Reposted to my blog for non-list-readers and easier sharing (with some minor edits from the OP here), if anyone's interested.
http://dangerouslyawesome.com/2011/03/coworking-zones-of-proximal-development/ -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 9:57 PM, Alex Hillman <dangerouslyawes...@gmail.com>wrote: > I've spent a good amount of the last year reading more articles and books > on psychology, sociology, and cognitive science for ideas and lessons to > apply to coworking...chiefly for the purpose of finding terms like this that > could lead to more study of the context. It's so often that I observe a > pattern and the main thing keeping me from understanding it more is not > knowing what the pattern is called or means, so I can't look up a study or > research paper on it. Best I can do is write about it and hope somebody > posts about it. Interestingly enough, I think this concept is a > meta explanation of exactly that experience. Here's what I mean: > > A quick skim of the concept makes me think there's a lot of application > here. It also reinforces some of my theories that coworking is most valuable > when it's not a room full of "likeminded people" doing the same thing > (startups, law, technology, creative, communication, writing, art, business, > science, education, etc) but instead a room full of "likeminded people" > doing DIFFERENT things (startups, law, technology, creative, communication, > writing, art, business, science, education, etc.). > > That is to say, especially as adults, we're less likely to learn from peers > that are too similar. We spend too much time reinforcing each other's > existing habits and knowledge instead of creating space for new knowledge to > be exchanged. That "space" isn't physical space like a coworking space, but > conceptual space, like the "zone of proximal development". > > Essentially, *we share what we know*. *We don't share* what *we don't know > *. And *we don't know* what *we don't know*. > > Coworking, in its best forms, creates a zone where we're surrounded by > people who know what we don't know (and we know what they don't know) and it > can be shared in loose contexts and formats that we're all increasingly > comfortable with. > > Cool shit. Thanks for sharing, Garth. > > -Alex > > > /ah > indyhall.org > coworking in philadelphia > > > > On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 9:47 PM, Garth <garthfrizz...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi all, >> >> I spent Earth Hour chatting with an old buddy about his passion, >> psychology. When I told him what we're trying to achieve with >> coworking, he suggested I look up "zone of proximal development." Any >> of you have enough psych background to assess whether there is some >> value in reviewing the literature on that? Could it be applied to >> coworking? >> >> curious, >> Garth. >> Two Rivers Business Centre >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to coworking@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to coworking+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
