Stephanie Canuel 10034458

Reading Summary for Collaboration Across the Power Line and In and Out of the Zone of Proximal
Development

In Collaboration Across the Power Line we are introduced to the idea of what collaboration

between students and faculty members ought to look like. We are presented with a number of vignettes

that illustrate most often what isnt proper collaboration between faculty and students. Ultimately

collaboration has to come with both parties involved recognizing the others voice and being able to learn

from each other. An important thing in this dynamic is proper communication. If this is missing, then

often the result is not what is expected. Lauras story shows this by her thinking she was in trouble or a

problem had arisen instead of knowing that she was being asked to participate in a prestigious committee.

This could have been avoided if the communication had been more effective.

Another key component to collaboration is the ability for authority to shift. It is not a static thing

that someone who knows more or is more accomplished always has more authority. Instead in

collaboration everyone is both student and teacher. Each person can learn from the other and has valid

things to offer to the partnership. Our world often uses tokens to assign authority. Examples are police

badges, the title Dr. in front of a name, or even the arrangement of furniture. All of these things can be a

barrier to collaboration if we let them. They might impede the voice of another due to their own

assumptions on authority that already exist. Toms story exhibits this by his initial hesitation to call the

professors he was collaborating with as anything other than Dr.. I personally would find it weird to call

Dr. Flanagan or Dr. Addy by their first names but I can see how that would be a barrier for me to believe

we were on equal levels. As long as I call them Dr. then I will assume they have more authority than

myself.

Ultimately if collaboration is going to work between different power lines then both have to

recognize the shared responsibility that they have. They have to be able to silence their own voice in

favour of another. Im not always very good at this. I tend to believe I know best when I am ahead of

others in learning, or I tend to shy away when Im not as far along. Neither of these methods will lead to

collaboration. I either talk too much, or not enough. I appreciate my meetings with Dr. Addy and my

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Stephanie Canuel 10034458

fellow peer mentors because I do feel like we have the ability to work together for the best of the other

students. This experience will help me to be able to continue to do this in another setting where it is

appropriate.

In In and out of the Zone of Proximal Development we are looking at Vygotskys beliefs on

education. There are three main belief systems of learning that exist outside of Vygotsky but none of them

capture what he believed. First there is the theory that Piaget developed that development comes before

learning. Second there is Behaviourism that learning comes from repetitious practice. Finally, there is

Koffkas idea that there is a middle ground between the two. For Vygotsky, Koffka doesnt take this very

far and thus he has developed his theory called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). It is a zone

because it is a continuum of learning, and proximal because it is looking at what will be the next thing to

develop. A ZPD might exist out of the classroom as shown through the example of Howard in the text. It

wasnt that he wasnt learning math in class, it was that he was learning math in his real life experiences

instead.

Vygotsky believed that learning through play was the highest form of development in a child.

They are in a ZPD because they are role playing in scenarios that is above their own life (ie. Age, height,

career, etc.) They are learning through this play what it is like to be this new thing. There are three steps

to learning Identity, Discourse Acquisition, and Authorship. All three take learning deeper starting with

learning what the point of view is, feeling the emotion of a situation, and finally being able to present

what you know. When we have used Play-doh in class to model elements of a fungal life cycle I believe

we are capturing this notion. We are learning through play we are taking on the point of view of the

fungus and students are able to start the journey to authorship. The role of a mentor is not to teach

students but rather help them identify what things they dont see on their own. It isnt to be the truth

giver but rather a facilitator of student inquiry. The great thing about this type of learning and teaching is

that both parties learn through it. It is very much a learner centered approach. Even when it comes to

assessment, they should be used as a way that students can reflect on what they know, what they dont

know, and strategies to help them learn better. It changes the dynamic of the course completely.

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