ABSTRACT
Recent research on learning has turned to apprenticeship for theoretical inspiration because it offers a shorthand way of “saying no” to the theoretical position of “the culture of acquisition.” There are comparable things to be said about learning, schooling, and sociocultural order subsumed in a theory of situated practice. But this is not a familiar theoretical position, and an extended example may provide opportunities to work out some of its concepts in immediate terms. The Weight Watchers study explored the activities of nine new members of the dieting program as they incorporated new measurement practices into meal preparation over a period of weeks. De la Rocha’s analysis of the dieters’ accounts of their lives and diets offers considerable insight into the dilemmas that impel dieters to engage in math problem solving. Understanding-in-practice looks like a more powerful source of enculturation than the pedagogical efforts of caregivers and teachers.
