There is considerable similarity here with the previous section, in which
I argued for a recognition of the mutually constitutive relationship
between individual and society. Clearly, there is a distinction to be
drawn between the individual learner, seen as a relatively independent
organism with a unique developmental trajectory, and the already
functioning community into which he or she enters at birth. But this
should not be equated with the distinction between the constructs of
=91individual=92 and =91social=92, which are better seen as two different=
analytic
perspectives on participation in activity. But whether we focus on an
individual participant or on the community=92s practices, both perspectiv=
es
are necessary for a complete account.
For example, from the social perspective, one has only to consider the
common case of the adjustments to family life that are required by the
birth of the first child to see how the addition of a new participant to =
a
CofP involves changes in the practices of all those concerned in order to
accommodate to the contributions as well as to the needs of the newcomer.=
=20
Although this is a relatively extreme example, what it highlights for us
is, on the one hand, the reciprocity with which all the participants
adjust their manner of participation to take account of each other's
current levels of knowledge and skill in carrying out the activities in
which they are jointly involved and, on the other, the transformation tha=
t
takes place, in the process, in their individual potential for
participation. It is also important to add that, as a result of the ways
in which new participants take part, both the purposes and the means of
joint action are themselves constantly undergoing transformation.=20
However, it is also important to adopt the perspective of the individual
learner: How does participation in activities with others enable what
Vygotsky called the =91internalization=92 of cultural practices, or of
particular forms of skill or knowledge? How do the changes in what the
learner knows and is able to do come about? For example, in mastering
the mother tongue, children do not simply become better able to
communicate their needs and interests more effectively, and to respond to
those of others. They also develop an increasing vocabulary and a
repertoire of ways of constructing utterances that enable them to
categorize the objects and events that they encounter in an increasingly
coherent and meaningful way. From this perspective, it is not sufficient
simply to talk of changing modes of participation; it is also necessary t=
o
explain the changes in the individual=92s mode of psychological functioni=
ng.=20
An adequate explanation will certainly include the opportunty for learnin=
g
that is provided by participation in joint activities in which language i=
s
used as a mediational means. However, if we reject the notion of transfe=
r
from outside to inside the learner, viewing the child instead as an
agentive constructor of his or her own resources, we have to explain how
this is achieved. =20
One kind of learning that I have found helpful in thinking about this
problem is the way in which people learn to dance. Although it is
obviously rather different from learning to talk, it may still serve as a=
n
analogy for what is involved, more generally, in learning in the course o=
f
activities undertaken with others.=20
Dancing is a cultural activity that is far older than any individual
participant and, although new forms emerge and are, in turn, replaced by
still newer, the basic patterns tend to persist from one generation to th=
e
next. In learning to dance, therefore, the newcomer is joining an ongoin=
g
community of practice. To begin with, as the novice takes the first
faltering steps, he or she is carried along by the rhythm of the music an=
d
guided by the movements of the other dancers (and even, in some,
characteristically Western, genres, quite forcibly 'led' by his or her
partner). Before long, however, the novice begins to get a =91feel=92 fo=
r the
dance and is soon able to participate on equal terms, both creating new
variations that are taken up by others and adapting easily to those that
they introduce. =20
In explaining this learning process, talk of =93internalization=94 seems
unnecessary; no knowledge passes to the novice from the more expert
participants, as they move together with increasing synchrony. Rather,
within the framework provided by the structure of the activity as a whole=
,
of which the entraining movements of the other participants are just one
part, the novice gradually constructs the organizing physical-cognitive
structures for him or herself and brings his or her actions into
conformity with the culture-given pattern. And in later times and places=
,
where the situational affordance of rhythmical sound and other dancers ar=
e
in place, he or she will be able to reconstruct the appropriate behaviour=
,
as it were from the =91inside=92. Although in many ways more complex, pe=
rhaps
learning to talk is not so very different.