Page 27 - To know things we have to have the world inside us
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How to proceed?
We experience a place of learning as the border between the known and unknown. It is the place where
assumptions made by our predicative brain are challenged by the unexpected. Malaguzzi recognised the
necessity of subversive actions as a way to generate complexity and new tools for thought.
How might this be done?
Bruner suggests a process of “making things that seem familiar strange again” as a way of challenging the known
for both children and adults. This process draws attention to previously unnoticed attributes and connections.
Malaguzzi used the process of reconnaissance to provoke adults to see something differently, sensitising them to
new possibilities, confronting their beliefs and limiting their propensity to censor their observations. In
particular he drew on the experience and insights of artists to challenge assumptions.
This seemed to be the key in deciding how to proceed.
What contexts could we create where assumptions about the things~objects~materials could be again
challenged and where deeper and more complex relationships could be built?
In our own experimentation and in observing the teacher~researchers, we noticed the strong, disruptive role of
light and shadow in relation with things~objects~materials.
The group would meet in a week’s time. How could this time be used for reconnaissance to disrupt assumptions
about relationships with and through light and shadow?
The fourth proposal.
We asked the teacher~researchers to reflect on the meaning of shadows, to notice the shadows around them
and to research the way artists have worked with light and shadow.
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