Writing Selves, Writing Societies: Research from Activity Perspectives (Perspectives on Writing, an Electronic Books Series)

Introduction......Page 9 References......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 15 A Central Bank’s “Communications Strategy”: The I......Page 17 Introduction......Page 18 Research Site......Page 20 Methodology and Theoretical Orientation......Page 22 The Communications Strategy and Its Genre Set......Page 26 Practitioners’ Genre Knowledge......Page 33 The Genre Set and Processes of Organizational Change......Page 42 The Role of the Genre Set in the Activity of the Communications Strategy......Page 45 Coordinating intellectual and discursive work within a community-of-practice......Page 46 Producing Public Information and Establishing a Unified Rhetorical Position......Page 53 Acting as a site for organizational learning......Page 55 Conclusion......Page 61 References......Page 63 Notes......Page 67 Structure and Agency in Medical Case Presentations......Page 70 Case Presentations......Page 71 Agency and Structure......Page 72 Genre Research......Page 77 The Study......Page 79 Data Analysis......Page 80 I. The Case for Regularized Interaction......Page 81 II. The Case for Strategic Action......Page 84 III. The Case for Improvisation......Page 94 IV. What Are They Learning?......Page 96 Conclusions......Page 98 References......Page 100 Notes......Page 103 Compound Mediation in Software Development: Using Genre Ecologies to Study Textual Artifacts......Page 105 Activity Theory and Compound Mediation......Page 107 Genre Ecologies......Page 108 Background: Questioning the Usability of Code Libraries......Page 109 Research Sites......Page 110 Methods......Page 111 Results and Analysis: Mediation Within and Across Genre Ecologies......Page 112 Genre Ecologies at the Three Sites......Page 114 The Generic Nature of Artifacts: Inter-Ecology Comparisons......Page 115 Ecological Relations Among Genres: Intra-Ecology Comparisons......Page 120 Implications for Supporting Schlumberger's Software Developers......Page 123 Future Directions......Page 124 References......Page 125 Background......Page 129 Appendix A......Page 130 Notes......Page 131 When Management Becomes Personal: An Activity-T......Page 133 Analysis of Cultural History......Page 138 Analysis of Individual Development......Page 140 Analysis of Patterns of Activity......Page 147 Palm in “Doing E-mail”......Page 149 Palm in “Planning Work”......Page 154 Palm in “Taking a Break”......Page 157 Palm-Embedded Activity......Page 158 Discussion and Conclusion......Page 159 References......Page 162 Notes......Page 166 Writing and the Management of Power: Producing Public Policy in New Zealand......Page 167 The Political Background......Page 168 A Brief History of the Electricity Reforms......Page 169 The Genre System......Page 171 The Terms of Reference......Page 172 The Discussion Paper......Page 173 Submissions......Page 176 The Report......Page 177 The Media Announcement......Page 182 Conclusion......Page 183 Note......Page 184 References......Page 185 Chronotopic Lamination: Tracing the Contours of Literate Activity......Page 188 A Methodology for Tracing the Contours of Literate Activity......Page 190 Of Chronotopic Chains: Laminating Literate Activity......Page 194 Writers’ Accounts of Chronotopic Laminations......Page 195 Reflections on Chronotopic Lamination......Page 214 Sense, Affect, Consciousness......Page 216 Writers’ Accounts of Sense, Affect, and Conscious......Page 217 Reflections on Sense, Affect and Consciousness......Page 223 Writers’ Accounts of Tuning Consciousness through......Page 227 Reflections on Tuning Consciousness......Page 236 Conclusion......Page 239 References......Page 240 Notes......Page 245 Embracing Representational Conflict: A Problem for Knowledge Builders......Page 247 A Word about Method: Why Analyze Intercultural Knowledge Building as a Social/Cognitive Activity?......Page 249 The Community Think Tank: A Case Study of Knowledge Building:......Page 252 I. Designing An Intercultural Forum......Page 255 Posing the Problem......Page 256 Competing Discourses......Page 258 Competing Models of Deliberation......Page 259 Dialogue As A Socially Organized Activity......Page 262 Dialogue as an Intellectual Stance......Page 265 Dialogue as a Process of Rewriting Representations......Page 267 Whose Knowledge Is Changing?......Page 273 Using Documentation to Mediate Inquiry and Represent Knowledge......Page 274 What Sort of Knowledge Does Intercultural Knowledge Building Build?......Page 276 Evaluating Knowledge Building......Page 278 Building Working Theories......Page 279 Conclusion......Page 280 References......Page 281 Notes......Page 286 Participant and Institutional Identity: Self-representation Across Multiple Genres at a Catholic College......Page 288 Self-Representation As a Method of Analysis in Activity Theory......Page 291 Strategies of Self-Representation......Page 292 St. Augustine College As