I am trying not to read ahead of the course!
Today I worked through the Background reading for Week 1 and luxuriated in the range of ideas available for reflection. (… to learn is to practice and reflect)
I found myself pondering about second order approaches and thought about some of my early initiation to philosophy at university in the early 1970s. Historical materialism was much debated then and considerable time was spent contemplating Marx’s (1845) Theses on Feuerbach.
Thesis VIII is:
“All social life is essentially practical. All mysteries which lead theory to mysticism find their rational solution in human practice and in the comprehension of this practice.”
Thesis XI is:
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.”
By the time I got to LSE to do a part-time Masters’ course in Sociology in 1980 there was a postmodern turn occurring.
Each decade lays claim to distinctiveness, originality and uniqueness.
I am one of those people for whom connectivism resonnates. The background reading for Week 1 prompted me to think as much about ontology as epistemology.
I am left pondering (on a beautiful afternoon in rural NSW, Australia) if our discussions are about who we are as much as about epistemological foundations and networks of knowing.
I am saving up the Additional Reading for later in the week!
Hi,
The ontology/epistemology distinction you make is important. Ronald Barnett has published a fair bit on how universities are shifting from an epistemological to an ontological foundation. Instead of learning being about knowledge, it is about becoming (john seely brown addresses this as well). The big question: if we accept the shift, what is the impact on how we teach?
George
George
Thank you for posting your comment. I am delighted you found the time to read and comment at such a hectic time. I will follow up on Ronald Barnett.
The ontological turn requires, I believe, a commitment to kairological time. Last year I came across Jay Griffith’s (1999) book A Sideways Look at Time (http://www.amazon.com/Sideways-Look-at-Time/dp/1585423068). I thought she made a delightful case for a re-thinking of time in everyday lives.
It seems to me that connectivism facilitates and empowers synchronous and asychronous learning. The opportunity for educators is, I believe, to engage in praxis. It is an age of bespoke learning environments.
Keith