Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 28, No.

4, 2001

Cultural Pedagogy and Bridges to Literacy:

Home and Kindergarten
Ofra Korat1,2

This paper presents five key aspects of cultural pedagogy theory: social interactions, self-identity, externalization of inner thought, educational institutions, and narratives. These are viewed as
critical vehicles to fostering the childs literacy development in early childhood, among other
things. Within this sociocognitive theoretical frame work great importance has been assigned to
the cooperative link between the young childs two primary worlds: the home and the kindergarten.
KEY WORDS: cultural pedagogy; emergent literacy; homekindergarten connection.

INTRODUCTION

the relevant facts, or whether to compose a homemade

invitation and decorate it. Maybe the invitation should
be done on the computer?
Daniel is taken by the idea of writing his birthday
invitation on the computer. He plays, and even sometimes writes, on the PCs at home and in the kindergarten, but he has never written a birthday invitation with
the aid of a computer. The idea is intriguing and exciting. He asks his big brother in sixth grade (a computer
expert) to help him. Daniel says he almost knows what
to write all by himself, because in kindergarten he already did an invitation. Daniels mother suggests that
he type his name all by himselfthe name of the birthday boy, and the name of the child being invited and the
word birthday. The rest his brother will do, while Daniel takes an active role with suggestions and ideas as to
the contents of the invitation. His big brother reads the
text aloud and Daniel begins decorating the printouts with
relish, all by himself. While he begins his embellishments
with vigor, by the fourth invitation, Daniel is tired.
Thirty individual invitations is a bit much. What
should he do? Daniel asks to go back to the computer.
With his brothers help he chooses two decorations from
the computers stock of cliparta birthday cake and a
clown. The two brothers print out 33 copies, which Daniel brings to school the next day. The kindergarten
teacher is impressed with the invitations. She gives them
out to the children and Daniel feels safe enough to read
out loud what is written on his birthday invitation.

Daniel, a 6-year-old kindergartner, is about to celebrate his birthday. The party is the focus of conversation
at home and the question is raised: Where should the
birthday party be held (at home? at the kindergarten?)?
When should it be held? Should personal invitations be
sent to each child or should a general invitation be issued to all the children in the kindergarten? Daniel and
his parentstogether with the kindergarten teacher
decide to mark the occasion with a brief celebration in
the kindergarten and a bigger party at home. Moreover,
they decide that for the party at school, a group invitation would be adequate, while for the party at home,
individual invitations should be sent to each guest.
Several days before the appointed date of the
school party, the teacher invites Daniel to write an invitation together with her. She writes the text in Daniels
own words and initiates a discussion with him designed
to fill in missing information. Daniel decorates the invitation and invites one of his favorite schoolmates to help
him because she knows how to color well. The same
dayat home, Daniel and his mother debate whether to
buy ready-made invitations, filling in the blanks with

Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

Correspondence should be directed to Dr. Ofra Korat, 58a Hanasie
Street, Herzelia, 46399 Israel; e-mail: ofra@korat.co.il

225
1082-3301/01/0600-0225$19.50/0 2001 Human Sciences Press, Inc.

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From the above description, we can learn many
things about the child and the culture and the society in
which he lives. It is clear that the event takes place in a
literate, technologically-oriented society. Moreover, it is
clear that the child is being raised in an environment
that allows children to take a significant, active part in
what takes place around them. The youngster described
has the motivation to operate and function within the
sphere of written language and shows clear signs of developing abilities in writing and readingwhat we are
accustomed to terming emergent literacy. His motivation and interest in the act of writing birthday invitations
are an integral component in meeting his social and
emotional needs. Moreover, the child described above is
developing in a culture where discourse (between parent
and child, among children within a family, between the
teacher and the child, between the child and his peers in
the kindergarten), as well as contemplation of quandaries and available choices are central characteristics of
his cultural milieu. Another obvious and important element is revealed: The youngster in question is growing
up in a social environment where great importance is
assigned to a cooperative link between the childs two
primary worlds: the home and the kindergarten.
If one had to define the pedagogic approach underlying the scenario described above, the term cultural
pedagogy would be applicable, that is, a pedagogical
approach in which the avenues by which individuals can
create meaning in their lives and the channels of communication are advanced in that society in a significant
manner (Bruner, 1996). These principles emanate from a
psychological approach that has been the focus of much
discussion in the professional research literaturethe
cultural psychology approach. The author of this article
deals with these and other related concepts in their broad
context, particularly within the context of education towards literacy in early childhood education. Special emphasis has been placed on bridges between emerging literacy in the home and in the kindergarten.
CULTURAL PEDAGOGY
Cultural psychology researchers examine a variety
of subjects tied to culture and thinking, including processes at work in the home and in educational institutions (Cole, 1997; Rogoff, 1990; Valsiner, 1987). Their
work constitutes a foundation for the formulation of a
cultural pedagogy theory. Bruner (1966), their leading
spokesperson, has attempted to apply the precepts of
cultural psychology to the educational sphere. He based
his work on Vygotsky (1978), who emphasized decisively the importance of the educational and social

