Mediatization, polarization, and intolerance (between environments, media, and circulation)

Mediatization, interactions and education: a classroom-grounded sketch 41 the technique? It is not the aim here to propose answers, but perhaps to outline some of these questions, which have been current for two thousand years. 3. Building the habit of learning In his Metaphysics, Aristotle makes two brief consid- erations about learning that may offer some clues for thinking about the questions in this essay. “The success of the lessons,” he says at the beginning of the book Gama , “depends on the habits of the listeners.” Habit, explains Aristotle, in Ethics , comes from learn- ing. It is not given, but constructed from practice, which, in turn, is incorporated and subjectivized, becoming an automatic ac- tion, a “second nature.” Habit leads human beings to do most of their actions, and, not by chance, a considerable part of the edu- cational process refers to the cultivation of habits based on the constant practice of correct actions. Virtue, explains Aristotle, is the practice of virtuous hu- man beings; beyond any circular definition, there seems to be a proposal for the pedagogical action: the interaction between do- ing and understanding. It is by doing the right actions that one learns what a good action is - in contemporary terms, the prac- tice of respecting difference and living with otherness is crucial for citizenship. The habit, in addition to a cognitive dimension, has an ethical dimension - no knowledge is not linked to ethics regarding its conditions of elaboration, practice, and use. Thus, it is the strained interaction, socially and culturally mediated, with the environment, the element responsible for forming the listener’s habits fromwhich the success of the lessons derives - a point Bordeau has retaken (1983). It can be approximated to the perspective used by Freire (1993; 1997) in his literacy experience: when intersect- ing the world of social relations, history, and critique within the scope of his pedagogical work; the success of the lessons is not only linked to habits of the favorable listener but also, in the critical examination of these conditions, it presents itself as a transforming reflection.