Orality Journal Volume 3, Number 1, 2014 | Page 10

8

Samuel E. Chiang

like a television series, the individual, although treated as a passive
receiver, is provided with moments of space to co-produce meaning,
and imagine possible outcomes. There is a mixed mode of fiction (the
genre or the story) and reality (the individual). In the case of television
broadcasts within popular culture, the commercial interruptions
actually enhances the producerly text as the viewer is encouraged to
fill in the gaps, resist closure, speculate on outcomes, and indulge
with imagination.
There is implication in how we engage with the “text,” whether it be
textual, TV video, or online mobile gaming; how will it impact the heart
,
and the head?

What is the distance again?
The length from the top of the head to the heart is generally the same
length as the elbow to the hand.
In the West, we have embraced the “at-arm’s-length” concept, whereby in
contractual law both parties are able to demonstrate that the transaction is
conducted based on equal footing and is able to stand up to legal scrutiny
as fair and equitable. This “arm’s length” concept is vital in commercial
transactions, but has seemingly slipped silently into the stream of adult
learning. The distance, either an elbow’s length or an arm’s length, has
continually separated and increased the distance between the heart and the
head. Are there ways to shorten that distance? Could active participation
be a part of the process, and is it “readerly” or “writerly”?
Participatory Learning and effects on networks is a theme for this issue.
This is a large topic moving from communication of the individual,
into group processing for the community and potential rippling
effects of learning distributed and magnified through networks. Our
humble attempt is not to cover all topics; we are merely observers of
processes and effects for individuals, classrooms, communities, and
online communities.
Participatory Learning and Actions is deployed in community development,
nation change, classrooms and communities, but much less so in the Church.
I was recently asked if the Church’s propensity towards Expository