Playing on the Mother Ground

Expanding the dimensions of child development theory, this book moves away from the norm of the white, middle-class, Euro-American child, concentrating instead on children in West Africa who grow up without formal schooling and/or parents who serve as teachers. It describes the lives of children who are, in many ways, responsible for their own education. Casually supervised by village members, these young people learn through societal "routines" such as games, folktales, apprenticeship, and the observation of their elders. A vivid ethnographic description, the volume is augmented by anthropological material on children from dozens of non-Western societies.