ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been increasing recognition that much of children’s learning and development takes place in the context of participation in culturally constituted practices. From sleeping and the regulation of state in infancy (Morelli, Rogoff, Oppenheim, & Goldsmith, 1992; Super et al., 1996), to early language acquisition through verbal routines (Harkness, 1988; Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984), to familiarization with literacy through the bedtime story in early childhood (Heath, 1986) and learning math through selling Girl Scout cookies in middle childhood (Rogoff, Baker-Sennett, Lacasa, & Goldsmith, 1995), children’s participation in cultural practices is now recognized as forming both the medium and the substance of learning and development.
