ABSTRACT
Trevarthen does not only draw on information from biology, physiology and neurophysiology but also on literature, philosophy, history and anthropology. In thinking about early childhood he returns not to his own childhood but to the lives of ancient hunter-gatherers in order to guess or intuit what early childhood might have been like. He states that hunter-gatherers had very light and agile bodies with skilful hands and brains very like our own. Trevarthen, having spent years observing newborn babies and toddlers in the real settings of everyday life, borrowed aspects of this term to create his version: intent participation learning. This is very close to Rogoff's term in the sense of children being very engaged and involved in something with others. A fortunate infant will have engaged in joining in and listening and responding to some of the many thousands of children's songs and rhythmic games evident in all cultures and languages.
