Recharacterizing “White-Out” through New Materialism

In a previous assignment, I addressed the correctional tool “White-Out” and its place and role within a learning ecology and actor-network theory. When doing so, I discussed at length the place of White-Out within a network of human and non-human actors in a classroom and discussed the various mediations and relationships. When looking at White-Out through New Materialism (NM), it strikes me that rather than being an artifact within a network, it becomes an active participant with agency, co-producing in the processes of writing, literacy, error correction, and authorship (Hill, 2018). This is my understanding of the switch from interaction to intra-action.

As the lens of NM views artifacts as more than tools and more as active participants in a co-creation process, the primary function of White-Out should not be seen as simply a tool to aid correction when applied, but as a participant with agency. This reframing involves viewing not only the function of what White-Out does, but its consequences in the process, the drying time and smell, with their impact on the writer’s flow, mood, and approach. The leftover smearing and its alterations to the paper’s surface may prompt the author to rewrite the entity due to dissatisfaction or misalignment with the author’s belief about how the paper should feel and look. The mingling of three agential units here, being entangled, is the author, White-Out and the paper in a definitive manner (Chartesia et al., 2017). Still, you could also link in Time, the writing stylus, the desk surface, and the room’s temperature and humidity (supposedly, they could affect dry time due to viscosity; I am honestly guessing here). These are Intra-actions, not just effects, as traditionally thought, and through this entanglement, it becomes a part of the writer, enjoined in the process (Hill, 2018; Kerr et al., 2014).

 

 

Therefore, to readdress White-Out sufficiently and incorporate the NM lens, it is necessary to examine what would constitute a diffractive practice (Hill, 2018). Including White-Out in a writing practice suggests it has a role within the corrective apparatus. This apparatus includes not just the writer and White-Out, but also institutional expectations of neatness, the writer’s abstract desire for accuracy. This apparatus ultimately could produce different writing styles: a careful writer (does not want to use White-Out), an experimental writer (fearless, who cares about smooth pages). See below for a different approach to expressing the sentiment. As always, in an attempt at candour, it is apparent that NM has its place; it is undoubtedly a challenging concept to connect to the real world. It’s been effective to show me how deeply interrelated AND intra-related educational artifacts can be in learning.

References

Hill, C. M. (2017). More-than-reflective practice: Becoming a diffractive practitioner. Teacher Learning and Professional Development, 2(1), 1-17. https://journals.sfu.ca/tlpd/index.php/tlpd/article/view/2

Jennifer Charterisa, Dianne Smardona and Emily Nelson (2017). Innovative learning environments and new materialism: A conjunctural analysis of pedagogic spaces. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49, No. 8, pp. 808–821 https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2017.1298035

Stacey Kerr, Erin Adams, & Beth Pittard (2014). Three Minute Theory. Three Minute Theory: What is Intra-Action? November 19, 2014. YouTube.