Korat
framework in the development of a persons thinking.
Vygotskys ideas laid the foundation for the cultural
pedagogical approach. Unlike Piaget (1967), who viewed
development as enabling learning, Vygotsky viewed
learning and teaching as advancing development. According to his theory the social context, particularly interactions among human beings, is the central axis upon
which development of thought revolves. For them, the
direction of development originates on the exterior
that is, it arises from society as a force working inward
on the individual, toward independent thought processes. Thus, culture is what molds or fashions thinking
and influences the way in which a person constructs reality.
This process operates through a system of symbols
that exist in each societysymbols without which the
development of thinking and human knowledge would
be impossible. Each culture maintains its own particular
system of instruments that operate in a functional but
significant manner within the reality in which a person
lives and functions. Some of these tools are substantive,
for instance, the tools of various trades; others are symbolic, such as written or mathematical language.
The cultural pedagogical theorists seek to examine
and advance the ways in which humans create meaning
in their lives, and the paths by which they communicate
in society in a meaningful manner. Key symbolic instruments, such as language (spoken, written, visual, mathematical, and musical), serve the needs of the community.
They are perpetuated by society, carried forth to coming
generationsboth preserving the cultural identity of the
society and at the same time fostering further advancement and development.
As noted earlier in this paper, cultural pedagogists
view the reciprocal relationship between people as the
focal point, stressing in particular the importance of
communication processes between human beings (discourse between pairs and within groups) and reflective
processesthinking about thinking. This outlook was
a clear departure from that of behaviorists who focus on
proficiency through repetition until mastery is gained.
These are fundamentally different philosophies regarding the place of the individual person in society and the
image of the ideal citizen.
CULTURAL PEDAGOGY AND LITERARY
EDUCATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
Bruner (1996), in his book The Culture of Education, presented a number of principles that constitute the
point of origin for the cultural pedagogical approach.
Here, we examine several of his principles and their pos-

Cultural Pedagogy and Bridges to Literacy

sible ramifications for literary education in early childhoodin the home and in the kindergarten. Note that
these principles are not an entirely new entity and some
may be better known than others. Yet, many of Bruners
principles are applied in a host of households and even
in kindergartens as an implicit pedagogic program, in
the sense that they are not espoused as a professed, conscious act, although they are at work, operating in the
background. My purpose, in this paper, is to highlight
and label what is taking place and present a theoretical
framework for these phenomenaactivities and incidents within these educational settings that, in essence,
reflect cultural pedagogical philosophy in action.
THE INTERACTION PRINCIPLE
Cultural pedagogists assign interaction a key role
as the core underlying principle in the educational process. Bruner argued that interaction between human beings is what distinguishes and sets them apart from other
creatures, that is, the ability of individuals to understand
the thoughts of another person. This kind of human activity transpires primarily through language that allows
a person to negotiate meaning. The activity of teaching and learning is not a one-way street where one person who knows everything transmits knowledge to another who knows nothing. Rather, the educational
process in itself is negotiation over meaning: in reality,
there are learning communities within which learning
is the fruit of countless interactions between adults and
children and among groups of children in various life
contexts, including those that take place within educational institutions.
The challenge to the classic model of the centralist
know-it-all teacher who transmits knowledge in one direction is also evidenced in the cultural pedagogists
championship of the educators duty to develop the
learners independent critical faculties, build their selfconfidence, and nurture their ability to work with others.
The ideal is a group activity in which the learners support one another. This is not an attempt to strip educators of their authority, but rather a model where the educators encourage the students to take responsibility for
their own learning, encouraging the children to take the
initiative to ask questions and raise subjects of significance to their life, serving as a catalyst for emotional,
social, and cognitive growth.
Almost every parent and educator is cognizant of
the importance of social interaction in the process of
nurturing literacy in early childhood. Parentchild discourse takes place over texts in the home, in the car, in
the supermarket, at the moviesalmost everywhere. It

