory. After all, ...
" Our schools are failing. Do we care?" The words are those of Louis Gerstner Jr., in 1994 the new chairman of IBM, writing an impassioned op-ed piece for the New York Times. His voice was just one among many,... more
" Our schools are failing. Do we care?" The words are those of Louis Gerstner Jr., in 1994 the new chairman of IBM, writing an impassioned op-ed piece for the New York Times. His voice was just one among many, calling loudly for reform of US public schools." It is a deeply dangerous situation," Gerstner wrote." We cannot transform business and the economy without a labor force that is prepared to solve problems and compete on a global level.... We need a national strategy for resurgence that reaches every school in the country... If public ...
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Ten papers developed from two linked symposia of the American Educational Research Association in 1995 in San Francisco consider culture as the ground for a form of life, culture as the operation of power, and culture as the circulation... more
Ten papers developed from two linked symposia of the American Educational Research Association in 1995 in San Francisco consider culture as the ground for a form of life, culture as the operation of power, and culture as the circulation of semiotic forms. Contributors include both practitioners and critics. c. Book News Inc.
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Changing Classes tells the story of Willow Run, a small, poor, ethnically-mixed town in Michigan's rust belt, a community in turmoil over the announced closing of a nearby auto assembly plant. As teachers and administrators began to... more
Changing Classes tells the story of Willow Run, a small, poor, ethnically-mixed town in Michigan's rust belt, a community in turmoil over the announced closing of a nearby auto assembly plant. As teachers and administrators began to find ways to make schooling more relevant to working-class children, two large-scale school reform initiatives swept into town: the Governor's" market-place" reforms and the National Science Foundation's" state systemic initiative." Against the backdrop of a post-fordist economy, the author shows ...
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This symposium will introduce and illustrate the Socio-cultural/CHAT family of approaches to Design Research. Design Research has become central to the Learning Sciences. It is a key strategy for the study of learning in settings outside... more
This symposium will introduce and illustrate the Socio-cultural/CHAT family of approaches to Design Research. Design Research has become central to the Learning Sciences. It is a key strategy for the study of learning in settings outside the laboratory, and it embodies the twin goals building theoretical knowledge about learning and contributing to educational practice. The contributors to this symposium will argue, however, that Design Researchers need to be aware that they are designing artificial settings in which to study culturally constituted, not biologically-given, processes of learning. The ‘argumentative grammar’ of socio-cultural/CHAT Design Research will be outlined. Overview of Symposium Design Research (DR) has become central to the Learning Sciences. It is a key strategy for the study of learning in settings outside the laboratory. It embodies the twin goals of the Learning Sciences: to build theoretical knowledge about learning, and to contribute to educational pract...
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La adivinacion -consulta de un oraculo con el fin de determinar acciones futuras- se ha considerado una practica caracteristica de la "mentalidad primitiva". A continuacion se presenta una investigacion con los babalawos de la... more
La adivinacion -consulta de un oraculo con el fin de determinar acciones futuras- se ha considerado una practica caracteristica de la "mentalidad primitiva". A continuacion se presenta una investigacion con los babalawos de la santeria: los expertos en el sistema de adivinacion de Ifa. El primer objetivo fue dar un ejemplo de lo que Vygotsky llamo "psicologia concreta": el estudio de sistemas de funciones psicologicas particulares dentro de las circunstancias concretas de complejos profesionales especificos. El segundo objetivo fue explorar la adivinacion como proceso psicologico y social, examinando las nociones, un tanto negativas, que han expresado algunos cientificos sociales sobre este concepto, incluyendo a Levy-Bruhl y al mismo Vygotsky. Algunos rasgos caracteristicos del discurso institucional se identificaron a traves del analisis de registros de audio de consultas al oraculo por parte de los autores. En este trabajo se argumento que los aspectos insti...
