Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning

Edited by a diverse group of expert collaborators, the Handbook of the Cultural Foundations of Learning is a landmark volume that brings together cutting edge research on culture and learning to explore, in depth, the impact of a student’s cultural background on their experience in a classroom. Traditionally, culture has been conceptualized in two distinct ways in educational settings: under the first model, culture is seen as an inherent marker of student identity, which either impedes or encourages educational success. In contrast, a second body of work envisions culture as a set of social practices, where the relation between culture and learning becomes highly theoretical, with research focused primarily on the role of social context in learning.

By placing these two models in dialogue, the editors of this volume synthesize contemporary research to elaborate a new vision of the cultural nature of learning, moving beyond summary to actually reshape the field such that studies of culture in the learning sciences and studies of equity of educational outcomes are joined.

Major topics addressed will include: language, tools, and mediation in learning; environments and settings of learning; methodological implications and innovations; and policy implications of a science of learning that places culture at its core. With the recent, increased focus on culture and equity within the educational research community more generally, this volume thus presents a sweeping, innovative treatment of what has become one of the field’s most timely and relevant topics.

Na’ilah Suad Nasir is Associate Professor of Education and African-American Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. As co-director of Research in Cognition and Mathematics Education (RCME), her research centers on how issues of culture and race influence the learning, achievement, and educational trajectories of African-American and other minority students in urban school and community settings.

Carol D. Lee is Professor of Education and Social Policy, Learning Sciences, and African American Studies at Northwestern University. She has developed a theory of cultural modelling that provides a framework for the design and enactment of curriculum that draws on forms of prior knowledge that traditionally underserved students bring to classrooms.

Roy Pea is Professor of Learning Sciences and Education at Stanford University, where he also co-directs the Human Sciences & Technologies Advanced Research Institute (H-STAR Institute). His research focuses on how innovations in computing and communications technology can influence learning, thinking, collaboration, and educational systems.