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This book functions at two levels, with both effectively coordinated with one
another: a rare achievement. On the one hand, it takes up and presents in a new
light topics of concern to anyone interested in developmental questions. These are
topics such as the nature of child-rearing, the development of thinking, learning,
interdependence and autonomy, and the nature of transitions. On the other, it takes
up and again presents in a new light topics that have more often been the explicit concern of scholars interested in cultural perspectives. These are topics such
as the definition of culture or community and the need to find alternatives to
limiting views of culture: culture, for example, as something that refers to exotic
others or is a remote influence on the development of individuals. These ways of
thinking inevitably reduce culture to a separate chapter in most texts. They also,
Rogoff points out, constrain the development of effective approaches to classrooms
or social policies, and the research directions we are prompted to take.
The classic developmental topics (child-rearing etc.) are the focus of chapters 4 to 8. The more recognizably cultural concerns are the focus of chapters 1 to
3 and of chapter 9 (a chapter specifically on how communities change). The two
sets are linked by the conceptual position prefigured by the title (The Cultural Nature of Human Development, not Culture and Development, or Development in
Cultural Contexts). This position forms an integrating thread through all chapters.
In its most general form, this is the position Rogoff refers to as an overarching,
orienting concept: Humans develop through their changing participation in the
socio-cultural activities of their communities, which also change [p. 11].
Because of its central quality, I concentrate here on the conceptual position. To
bring out its features, I break the material into three sections. These have to do with
ways of considering the nature of culture or community, cultural similarities and
1
Fax + 41 61 306 12 34
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Jacqueline J. Goodnow
Macquarie University, 19 Illuka Rd.
Mosman, NSW 2088 (Australia)
Tel. +61 2 9969 5450
E-Mail jgoodnow@psy.mq.edu.au
differences, and development. In line with Rogoffs emphasis, each section starts
with a way of thinking that needs to be avoided or undone. Each then proceeds to
Rogoffs proposed alternatives, and to possible next steps (questions that are now
highlighted, ideas that could be extended).
The Nature of Culture and Community
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How can we compare one cultural group, or one community, with another? On
the one hand, we need to avoid the assumption that cultures are all-of-a piece (here
is culture X and here culture Y), with the main comparison being in terms of
whether one is better than another. On the other hand, we do not want to compare
on the basis of an indefinitely large number of activities or practices.
Rogoff dispenses neatly with the assumption of ones own culture as best,
with part of the argument resting on examples of effective borrowing, by the more
developed from less developed groups. The number of possible comparisons is
then cut down by focusing on regularities and patterns and linked practices.
Regularities and patterns refer to the way all groups have some common concerns:
concerns such as arranging opportunities for children to learn (the concern to which
Rogoff gives the most detailed attention), child survival and care, or the patterning
of relationships. These core concerns then become the points of comparison, asking
how each is approached. Opportunities to learn, for example, may be by way of
ongoing involvement in adults activities or by more distanced preparation for later
involvement. (Secular Western schooling is the example most often used.) Human
relations may be marked by hierarchical organization, with someone in charge
who controls others or by a pattern that is more horizontal in structure, with individuals being responsible together to the group expected to coordinate with the
group direction [p. 9]. Where groups may differ then is in the priority given to one
pattern rather than another and in the situations where one rather than the other is
seen as appropriate.
Linked practices refers to the ways in which practices cohere with one another. Connected with the use of a Western-school style of arranging opportunities
to learn, for example, are age-grading and a concern with readiness in relation to
age, the use of praise for a childs interest or achievement, the asking of questions
to which answers are known, particular kinds of demands by children for adult attention, and the move of school-type conversations into home settings.
What next steps do such proposals prompt? One prompted step has to do with
differences among the situations to which various approaches are applied (e.g., the
situations in which vertical or horizontal coordination is used or seen as appropriate) and the ways by which we are encouraged to expect and to identify differences
among situations. On this score, I found especially provocative Rogoffs description of Japanese children being given boundary training (from a report by Takie
Lebra) [p. 255], and her drawing attention to the emphasis, in Western groups, on
the importance of children receiving the same messages and consistent treatGoing Beyond Culture and Development
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ment from home and school [p. 256]. We know as yet relatively little about the
way children learn to expect the same or different approaches in various situations.
A second step has to do with patterns and linked practices. Here, Rogoff notes,
is an especially clear need for further research and analysis [p. 84]. The detail offered in this book has mainly to do with the arrangement of childrens opportunities
to learn, with an emphasis on task-related skills. There is, however, as Rogoff
points out, the need for equally close attention to the ways in which children come
to learn about relationships.
One last wish in the direction of more: the issue of moral relativism. There
is, indeed, no one best way. Does this mean, however, that all ways are equally
good? The respect and the rights that a cultural tradition deserves are currently
at the forefront of challenges in schools and in courts of law. Rogoffs next edition
will probably note this complex issue and the debates that have begun to surround it.
Development as Changing Forms of Participation
The hazard to avoid here is again the temptation to think of culture as having
an influence on development, separating the two: a hazard that has also prompted
terms such as co-construction or co-constitution.
Rogoffs alternative is to regard development as changes in participation in the
practices and circumstances of their communities [pp. 34]. The concept of participation has by now a considerable history. Rogoff adds to it, however, in several
interesting ways. One is by distinguishing between participation and membership
(the criteria for the two may be quite different). A second is by way of distinguishing among several forms of guided participation (there is then no single notion
such as scaffolding). A third is by way of the notion of intent participation. The
reference here is to the expectation that people will learn by watching, moving to
overt action only when they have already achieved a fair degree of understanding
of what needs to be done.
Again, here are additions that open up several questions and possibilities. Let
me again single out a few. One has to do with the social rules that accompany participation. How covert should eavesdropping be? How do children convey to toddlers that they can be with the group as long as they do not disrupt the other childrens games [p. 124]?
A second is the issue of when participation is optional or mandatory (another
social rule, perhaps). That topic builds on DAndrades [1981] comment that all
forms of competence are not alike. Some are absolutely necessary if one is to be
regarded as a reasonably able member of the community, while others may be acceptably acquired only up to some minimal level or set aside as not my thing.
A third concerns the particular forms of participation that emerge in groups
that differ from those usually considered when exploring the nature of participation, with one example being groups that are linked by electronic means, especially
when members differ in their experience with this kind of communication or in
their degrees of access to it.
In short, there is always more to learn [p. 369]. There is also the need for
what is provided in this text: a base that can provide direction.
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A Final Comment
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