“Mao Might Cheat”
The Interactional Construction of the Imaginary Situation in a Fifth Dimension After-School Setting
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19001654 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Deborah Poole (San Diego State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 216-236 |
| Publication date | 2011-02-10 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Mind Culture and Activity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1074-9039 • E-ISSN: 1532-7884 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10749031003790136 |
| OpenAlex | W1976360005 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 3 |
This article explores Vygtosky's (1978) notion of the imaginary situation through analysis of interaction and activity in a Fifth Dimension after-school setting, one of a network of programs designed with an aim to realize developmental concepts proposed by Vygotsky and others in the cultural-historical tradition (see, e.g., Cole & the Distributed Literacy Consortium, 2006). The discussion centers on intergenerational interaction between a child and undergraduate as they engage in activities that represent two varieties of the imaginary situation proposed by Vygotsky: Playing a game and orienting to the “mythical figurehead,” a fantasy figure common to all Fifth Dimension sites. Analysis focuses on the interplay of spoken interaction with literacy-based artifacts that mediate the participants' activity and serve as points of departure for imagination-related talk. As the interaction unfolds, child and undergraduate are seen to engage creatively with both game and site rules as they create a collaborative and increasingly complex representation of the mythical figurehead. The participants' engagement with rules, a crucial element in Vygotsky's notion of the imaginary situation, provides the child with multiple opportunities, together with those prompted by the site artifacts, to affect and negotiate the Fifth Dimension experience.
Art · Fantasy · Literacy · Literature · Mathematics education · Negotiation · Pedagogy · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · The Imaginary · Innovative Education and Learning Practices · Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods · Psychology · Reflective Practices in Education · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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