an Activity System......Page 294 Reproduction, Resistance, and Knowledgeable Resistance: Three Case Studies......Page 295 Reproduction: Matching the Teacher’s Expectations......Page 296 Resistance: Participating without results......Page 299 Knowledgeable resistance: Negotiating for change......Page 303 Constituting Selves: Conceiving of and Teaching Self-Representation......Page 306 Historical Selves/Cultural Identities/Academic Identities: Ethical Self-Representation......Page 308 Pedagogical Implications: Teaching Genre and Self-Representation......Page 310 Coda......Page 311 References......Page 312 Notes......Page 314 Introduction......Page 315 Methodology and Data Gathering......Page 316 Two Communities of Practice......Page 317 Erin’s Relationship with the Community of Academi......Page 319 Erin’s Relationship with the Community of Public......Page 323 Erin’s Writing Activity in Academia......Page 325 Erin’s Writing Activity in Public Relations......Page 329 Conclusion......Page 333 References......Page 335 Notes......Page 336 Introduction......Page 339 Big Picture People: The Problem of 'General' Education......Page 341 What Is Activity Theory and What Is It Good For?......Page 343 Learning by Expanding: The Problem of Con-text......Page 344 An Activity System......Page 346 People Act in Multiple, Linked Activity Systems......Page 348 Dialectical Contradictions......Page 349 Contradiction in Motives: Exchange Value v. Use Value (Doing School v. Doing ?)......Page 351 Contradiction in Tools and Object/Motive: Recall v. Expanding Involvement......Page 353 Contradiction Among Rules, Tools, and Object/Motive: Just What Are We DOING on This Assignment Anyway?......Page 354 Contradictions & Genre......Page 356 Students Personalize What Is Professionalized......Page 357 Genre Systems of History......Page 359 Using Contradictions for Learning by Expanding......Page 361 Making the Contradictions Productive of Expansive Learning......Page 364 Conclusion: The Challenge of Working Through Writing in Our Fields......Page 366 References......Page 367 Notes......Page 370 Legends of the Center: System, Self, and Linguistic Consciousness......Page 371 Standard and Center......Page 373 Verbal-ideological Consciousness......Page 374 Method: Eliciting Representations of Linguistic Consciousness......Page 377 Sounding “The Theme of Another’s Discourse”......Page 378 Reading “The Theme of Another’s Discourse”......Page 383 The Developmental Curve and the Chronotope of the Center......Page 386 Types and Rules......Page 388 Conclusion......Page 391 Acknowledgements......Page 396 References......Page 397 Notes......Page 398 Accounting for Conflicting Mental Models of Communication in Student-Teacher Interaction: An Activity Theory Analysis1......Page 401 Limitations of Transmission Models of Communication......Page 402 Reliance on Transmission Models in Two College Classrooms......Page 404 Methodology......Page 405 The Classes Studied......Page 406 Data Analysis......Page 407 Accounting for Rick's Shifts......Page 409 Accounting for Lynn's Shifts......Page 415 Accounting for the Resilience of Transmission Models......Page 423 Looking Forward......Page 429 References......Page 432 Notes......Page 435 What Is Not Institutionally Visible Does Not Count: The Problem of Making Activity Assessable, Accountable, and Plannable......Page 436 1. Overview......Page 437 2. A Personal Preface......Page 438 3. The Tension Between Student-Centered and Subject-Centered Curricula and Assessment......Page 443 4. Interactions, People, and Large Institutions: The Paradoxes of Assessment......Page 448 5. Dewey and His Colleagues Confront Assessment......Page 452 6. The Dilemma of Assessment as Seen in the Teaching of Writing......Page 457 7. Alternative Assessment......Page 462 8. The Need for a New Approach to Assessment......Page 468 9. Genre and Activity Theory......Page 470 10. An Activity Analysis of Planning, Accountability, and Assessment of a Multi-disciplinary Project Based Learning Experience......Page 474 11. Discussion of the Case Study......Page 483 12. Importance of Issue and Implications of This Line of Solution......Page 484 References......Page 486 Dissertation Writers’ Negotiations with Competing......Page 491 An Activity Theory Analysis of Dissertation Writing......Page 493 Engeström’s Model of Development: Identifying an......Page 495 The Dissertation as Genre Social Action......Page 496 Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Dissertation Wr......Page 498 Competing Activity Systems of Dissertation Writers......Page 499 Graduate School......Page 500 Department......Page 503 Advisor and Committee......Page 506 Graduate Student Employment......Page 509 The Job Market......Page 511 Conclusion......Page 514 References......Page 516 Notes......Page 521 Producing Work and the Economy......Page 523 Producing Selves in Community......Page 525 Producing Education......Page 527 Editors......Page 529 Contributors......Page 530