This article explores the potential uses and extensions of sociocultural theoretical perspectives for integrating and further developing research on race, culture, and learning. Two bodies of literature are discussed and synthesized: (1) sociocultural theory and (2) studies on race, culture, and learning. The article proposes how a sociocultural lens might provide insight and suggests new lines of research on issues of race, culture, and learning. The authors argue for the extension of each of four lines of research in the sociocultural tradition: a concern with multiple levels of analysis, cultural practices as a unit of analysis, tools and artifacts as mediating action, and learning as shifts in social relations. In doing so, the authors raise critical questions for the field of education to consider.

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This study explored support for engagement in 2 settings: a high school basketball team and high school mathematics classrooms. Specifically, the study examined 3 aspects of these practices: (a) access to the domain, (b) opportunities to take on integral roles, and (c) opportunities for self-expression in the practice. Drawing on videotape and interview data from 2 African American high school students' participation in basketball and mathematics class, as well as interviews with players'teachers and coaches, this article analyzes how these 3 aspects of practices afforded differential engagement across settings. Findings indicated that the practice of basketball supported deep engagement as players had greater access to an understanding of the domain, were assigned and took up a unique role that was integral to the practice, and had opportunities to express themselves and feel competent. The high school mathematics classroom differentially afforded these opportunities, with 1 student taking them up and the other being unable to, and thus being less engaged. Potential implications of these 3 aspects of the practices for students' practice-linked identities and learning are discussed.Studies of learning in settings outside of school have documented differences in individuals' abilities to solve problems across settings, illustrating that cognition

Youth from minority groups often manage a tension between ethnic and academic identities as they are positioned and position themselves in relation to cultural practices in school and out. We argue that a framework involving three strands of analysis is necessary to understand these emerging tensions and their management in the lives of minority youth. The strands include analyses of shifts in (a) positioning that take form in face-to-face interactions, (b) positioning over developmental time, and (c) the cultural capital associated with practices themselves over the social histories of communities. We point to the importance of multimethod approaches to pursue such analyses.

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