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This symposium offers a reflexive examination of the Learning Sciences. We draw upon a variety of empirical data to explore the way the Learning Sciences is a distributed phenomenon, built on assemblages of artifacts, in which cognition... more
This symposium offers a reflexive examination of the Learning Sciences. We draw upon a variety of empirical data to explore the way the Learning Sciences is a distributed phenomenon, built on assemblages of artifacts, in which cognition is distributed and constructed, and identities are constituted. Our analysis has three steps. First, we explore the learning sciences community as a space in which discourse circulates, concepts are put forward, and specific kinds of objects have become recognized. Central among these objects, of course, is 'learning.' Second, we look in detail at examples of the interactions in which learning scientists do their work. Third, we consider how a learning scientist is formed as a particular kind of person through participation in formative practices of the community.
Data from studies of social entry and social rejection among preschool children were used in this discussion of the systematic use of videotaped records to answer questions about preschool children and the appropriate kind of analysis to... more
Data from studies of social entry and social rejection among preschool children were used in this discussion of the systematic use of videotaped records to answer questions about preschool children and the appropriate kind of analysis to employ with the social exchanges recorded. Collected materials were organized in a text-oriented relational database. An attempt was made to avoid the replacement of raw data with coding categories by labeling each recorded interaction with tags by wnich the material could be easily retrieved. A morphology coding approach was used to maintain comparability with other studies. Also used was an analytic approach that assumed that social interaction involves interpersonal movements that cause changes in participants' status, intimacy, and openness. The analysis revealed aspects of the organization of social behavior. Appended to the text are reproductions of a playground episode screen in the datatrse, a chart of the organization of the database, a...
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In this commentary on the target-article by Pardos (2017), we first offer a synthesis of his historical account in order to clarify the problem that he identifies as how psychology has treated the concept of image, and in addition to... more
In this commentary on the target-article by Pardos (2017), we first offer a synthesis of his historical account in order to clarify the problem that he identifies as how psychology has treated the concept of image, and in addition to clarify the solution that he offers. Then we discuss two simplifications that Pardos makes when he seeks to link the work of J. B. Watson and L. S. Vygotsky in order to clarify the relationship between language and thought. Finally, we aim to clarify the way in which Vygotsky offered a materialist vision of thinking and its relationship with language, and in doing so questioned the assumption that mental representations are the basic units of these psychological functions.
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This paper illustrates how the Fifth Dimension (5thD) after-school program exemplifies a mode of psychological inquiry that rejects standard experimental methods because of their artificiality and consequent removal from everyday life. It... more
This paper illustrates how the Fifth Dimension (5thD) after-school program exemplifies a mode of psychological inquiry that rejects standard experimental methods because of their artificiality and consequent removal from everyday life. It enables carefully documented descriptions of behavior in cultural practices that have been organized in such a way that significant psychological tasks occur routinely. In this way, the 5thD makes possible the analysis of processes of learning and development. Our data are drawn from two 5thD Dimension programs at two stages of development in two very different sociocultural and economic contexts. The first is a fully mature program, the other a program in the process of formation. The data from the first program illustrate the consequences when children with developmental disabilities can be included in activities with children whose developmental trajectories fall close to local norms. The data from the second program illustrate how a new program...
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This is a book urgently needed by the social and behavioral sciences; in fact, it should be required reading for anyone seriously studying its methods and methodologies. To have gathered, in a single volume, the prominent figures, the... more
This is a book urgently needed by the social and behavioral sciences; in fact, it should be required reading for anyone seriously studying its methods and methodologies. To have gathered, in a single volume, the prominent figures, the difficult problems and the imperfect solutions that plague the different types of research is a true achievement. The purpose of qualitative research was to address many of these ills, but, as clearly pointed out by Packer, the hidden dualism in this type of research has prevented us from becoming aware of its potential. This has led us to ignore or not comprehend important modes of research and vital ways of life. With this acute analysis, Packer redefines qualitative research by explaining new ways of studying life and lifestyles through an elegant, clear and accessible prose” Brent D. Slife, Brigham Young University, US. In this critical mapping of the history of qualitative research, Martin Packer majestically covers a huge epistemological area. By dissecting dualistic contradictions, he challenges us to develop an interest in the radical potential of a post-modern focus and to delight in the emerging, co-constituted and hermeneutical nature of the project. This extraordinary text is at the same time academic and accessible while it offers a vision of a mode of research that is moral, emancipatory and transformative.” Linda Finlay, Open University, UK.