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pivots around signs, greeting cards, letters, invitations to
events, ads, and other written genre that are part of the
daily routine in Western literate society. In many instances, the initiator of discourse is the child, at other
times, the parent. The questions and answers advance,
first and foremost, the childs comprehension of the
world and the way people operate and function in it. In
the process, the child learns particular aspects of literacy, including agreed upon rules for usage of language,
structure, text, grammar and syntax, and at the same
time is exposed to various genres of literacymenus,
lists, advertisements, stories, and so forthwithin their
natural context and function.
Social interaction that nurtures the childs literacy
takes place in the kindergarten during various activities.
For instance, in one kindergarten I visited, the kindergarten teacher sought to work with the children on the subject of occupations. She sent the children home with a
questionnaire for their parents about their occupations,
requesting that parents fill out the questionnaire together
with their child. The kindergarten teacher consciously
targeted this as a literacy activity within the family
framework. In practice, in many households, parents indeed read the questionnaire aloud, engaging their child
in thinking about the questions and writing the answers.
The kindergarten teacher then read the answers to all the
children at kindergarten, developing a discussion concerning the various occupations. In a number of instances, the children enhanced the written answers
orally, adding additional information beyond what was
formally requested.
All these were, in essence, literary activities that
involve thinking, as well as written and oral language
activities characteristic of study groups. Children in this
particular kindergarten knew a great deal about their
parents occupations and, in certain cases, enriched the
knowledge base of the kindergarten teacher as well. Parents invited to the kindergarten spoke in depth about
their occupations with the children, thus expanding the
kindergartens learning community to encompass adults
and young learners together around a particular subject.
THE EXTERNALIZATION PRINCIPLE
Bruner labeled the collaborative thinking process
that two people or more may be engaged in about the
inner thoughts of each of the partners in the discourse
the externalization process. According to Bruner,
through interaction with another, individuals clarify their
own inner thoughts and, in doing so, improve and elaborate upon them. The externalization process generally
takes place when two people work cooperatively on a

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joint project. Indeed, this has occurred since the dawn
of civilization, where people have collaborated to create
works in many different spheresscience, the arts, economics, and so forth. Beyond the fact that these works,
built through collaborative efforts, create a sense of
identification and belonging among members of the
group, they also develop the individuals thought processes by the necessity of externalization.
Meaningful learning in the kindergarten and school
transpires during a host of activitiesactivities that in
many cases arise out of joint work among the children
themselves, collaboration between children and educators, and among children, educators, and parents. One
can cite numerous examples of such activities in kindergartens. For instance, I was party to just such a situation
while observing a group of 5-year-old children who,
after listening to the biblical saga of King Solomon,
built the kings palace from pieces of cardboard in their
kindergarten. The palace had a roof, a pool, and canals.
The building process went on over a period of days,
and each time another wing was added. The children
decorated the palace with various materials, and a number of them wrote signs on various parts of the palace.
This was a joint project of the children, in which they
were assisted by the kindergarten teacher who provided
materials, ideas, and support from time to time, especially in children who exhibited interest in a particular
matter, or raised specific questions, such as, How to
write?
Parents also participated in this endeavor to a certain extent. They asked questions, gave suggestions, and
listened to their childrens proud descriptions of the
grand architectural edifice they had created. In fact, the
children encountered an open ear to their questions, and
clarified their thoughts for themselves while engaging in
a dialogue with adults (the kindergarten teacher/parents)
who were partners in their work.
THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION PRINCIPLE
Bruner, like Vygotsky, assigned great importance
to the educational institution and its influence on the
development of a persons thinking. According to
Bruner, two central elements are at work in the educational process: the qualifications of the individuals and
the opportunities presenting to them during their lifetime. Regarding qualifications, according to Gardners
(1996) theory of multiple intelligence, different people
are endowed with different proficiencies that they employ in symbolic systems for structuring meaning and
for carrying out meaningful interactions. Moreover, certain societies tend to nurture certain areas more than oth-

