In this study it is proposed that the educational problem of the use of computers in the curric~um is neither a technical nor a scientific problem, but a pedagogic one. This is to say, neither the computer scientist as computer scientist, nor the psychologist or sociologist for that matter, has anything essential to say about the educational problem of computers. As a pedagogic concern the question about computers in schools is a practical/ethical problem, requiring a different kind of theorizing and research than is usually found in positivistic educational inquiry. By suggesting that the AristotelianGadamerian notion of practical reasoning ~hronesis) may be used as the model for understanding the application of computers in schools, the problem is presented as a hermeneutical problem -- a problem of interpretive understanding of the meaning of computers and of the self-understanding of educators. All genuine understanding, according to this view, is guided by a wirkungsgeschtliches Bewusstsein, a consciousness of historical finitude, which endeavors to enlarge its horizon; the fundamental assumption is that there exists an inextricable relationship between the practical and the theoretical in hermeneutic thinking.

To view the application of computers in schools as a hermeneutic problem under the auspices of practical reasoning means to give the notion of application a non-technical significance. The technical notion sees application as the utilization of scientific or technical knowledge to predefmed tasks in the most efficient way possible. In contrast, practical/ethical reasoning reveals application as a problem of understanding of meaning and of thoughtfulness. Whereas in the technical mode there exists most often a fairly explicit knowledge of the end, the things to be produced, and often of the means to reach that end, there is no such a priori knowledge of the right means available in the practical/ethical mode of application. Indeed, in practical/ethical reasoning the ends and means are co-determined on the basis of a reflection on the pedagogic Good of the ends and the suitability of the means (which indicates that there is no knowledge of the meaning of computers as such, only particular applications). It is only through such reflective consideration (deliberation) that the meaning of means and ends receive the concrete significance necessary for an understanding the idea of application. In other words, it is only in relation to a concrete application that the meaning of computer technology shows itself. It is furthermore proposed that a hermeneutic pedagogical reasoning about application must become phenomenological, that is, it must be grounded in an understanding of the meaning of lived experience of the technology.

The main focus of this study is on word processing, the application of computers to the process of writing. How do we understand word processing as a problem of practical reasoning? By formulating the question about word processing in terms of practical or ethical reasoning limply that the decisive thing is not the efficiency of the word processor as a writing instrument in comparison with other means of writing. The primary concern is not the factual aspects of word processing; it is the meaning of the application that is the object of this study. The objective is to put word processing in its proper perspective by exploring the context of meaning disclosed by word processing and by exploring the truth of these presupposition in the light of lived experience of users and the tradition to which we belong, primarily the notion of writing presupposed in word processing. In a Heideggerian manner one could say that the task is to disclose the truth of word processing. Such knowledge does not give educators blueprints for actions but it may foster the kind of thoughtfulness that creates the condition for a tactful use of word processors in the teaching of the mother tongue.

INTRODUCTION 1

A. Perspectives on Computer Technology 5

B. The Nature of the Problem 8

C. A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of Word Processing 12

D. The Crganization of the Thesis 15

THE QUESTION CONCERNING TECHNOLOGY 20

A. The Technological Phenomenon 20

Martin Heidegger: Technology as Truth 22

Technological Rationality in Education 28

B. Conclusion 37

PEDAGOGY AS A PRACTICAL HUMAN SCIENCE 39

A. The Notion of Phronesis 39

B. Phronesis at Work: Pedagogic Tactfulness 42

C. Toward a Pedagogy of Computers 47

The Aims of Education 49

Computers and Language 50

The Computer-as-Tutor 52

Human-World Relations 54

The Impact of The Medium 56

METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS 58

A. Life-World Studies 58

B. Questioning Word Processing Hermeneutic Phenomenologically 60

The Rhetorical and Experiential Context of Word Processing 63

C. Hermeneutic Phenomenological Writing 66

COMPUTERS AND THE PEDAGOGY OF WRITING 69

A. Introduction 69

B. The Experience of Language 73

The Wrestie with the Medium 75

Iconic Augmentation 77

The Absence of a Concrete Addressee 80

The Dialectic of Communication and Expression 83

Literacy and the Text 87

Conclusion 89

C. Writing is Physical 89

The Body of Thinking and Understanding 91

The Body of Writing 96

The Rhythm of Writing 100

Loss of a sense of continuity 102

Lending a hand to thinking 104

The writing situation 109

Conclusion 112

D. Writing Means Finding a Topic 114

"Interactingt1 Writing Instrument 115

Writing Means Being Responsive 118

The "Responsibility "of Pedagogic Responses 126

Conclusion 131

E. Writing is Composing 132

The Problem of Coherence in Wnting 136

Writing from oudines and frames 139

Writing is reflective 144

Writing is a Solitary Activity 147

Extended communality 152

The Message of the Electronic Word 155

Conclusion 159

F. Writing is Revising 160

The Meaning and Significance of Revision 164

Revising for meaning 166

Styleisyou 169

Conclusion 173

0. My Personal Experience of Word Processing 174

TOWARD A PEDAGOGY OF WORD PROCESSING 178

A. Word Processing and Language Use 180

B. The Quest for Efficiency and Control 183

C. The Tutorial Function of Word Processors 189

D. Literacy in Information Society 192

E. Conclusion 196

RE-OPENING THE QUESTION 200

THESES 206

BIBLIOGRAPHY 207

© Max van Manen, 2002
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