%0 Journal Article
%T Students¡¯ foregrounds: Hope, despair, uncertainty
%A Ole Skovsmose
%J Pythagoras
%D 2012
%I AOSIS OpenJournals
%X A foreground is formed through the possibilities, tendencies, propensities, obstructions, barriers, hindrances, et cetera, which his or her context provides for a person. Simultaneously, a foreground is formed through the person¡¯s interpretations of these possibilities, tendencies, propensities, obstructions, barriers, hindrances. A foreground is a fragmented, partial, and inconsistent constellation of bits and pieces of aspirations, hopes, and frustrations. It might be both promising and frightening; it is always being rebuilt and restructured. Foregrounds are multiple as one person might see very different possibilities; at the same time they are collective and established through processes of communication. In this article educational meaning is discussed in terms of relationships between the students¡¯ foregrounds and activities in the classroom. I illustrate how students¡¯ dreams might be kept in cages, and how this has implications for how they engage or do not engage in learning processes. I investigate how a foreground might be ruined, and in what sense a ruined foreground might turn into a learning obstacle. Finally, I discuss processes of inclusion and exclusion with reference to the notion of foreground.
%K Students¡¯ foregrounds
%K learning obstacle
%K ruined foreground
%K multiplicity of foreground
%K collectivity of foreground
%K exclusion
%U http://www.pythagoras.org.za/index.php/pythagoras/article/view/162