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Coding is analysis. Miles & Huberman, 1984, p. 56 The declared aim of modern science is to establish a strictly detached, objective knowledge. Any falling short of this ideal is accepted only as a temporary imperfection, which we must... more
Coding is analysis. Miles & Huberman, 1984, p. 56 The declared aim of modern science is to establish a strictly detached, objective knowledge. Any falling short of this ideal is accepted only as a temporary imperfection, which we must aim at eliminating. But suppose that tacit thought forms an indispensable part of all knowledge; then the ideal of eliminating all personal elements of knowledge would, in effect, aim at the destruction of all knowledge. The ideal of exact science would turn out to be fundamentally misleading and possibly a source of devastating fallacies. Polanyi, 1967, p. 20 In the standard qualitative research project, the step after conducting an interview is to transcribe it and analyze the material obtained. The analysis of qualitative material causes much anxiety and confusion for researchers, especially students conducting research for the first time. Yet remarkably little is said about analysis in many introductory qualitative research textbooks, and what is said is often unclear. For example, Seidman's (1998) comprehensive book Interviewing as Qualitative Research includes only 14 or so pages on the topic of analysis out of a total of 124.Maxwell, in an otherwise excellent book titled Qualitative Research Design , writes in the chapter titled “Methods: What Will You Actually Do?” that his discussion “is not intended to explain how to do qualitative data analysis” (Maxwell, 2005, p. 95, emphasis original). This is odd coming from someone who offers an “integrative approach” to qualitative research design and insists, surely correctly, that all the elements of project design should interrelate.Maxwell talks only in general terms about analytic strategies of “categorizing” and “connecting,” and it is not clear how these link to the research questions that orient a study or to the other components – goals of the study, theoretical framework, and others – whose interconnections he considers carefully. These are not isolated cases. Generally only extremely brief characterizations of data analysis are offered; for example, that it is “a process of looking for significant statements, and comparing what was said in different interviews” (Blaxter, Hughes, & Tight, 2001). But what counts as “significant”? Is an interview really composed of “statements”? Why compare interviews, and how is the comparison made? What is the outcome of this comparison? Despite the lack of detail, there is general agreement that analysis is a matter of “coding.” Miles and Huberman state baldly that “[c]oding is analysis” (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 56).
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Debate over which questions to ask about educational issues and how to answer them might seem a generally technical discussion, very distant from ethical matters and hardly an occasion for accusations of ideological bias. We know,... more
Debate over which questions to ask about educational issues and how to answer them might seem a generally technical discussion, very distant from ethical matters and hardly an occasion for accusations of ideological bias. We know, however, that this has not been the case and that among educational researchers, the debate has often been polemical and contentious. Not only that, during the past decade, it has become politicized in new and far-reaching ways, with government agencies dictating what can be considered scientific ...
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Interest in students' perceptions of their school experience has increased greatly in the last decade. This interest reflects a growing consensus that students actively interpret the social worlds of the school and... more
Interest in students' perceptions of their school experience has increased greatly in the last decade. This interest reflects a growing consensus that students actively interpret the social worlds of the school and classroom and that the nature of these interpretations helps structure students' actions within these social worlds. A corollary of this assumption is that a thorough understanding of these perceptions is necessary if appropriate interventions are to be made in school organization and classroom instruction.
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we argue that several reasonable approaches to evaluation already have been suggested, but they have sometimes been suggested for the wrong reasons, and sometimes rejected for similar incorrect reasons/evaluation cannot be reduced to... more
we argue that several reasonable approaches to evaluation already have been suggested, but they have sometimes been suggested for the wrong reasons, and sometimes rejected for similar incorrect reasons/evaluation cannot be reduced to validation by means of interpretation-free procedures/on too many occasions efforts are made to evaluate interpretive accounts in terms of the correspondence theory of truth/we propose instead that Heidegger's account of truth as" uncovering" provides a new sense of what we do when ...
