Authentic+Activity

Authentic Activity

This term was proposed by Brown, Collins, and Duguid in their theory of situated cognition. This term was created to distinguish between activity done by professionals or people within the field in which the activity is carried out and school activity. Brown, Collins, and Duguid define authentic activity as ordinary practices of a given culture (pg 34). They note that authentic activity does not necessarily have to be carried out by professionals within that culture. They hint that authentic activity can be done by anyone. An example of this that they give is an apprentice tailor ironing a shirt. The apprentice is not a professional in the tailoring culture and he/she is partaking in authentic activity by ironing a shirt. Keep in mind that Brown, Collins, and Duguid claim that school activity is inauthentic activity (1989).

Brown //et al// suggest that features of authentic activity that may be dismissed as unimportant may still be of value, suggesting that the process of removing these features for the purpose of instruction may take away something of value to the learner. In addition, they suggest that students may become overly dependent upon the context provided in the classroom, and as a result may struggle when faced with authentic activity.

Brown, J. S., Collins, A., and Duguid, P. (1989). Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning. //Educational Researcher//, January-February, 32-42.

There is some argument of whether or not students can engage in authentic activity within the classroom or school community; thus, Wineburg questions whether or not situated cognition will survive since it is not "situated in a theory of schooling" (1989).