Figured Worlds and Beyond
From my prior knowledge and reading of Holland, Lacicotte,
Skinner, & Cain (1998), I can gather figured worlds are socially formed and through
culture, activated. They are formed as a tool to comprehend specific fixed
characters, fixed acts, and outcomes valued by others. "Figured worlds
in their conceptual dimensions supply the contexts of meaning for actions,
culture productions, performances, disputes, for the understanding that
people come to make of themselves, and for the capabilities that people develop
to direct their own behavior in these worlds" (Holland, Lacicotte,
Skinner, & Cain 1998). Figured worlds construct situated meaning to what
things are supposed to be; such as a belief system or theory of what we
think it will be, but in reality it's not.
As Holland, Lacicotte,
Skinner, & Cain (1998) discuss, figured worlds depend on artifacts as
mediators and the actions of humans. Figured worlds are embedded in activity.
Through activities, figured worlds provide meaning for naming social positions.
We use tools in activity to build things in the world and to engage
in the world. We use this knowledge to keep the social world going.
Artifacts and materiality create opportunities for people to
situate meaning using their schema. From what they already know and then what
is presented to them is how they can position themselves within these worlds. I
like to situate my personal meaning with actions in the classroom. The child
below was using these blocks to create a fishing trap to go fishing as he was
the fisherman. Inside are the fish he caught and his discussions surrounding
this action, provided us with knowledge of identity stemming from his family.
The next two pictures come from when one of our arts integration
specialists, visited the preschool to introduce story telling and sand
trays. She discussed all stories should have a place (setting),
people or animals (characters) and a problem (climax). Then modeled for
the students how to use the sand trays. She explained that they could choose
toys from around the room to help tell their stories, but they could only use
ten props at a time. Some of the props included –people, animals, trees,
volcanoes, pirates, bridges, and other monuments. Some students
worked with partners and others worked individually to tell their stories. All
students were creating stories that involved characters, setting and a problem.
As they worked, their stories unfolded. Though many of these children are below
print at this time, they can tell detailed stories using materiality.
What figured worlds shape your life?
My example is humorous to me and I am surprised this came to
mind. I’ll start by addressing my inability to get used to living in a small
town and I don’t think I ever will. Columbia seems smaller to me now that I
have become a mom because there seems to be “groups” of moms. I grew up with a
stay at home mom and loved every minute of it! When I became a mom, I continued
to work, but craved to be at home with my baby. When I received word,
I was pregnant again when Avery was 3 months old, I knew I couldn’t go back to
work after only 6 weeks. This is when I took a semester off and returned to
work when they were a little older. Then the following summer I found out I was
pregnant again and decided to work three forths time the following year. I
enjoyed my time with them and fell into a “kind of” stay at home mom figured
world. I used my passion for teaching with them and did crafts every day, while
posting to a blog with other moms in similar situations.
Then, unintentionally, I situated my identity by surrounding
myself with working moms and friends without children and found myself waking
up at 5:00 a.m. to meet these peers at the gym. We enjoy our morning work outs
together and use this time to use our “tool” of talk as a survival mechanism. I
will get to my point, I recently switched gyms due to cost. What I have noticed
in this new space is the insanity surrounding the ACTIVE WEAR!
When I attend my new gym, I find myself nervous about what I
wear and changing my clothing to fit in with competitiveness of gym clothes. My
husband also noticed this when we were at one of our child's sporting events.
He stated, “have you looked around? Everyone mom in here has on active wear and
drives an SUV.” That is when I looked at how I have situated myself to fit into
this figurative world of competing for mom hood and then looked at what I was
wearing and how I too was driving my big SUV with my car seats hanging in the
back… I have easily situated myself at school, work, and now (even though I try
not be) an active wearing, SUV driving, mom! Oh dear! This is not how
I perceive mom hood, but it sure feels like a reality.
Now I know I am not crazy about the active wear thing. The video is hilarious by the way. When I got to the US, of course, I expected that people would dress differently but I was shocked (sometimes I still am) with the casual, active wear type of clothing in town. Interesting I have not seen observe the phenomenon with moms, because most of the moms, my family hangs out with are also from Ghana or other countries in Africa. I find the description of how you and your husband noticed this figured world and all about it quite fascinating.
ReplyDeleteBeth, thank you for making such personal connections through your examples of the ways your identities ebb and flow through your multiple figured worlds. I especially like the example of the ways in which active wear shapes the way you are thinking about your identity (Like Edwin, I also loved the video). The examples of materials that you gave (heavily identified as signs of success in a capitalist society) are really interesting discussion points to consider when thinking about the ways that our "things" shape how we are perceived/how we perceive others.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'll stand right next to you in my Old Navy active wear to resist the insanity that is Lululemon pricing.
HA! Thank you for your support and finding humor/craziness in the pricing!
DeleteBeth, thank you for sharing this honest look at your identity - I, too, am guilty of the exercise clothing wearing, SUV driving, FIT bit wearing, car seats in the back - I also can't afford the Lululemon or NorthFace apparel, but like Monica pointed out - these are all just heavily identified as signs of success in a capitalist society. I think that Target has some great workout wear at affordable prices. It's interesting how these things - material things - become such an integral part of how we identify ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI really also appreciated your sharing about the identity of your students and how they pivot tools in the classroom environment to almost reflect their identities and familial practice and affiliation. I especially like the story you shared about the young man in the class who built such an elaborate fishing tool. I am guessing that he may have seen something similar in his home environment that he then came to school and replicated with the given in-class resources. I imagine that being part of a fishing family, this would be a quite a desired trait - demonstrated ingenuity with available resources to aid in attaining the desired goal of catching fish - especially if the community to which he belonged relied on fishing for survival and support.