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This book is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. Rather than offering advice on how to conduct qualitative research, it explores... more
This book is a unique examination of qualitative research in the social sciences, raising and answering the question of why we do this kind of investigation. Rather than offering advice on how to conduct qualitative research, it explores the multiple roots of qualitative research-including phenomenology, hermeneutics, and critical theory-in order to diagnose the current state of play and recommend an alternative. The diagnosis is that much qualitative research today continues to employ the mind-world dualism that is typical of traditional ...
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Abstract: This study elaborates the cultural categories of meanings used by seventh-graders at a junior high school to describe their teachers. It examines the common expressions students used in open-ended interviews to describe their... more
Abstract: This study elaborates the cultural categories of meanings used by seventh-graders at a junior high school to describe their teachers. It examines the common expressions students used in open-ended interviews to describe their teachers and their experience within these teachers' classes. A semantic structure that underlies the terms that students used to describe their teachers was conceptualized in the following form: the highest level of abstraction and generalizability were four foci (academic work, instructional facility, ...
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Hermeneutic Inquiry in the Study of Human Conduct Martin J. Packer University of California, Berkeley I ABSTRACT." Interest is growing in the hermeneutic or interpretive approach to the study of human conduct. This article draws upon... more
Hermeneutic Inquiry in the Study of Human Conduct Martin J. Packer University of California, Berkeley I ABSTRACT." Interest is growing in the hermeneutic or interpretive approach to the study of human conduct. This article draws upon the work of Martin Heidegger to compare hermeneutics with the other major paradigms of inquiry and explanation in psychology. rationalism (cognitivism and structuralism) and empiricism (experimentalism and behaviorism). The comparison is threefold: in terms of their view of ...
Every government wants the best for its citizens. A large proportion of the citizens of any country are its children. Accordingly, one of the responsibilities of a government is to design and implement policies and programs of... more
Every government wants the best for its citizens. A large proportion of the citizens of any country are its children. Accordingly, one of the responsibilities of a government is to design and implement policies and programs of intervention that will support and improve the well-being and development of those children. These policies should be based on trustworthy scientific evidence, not merely on opinion or personal values. Unfortunately, however, intervention policies are sometimes based on research that has been badly designed or conducted, and so on faulty evidence. Centrally, many interventions are based on research with a sample of WEIRD people: Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (Henrich et al. 2010). Such research cannot provide results that are representative of the rich variety and diversity of people around the world. In this report I describe four cases where interventions have been based on research that proves to be invalid and unreliable. First, the claim that the first twenty- four months of life are uniquely important. Second, the claim that children in poverty hear 30 million fewer words than children from wealthier families. Third, the claim that a particular style of parenting is the most effective. Fourth, the claim that there is a specific way in which caregivers, especially mothers, should behave in order that their infant forms a “secure attachment."
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The developmental niche is the space or structure that caregivers construct to protect and foster their immature offspring. The nests that birds build in which they lay and hatch their eggs are a good example, but many species, including... more
The developmental niche is the space or structure that caregivers construct to protect and foster their immature offspring. The nests that birds build in which they lay and hatch their eggs are a good example, but many species, including humans, construct developmental niches (also called ontogenetic niches). There is growing interest in the concept of developmental niche, for several reasons. One of these reasons is the growing appreciation of the importance of context, and of culture, in children's development. Another is a changing view of evolution, including the proposal that niche construction is central to the evolutionary process. These are changing our understanding of ontogenesis-the development of the individual organism from conception to reproductive maturity and ultimately death. This entry discusses first how evolutionary theory is attending to niche construction and its importance for ontogenesis; next the way the construction of a developmental niche is essential for ontogenesis in many species, including humans; and finally the fact that developmental niches constructed in different societies vary considerably.
