This project studies how members of the Vai society of Liberia, West Africa, interpret and use the various careers available to them. Two field workers, one a native Vai presently a graduate student in NYC, will interview a small sample of individuals in three communities, a small city, an isolated country hamlet, and an intermediate country village. The understanding of local (Koranic) religious practice and scholarship, craft apprenticeship, traditional secular Vai scholarship and western schooling will be compared and contrasted in the decisions and discussions of the individuals and their families about their life trajectories. The research is intended to explore an approach to the cross-cultural analysis of Western school and other forms of life preparation, in a setting where cultural diversity is an important factor shaping the meaning and uses of schooling. It is also intended to provide a sociological grounding for previous psychologically oriented research on multiple literacies, including numeracy, in school and apprenticeship among this people. This research is important because it will help us understand what sorts of things people learn well and expect from formal schooling as opposed to informal learning.
