Modes of representation and the goals of education: rethinking the place of language in education in pluri-cultural societies

Abstract

In this paper I would like to challenge radically the implicit equation of language and cognition which I believe underlies and underpins much educational thinking. Specifically I wish to suggest that this equation underpins much of the present educational thinking and practice in relation to multicultural/pluricultural societies. On the one hand I want to do so by suggesting that other modes of communication are becoming more significant (or, that the significance of other modes of communication is coming to be recognized) and that this forces a re-evaluation of language in any case. On the other hand I want to suggest that different modes of communication afford distinct potentials (and come with distinct limitations) for engagement with the. natural and the social world. Modes of communication are therefore likely to be representationally and communicationally specialized. In this respect, and as with language, the effects of socio-cultural actions over time will of course have led to culturally distinct codes in these modes of representation, just as they have in relation to language. The political and ethical questions of equity and access, as well as the pedagogical questions of learning and cognition therefore arise in relation to other modes of representation and communication.