Cai Lin and her Inks experience

Day1:
CaiLinsfirstcontactwithherclassmates:

It is 12 ofSeptember,whichmeansthatitisthefirstdayofschoolandtheparentsof
CaiLin
wake up the child to bring her to the first day of school, here, in Spain.
Cai Lin is very
nervous because she knows that the first day is always very exciting. She has many
expectations, she wants to do a lot of friends and play with them during all the day.
Moreover, she wantstolearnalotandthemostimportantthing,
CaiLinreallywantstolearn
how to read and write because she loves fairy tales.
Nevertheless, when she enters to the
class for the first time, she realizesthatsheistheonlyChinesegirlandthat theclassrooms
environmentisquitedifferentfromtheoneshealreadyknows.

But, the real problem starts when she tries to write because it is very strange, in the table
there is no ink! How can she write?Sheobservesher classmatesandsherealizesthatthey
use a very strange thing that seems towrite,butwhatisit?CaiLin,veryashamed,asksthe
teacherwheretheinkis?Theteacherlooksatherwithastrange faceandalltheclassstarts
laughing. Cai Lin doesnt know what is happening. Why is everybody laughing? In this
moment,shefeelsveryexcludedandshejustwantstocry.

However, then, the teacher shows a pen to CaiLinandexplainsherhowtouseit.Itisquite

different to the ballpoint pen but there is one good thing: you do not have to control the
quantityofinkofthepennottostainthepaper.

Therefore, her first school day can not be considered a bad day. She learned how tousea
pen and she did a friend. Moreover, some of her classmates helped her when she gotlost.
CaiLinknowsforsurethatitwillbeagoodschoolyear!

The school is a
community of practice
. Here we can notice that each one has its own
characteristics, for instance,
different tools
. Cai Lin is not used to this new tool, but the

teacher provide her some

scaffolding so that she can learn how to use it and, while
transformingherlearning,shecanbeengagedintheactivity(participatoryappropriation).

Day2:
CaiLinstartstoadapt:

Despite all the difficulties that Cai Lin has to face up with, she adapts quite fast to the new
context. She learnsnewthingssuchastowritewithpensandalthoughthatthefirsttimeitis
hard to change her mentality, bit by bit, she finds more natural the fact of writing with pen.
And whenever she has any problem with it,thereare classmatesaswell astheteacherthat
supporther.

Luckily, her classmates are very welcomingandtrytohelpherasmuchastheycanthrough

gestures when she has a problem. She has made a lot of friends but she has areallygood
friend called Andrea.Shehasbecomeanimportant supportfor herdailyevolution givingtips
of how can she focusthings better,theyspendalldaytogethersosheisarealactivepartof
herdevelopmentasanewstudent.

During this day we can saythatCaiLinhasbeeninvolvedwithpeoplethroughtheactivities.

The friends and specially Andrea have been the
social agents in this case (guided
participation).

Day3:
CaiLinispartoftheclass:

Despite of the good and fast evolution of Cai Lin, theteacherdecidedtogoastepfurtherin

order to improveherconfidenceinfrontofherclassmates.Soshedecidedtosuggestanew
activityforalltheclasscalledCaiLinsDay,whichconsistsonexplainingtoherclassmates
howtowritewithink(fromrighttoleftwithsymbols)eachonehis/hernameinChinese.
The teacher wants to create an environment of interest and curiosity of theclassandatthe
sametimeshewantstohelpCaiLintoexpressherselfandtobeproudofherorigins.

At the beginning CaiLinwasabitnervousabouttalkinginfrontofalltheclassbutwhenshe

looked at the teacher and her mates she just felt support and interest of knowing what she
was about to say. It was a very important day for her because she felt totally acceptedand
thecenterofinterestandadmirationforoneday.

This activity is included in the view of

Apprenticeship,
which is focused on the community
and institutional aspects that define the nature of the practices in which persons are
engaged. In this case, this is a process of
becoming rather than a process of knowledge
acquisitionwhereCaiLinbecomesan
activemember
ofherschoolcommunity.

Day4:
Exchangeofexperiences
:

Finally, to make Cai Lin learn more quicklier, the teacher proposes an activity: each week
one of the student has to write an experience that he or she hadlivedandexplainitinfront
ofalltheclass.
After each explanation, the rest of students would have to share how they have felt after
listening to that explanation or story, and what do they think about it, so what are their
reactions. And then,attheendofthecoursetheywilldoawallformedbytheexperiencesof
allthestudents.
That way, everyone can open himself with all the classandalsocanlearnfromthedifferent
experiences shared by their classmates. Every week they get the chance to meet better
eachotherandatthesametimetheylearnnewthings.

In this activity we can appreciate that theres a

guided participation
because it
emphasizes
routine, implicit communication, arrangements between children and their companions,
associated with cultural values. Theres also a mutualtransformation.Theparticipationitself
transforms Cai Lin, and she also transforms the point of view of her classmates regarding
their culture. So at the end Cai Lin reaches proficiency, gains autonomyanddevelopsskills
and mental functions through participation towards a responsibleandcentralparticipationin
hercommunity.Butalsotheirclassmateslearntobeinclusivethroughparticipation.

Comment the story Explain the processthatyouhavefollowedtoconstructthestory,

and comment what educational implications do you think this approach
(sociocultural)hasforteachers.

OurstoryisorientedinawaytobeabletoanalyzetheexperiencesthatCaiLinhadinthree
differentlevels:personal,interpersonalandcommunityprocesses.Andcorrespondingtothis
plansorlevelsofanalysiswehavealsorelatedthedifferentexperienceswiththe
developmentalprocesses:apprenticeship,guidedparticipationandparticipatory
appropriation.

Sothataswecanobserve,Day1correspondstotheparticipatoryappropriation,Day2to
theguidedparticipation,Day3totheapprenticeshipandfinallytheDay4totheguided
participationalso.Asthedayspass,wecanseeanimprovementofherintegrationonthe
newcultureandenvironmentwheresheislivingrightnowCaiLinisgettingmoreinvolved
andfeelingmorecomfortablethanbeforeinthefirstday.

Forteachers,thisprocessmeansanactiverolebecausetheirjobistogivetothenew
childrentoolstofeeladaptedintheenvironmentwheretheyhaverecentlyarrived.Sothe
teacherhastobecreativeandthinkofactivitiestoguidetheirstudentstothecooperation
andcompanionship.Healsohavetopromotethediversityandhelpthenewchildrentofeel
partoftheircommunity,whichistheclass.

Aswecanstate,inourstorytheteacherisagoodmotortomakeCaiLinfeeladaptedand
integratedwiththedifferentactivitiesthathemakes,asforexample,withtheactivityofthe
exchangeofexperiences.

AinaCadafalch,JoanaBastardas,MarBaeras,MercSoler,NriaCardonaandHelena
Ginesta.