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There is growing appreciation of the role of culture in children’s psychological development (also called human ontogenesis). Cross-cultural methodology in psychology has increasingly been used to explore to cultural differences in... more
There is growing appreciation of the role of culture in children’s psychological development (also called human ontogenesis). Cross-cultural methodology in psychology has increasingly been used to explore to cultural differences in children’s development. At the same time, a ‘cultural psychology’ has emerged, in which the constitutive role of culture in human development is emphasized. Although there continues to be much debate over how to define culture it is generally agreed that different human social groups have distinct cultures, and it is common to assume that cultural differences lead to differences in the trajectories of children’s development. This is true, but it is also the case that culture is a universal requirement for development. Every child is born into a family and community with a language, customs, and conventions, and in which people occupy institutional roles with rights and responsibilities. These facts define universal requisites of human psychological development: these include the acquisition of language, the development of a social identity, the understanding of community obligations, and the ability to contribute to the reproduction of the community. Researchers are exploing the character of the capacities which children bring to these developmental tasks: the apparently species-unique ability that has made possible vast human societies.
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In this chapter we identify an emerging consensus among cultural-developmental scientists concerning the relationship between culture and human ontogeny. We then build upon the areas of this consensus to present our own approach,... more
In this chapter we identify an emerging consensus among cultural-developmental scientists concerning the relationship between culture and human ontogeny. We then build upon the areas of this consensus to present our own approach, cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) inspired by L.S. Vygotsky. In the body of the chapter we review a series of examples that illustrate a variety of ontogenetic phenomena pertinent to the formulation of a meta-theory that can further organize cultural developmental science. We conclude by considering the challenges that lie ahead if such a meta-theory is to be achieved, and offer a preliminary suggestion concerning possible new lines of convergence.
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This chapter identifies an emerging consensus among cultural-developmental scientists concerning the relationship between culture and human ontogeny. It then builds on the areas of this consensus to present an approach,... more
This chapter identifies an emerging consensus among cultural-developmental scientists concerning the relationship between culture and human ontogeny. It then builds on the areas of this consensus to present an approach, cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), inspired by L. S. Vygotsky. The body of the chapter reviews a series of examples that illustrate a variety of ontogenetic phenomena pertinent to the formulation of a metatheory that can further organize cultural developmental science. It concludes by considering the challenges that lie ahead if such a metatheory is to be achieved, and offers a preliminary suggestion concerning possible new lines of convergence.
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Book chapter in:
The Qualitative Vision for Psychology: An Invitation to a Human Science Approach
Ed. by Constance T. Fischer, Leswin Laubscher & Roger Brooke
Duquesne University Press
The Qualitative Vision for Psychology: An Invitation to a Human Science Approach
Ed. by Constance T. Fischer, Leswin Laubscher & Roger Brooke
Duquesne University Press
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<https://youtu.be/B92yMDAQaWQ> The first of three videos exploring the role of interpretation in qualitative research. What is interpretation, and how is it related to understanding? Is the researcher an instrument? We consider three... more
<https://youtu.be/B92yMDAQaWQ> The first of three videos exploring the role of interpretation in qualitative research. What is interpretation, and how is it related to understanding? Is the researcher an instrument? We consider three theories of hermeneutics...
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<https://youtu.be/TcpmV90DZgg> This video explores the character of qualitative research, proposing that it is not 'the objective study of subjectivity, it is the study of ontological complicity, providing constitutive explanations, with... more
<https://youtu.be/TcpmV90DZgg> This video explores the character of qualitative research, proposing that it is not 'the objective study of subjectivity, it is the study of ontological complicity, providing constitutive explanations, with an emancipatory interest.
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This video describes the problems with coding as a strategy of analysis in qualitative research:
<https://youtu.be/M5jSnn-fw_Y>
<https://youtu.be/M5jSnn-fw_Y>
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This final draft of our chapter identifies an emerging consensus among cultural-developmental scientists concerning the relationship between culture and human ontogeny. It then builds on the areas of this consensus to present an approach,... more
This final draft of our chapter identifies an emerging consensus among cultural-developmental scientists concerning the relationship between culture and human ontogeny. It then builds on the areas of this consensus to present an approach, cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), inspired by L. S. Vygotsky. The body of the chapter reviews a series of examples that illustrate a variety of ontogenetic phenomena pertinent to the formulation of a metatheory that can further organize cultural developmental science. It concludes by considering the challenges that lie ahead if such a metatheory is to be achieved, and offers a preliminary suggestion concerning possible new lines of convergence.