Korat
ers through their educational institutions. For instance,
the development of mathematicallogical thinking occupies a more central position in educational institutions
in Western societies, compared to the development of
various arts.
The second aspectthe opportunities presented to
individuals during their lifetimerelate to the sociocultural context within which they grow up. This encompasses not just the family, with all the variances at work
(cultural, economic, emotional, and so forth), but also
the cultural capital of the educational institution within
which the individuals learn. The latter finds expression
in the professional level of educators and their personal
stature as teachers. A sociocultural context that supports
the development of literacy is a natural environment or
milieu that is infused with reading books, newspapers,
magazines; writing and reading in daily behavior; the
use of computers to fulfill these needs; and discourse
with children. Educational frameworks permeated with
activities such as these as a part of the daily routine
constitute the opportunities given the child, as defined
by Bruner.
THE PERSONAL IDENTITY AND THE
PRINCIPLE OF SELF-WORTH
The kindergarten and the school are the first institutions, after the family, that play a major role in the molding of an individuals personality. They play an important part in building the self-identity of the child and
nurturing the childs sense of responsibility and autonomy. The kindergarten and the school can be an intermediary agent that either nurtures obedient creatures that
fit the tiny niche they are designed to fill, or develops
learning communities with an orientation toward initiative and autonomy, rights and responsibilitiesindividuals who take responsibility for their own learning and
are able to cooperate with others. In the latter case, the
school is not preparation for life but, rather, life itself.
Children in kindergarten and school should receive
encouragement from their teachers to study subjects of
personal interest to themsubjects that can nurture their
identity, that have meaning for them and their lives on
a personal, family, community, or national level. Choice
of subjects and development over time can be short-term
or long-term projects that encourage the childs initiative
in areas that are close to him/her. The knowledge
gainedprocessing and analysiscan be expressed
through various symbolic systems: written language,
graphic language, mathematical language, musical language, or others avenues of communication.
For instance, in one particular kindergarten, a pair

Cultural Pedagogy and Bridges to Literacy

of youngsters began bringing playing cards with pictures
of soccer players to school on a regular basis, playing
with them not only during recess in the yard but also at
times when they were supposed to be engaged in other
activities. The kindergarten teacher, noting this, at first
thought to take the cards awayviewing them as an
impediment; but, on second thought, she decided to try
to understand the childrens interest in the cards. From
observing them on the playground and talking to them
about their hobby, she became aware that one of the
children succeeded in reading the names of the players
written at the bottom of the cards and the other was able
to rate them according to relative importance, while both
children were adept at sorting the cards by teams in order to trade cards between themselves. The kindergarten
teacher asked the children to show their collection to
their classmates, devoting a number of sessions to this
activity. Moreover, she encouraged other children to
bring their collections or their parents collections to the
kindergarten. Thus, in reality, she inaugurated a new
subject of study in her kindergartendubbed My Collectionthat was not part of the planned curriculum.
The project focused on both the general and the
specific. The cooperation of parents who came to the
kindergarten with their collections was engendered, further enriching input by exposing the children to a host
of subjects, for instance, geography through stamp collections of various countries and history through a collection of commemorative medals. The collections were
displayed on a bulletin board or on specially designated
tableswith thought invested by parents and children
on how best to display the collections. In this manner,
the children were encouraged to become interested in
subjects close to them. By studying them and telling others about them, subjects of personal relevance became a
means of nourishing personal identity. The kindergarten
teacher had mobilized a genuine opportunity to learn,
while building bridges between the home and the educational institution through meaningful literary channels.
THE NARRATIVE PRINCIPLE: THE
PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE STORY
One of the important principles in a cultural pedagogy approach is the central role occupied by the narrative of human experience and its role in a persons educational process. In essence, human life pivots around
stories. In almost every area of our lives we tell and
listen to stories. Sometimes these are personal stories;
sometimes they are stories about the family, the community, or the nation to which we belong. The ability to
tell the story structures the world we live in, helping us

