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Peer-reviewed article

Firsthand Learning Through Intent Participation

January 1, 2003 | Informal/Formal Connections
This article examines how people learn by actively observing and "listening-in" on ongoing activities as they participate in shared endeavors. Keen observation and listening-in are especially valued and used in some cultural communities in which children are part of mature community activities. This intent participation also occurs in some settings (such as early language learning in the family) in communities that routinely segregate children from the full range of adult activities. However, in the past century some industrial societies have relied on a specialized form of instruction that seems to accompany segregation of children from adult settings, in which adults "transmit" information to children. We contrast these two traditions of organizing learning in terms of their participation structure, the roles of more- and less-experienced people, distinctions in motivation and purpose, sources of learning (observation in ongoing activity versus lessons), forms of communication, and the role of assessment.

TEAM MEMBERS

  • Barbara Rogoff
    Author
    University of California
  • Ruth Paradise
    Author
    Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN
  • Rebeca Mejia Arauz
    Author
    ITESO University
  • Marciela Correra-Chavez
    Author
    University of California
  • Cathy Angelillo
    Author
    University of California
  • Citation

    Publication Name: Annual Review of Psychology
    Volume: 54
    Page Number: 175
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Education and learning science | Social science and psychology
    Audience: Families | Evaluators
    Environment Type: Informal/Formal Connections

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