This volume, first published in 1999, describes children's development in its cultural context. It stresses the point that children's development in diverse cultures follows different paths, depending on the developmental opportunities provided by their cultures. It illustrates that the everyday work at school, and play activities provided for children vary from one culture to another depending on the social and economical structure of children's cultures and adult beliefs about what is valuable for children's participation to secure optimal development. Thus, Children's Engagement in the World: Sociocultural Perspectives proposes to study children's development and education within its social as well as cultural context. It brings together the most recent theoretical advances in cultural psychology in order to establish a framework for the studies reported in it.