Peter Smagorinsky speaks about his concrete and abstract understandings of and experiences with Vygotsky's theory of concepts. (Recorded January 2012 and published Jan 3, 2020 at Chats about CHT http://tiny.cc/kmylsz)

Highlights include:

0:31 - challenges (and rewards) of reading Vygotsky without the benefit of mentors

5:00 - many topics are at play re: Vygotsky and concepts

5:48 - why Peter is interested in concepts (as an Educator and a Landscaper)

7:33 - difficult concepts are rarely learned without a cost (plants and otherwise)

10:00 - concepts of good teaching are hard to pin down (social world is less cut & dry than biological)

14:40 - spontaneous vs scientific concepts aren't so neatly divided

19:30 - sturdy concepts are produced by the interplay between experiential & formal knowledge

22:38 - studying how concepts develop: twisting path or twisting pretzel?

37:37 - the link between concepts & happiness (the roles of affect and metaexperience)

46:30 - failure, perseverance, and concepts

50:31 - word-meaning and concepts

58:09 - Vygotsky, concepts, and death

Peter's book, VYGOTSKY AND LITERACY RESEARCH: A METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK, winner of the prestigious David H. Russell Research Award, can be found here: sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/practice-of-research-method/vygotsky-and-literacy-research/