Barbara Rogoff

Who is Barbara Rogoff?

Barbara Rogoff is an educator whose interests lie in understanding and communicating the different learning thrusts between cultures, especially within her book The Cultural Nature of Human Development. Her work bridges psychology with anthropology, drawing on Vygotsky.

She holds the University of California Presidential Chair as a professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz.

Barbara Rogoff investigates cultural variation in learning processes and settings, with special interest in communities where schooling has not been prevalent. She is particularly interested in cultural aspects of collaboration, learning through observation, children's interest and keen attention to ongoing events, roles of adults as guides or as instructors, and children's opportunities to participate in cultural activities or in age-specific child-focused settings.

Her interests include cultural variation in learning processes, the organization of people's participation in shared problem solving, children's interest and keen attention to ongoing events, and children's opportunities to participate in cultural activities or in age-specific child-focused settings, with special interest in communities where schooling has not been prevalent.