229
define the place we occupy today and the possible
worlds we may meet tomorrow. Once it was thought
that storytelling was an inborn talent. Today, there is a
tendency to characterize it as an ability that can be nurtured and enhanced.
To feel at home in the world in which I live,
means to know how to tell my own personal story, and
also the story of the group to which I belong. This is not
an easy task, particularly in a modern world characterized by geographical mobility and migration of people
from culture to culture. For instance, it is not easy to
assist a 4- or 5-year-old tell his story beyond his family
or his neighborhood after immigrating to Israel from either the former Soviet Union or Ethiopia or emigrating
from Vietnam or Mexico to the United States. The importance of being able to do so is all the more consequential in a postmodern era in which cultural relativity
is emphasized and cultural diversity is extolled.
If the kindergarten teacher is unable to assist children to tell their story, a sense of social isolation is liable
to develop that could undermine the childrens sense of
identity with the society-at-large within which they live.
Thus, educators must show sensitivity for young childrens narrative, on a personal, family, or community
level, providing both encouragement and support for the
further development of the childrens ability to tell their
story. At the same time, educators must provide young
children with exposure to narratives that are beyond the
parameters of their immediate world of here and now.
This in order to enrich their ability to structure meaning
and understanding of significant things beyond the realities of their own lives, beyond their own egos, and beyond the narrower parameters of the groups to which
they belong.
One does not have to belabor the importance of the
narrative in early childhood in the kindergarten, whether
it is the childs daily response to his parents query,
How was kindergarten today? or a recital in the kindergarten setting of significant events that took place at
home or in the family circle. Children tell narratives on
a daily basisto family, to friends, and to their kindergarten or school teacher, while listening to the stories
told to them: the tale of a family outing over the weekend, an account of a fracas in the school yard, the Biblical narrative of Moses in Egypt, or the story of the Boston Tea Party. The significance of listening to these
storiesoral or written, the discussions they prompt,
and the working through of thoughts and feelings they
engender are recognized today more than in the past.
Beyond narrative conversations in Western literate
societies, many children listen to written stories. It is
noteworthy and interesting to observe that researchers

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(e.g., in Israel, Korat, 1998; in the United States, DeBaryshe, 1993) have found that this behavior is characteristic of all socioeconomic groups in society, not just the
high SES. Reading to a child very frequently and the
kind of interaction that takes place during this process
are considered significant to the development of a literary personality. Reading often and conducting a running
dialogue with the child about the story nurtures a heightened awareness of common threads in narratives (principles of genre); logical sequences (reason and results, ties
between various activities, etc.); the linguistic context or
setting (spoken language vs. written language); special
vocabulary/phraseology of story-telling and story-writing (Once upon a time and And they lived happily
ever after); syntax (Jack thought vs. thought Jack); expression of particular emotions (fear, chagrin, sorrow);
and confrontation with social and moral dilemmas.
SUMMARY
In closing, if one returns to the case in point of 6year-old Daniels birthday preparations that opened our
discussion, one can safely assume that the parents and
kindergarten teacher described herein adhere to a number of pedagogic principles or beliefsmanifest or unstatedthat they employ in their daily behavior. First
of all, they view interaction among people as a core
contributor to child development. This is manifested in
the rich and varied negotiations that take place with
young Daniel surrounding a significant event in his life,
that takes place in a genuine context within his social
life: a birthday party. One may assume that an event of
this kind will contribute not just to Daniels cognitive
development but will also nurture his self-identity. In the
negotiation, emphasis was put on the childs role and
his responsibility for taking the joint projectthe production of invitationsforward, while encouraging initiative and freedom of choice in the process. Through
interaction with his parents, the kindergarten teacher,
and his brother, Daniel could externalize his inner
thoughts and, in doing so, improve and enhance them,

Korat
one may assume. The childs educational institution
the kindergarten teacher and the children in the kindergarten, constitute a supportive environment for Daniels
development. All this transpires while maintaining a
bridge with the childs home as another significant unit.
And last, while the kind of text addressed in the opening
scenario was a birthday invitation, the text of a story
would be just as illustrative. Thus, a narrativetold vocally or written, a story arising from or tied to the life
of the child, could equally serve to demonstrate literacyenhancing activities. This could involve an endeavor
that can be as accessible and significant as writing the
text of ones own birthday invitation.
According to cultural educational pedagogists, education in general, and especially for young children, is a
matter of adapting the culture to their needs as human
beings and, at the same time, adapting the young children to the culture in which they live. Awareness, dialogue, and reflection constitute the cornerstones of this
process called cultural pedagogy.
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Cole, M. (1997). Cultural psychology: A once and future discipline.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
DeBaryshe, D. B. (1993, March). Maternal reading-related beliefs and
reading socialization practices in low SES homes. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in
Child Development, New Orleans, LA.
Gardner, H. (1996). Multiple intelligence: The theory in practice. New
York: Basic Books.
Korat, O. (1998). Mother-child interactions, maternal beliefs and
childs development: text writing in two social groups. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Piaget, J. (1967). Six psychological studies. New York: Random
House.
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development
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Valsiner, J. (1987). Culture and the development of children in action:
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Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher
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