A world of meaningful action

In this book we wish to explore the importance of meaningful action for language teaching and learning. Earl Stevick (1998: 20), using a phrase from Alfred Adler, pointed out that we all wish to feel we are ‘an object of primary value in a world of meaningful action’. This is very important in a learning context because if we feel that we are valued and capable, that what we do has meaning and is relevant to our goals and needs, this will lead us to make a greater effort. Stevick recognized that meaningfulness occurs both inside ourselves and with others, and he stressed repeatedly the importance of researching and having a better understanding of what was happening ‘inside and between the people in the classroom’ (Stevick 1980: 4). The possibility of taking meaningful action relates to a whole range of terms, such as agency, selfdetermination, autonomy, investment, motivation, ideal and possible selves, self-confidence, self-esteem, risk-taking, resilience, socialization and belonging. Many of these are closely connected to Stevick's work and will be dealt with in these chapters.

According to Stevick, meaning ‘refers to what difference participation in a given activity … makes to an individual, relative to his or her entire range of drives and needs’ (1976: 47). This would seem to match well with the idea of learning as ‘a process of becoming a member of a certain community’ characterized by ‘knowing and doing’ (Sfard 1998: 6) as opposed to the passive view of learning in which the mind is likened to a container, gradually being filled with knowledge.

Agency and depth in learning

Stevick's words suggest agency, the ability to take action, which can make life more meaningful. As he says, our ‘world of meaningful action’ is something which ‘draws on the power figures in our lives, and on our peer groups, and on the more or less tightly integrated set of goals that we have adopted for ourselves’ (1998: 22). Echoing much in Stevick's thinking, Duff (2012: 417) describes agency as referring to our capacity to choose, control our lives and work towards self and social transformation.