9302036 Valsiner This U.S.-Brazil Program award will support the collaboration of Jaan Valsiner of the Carolina Consortium on Human Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Maria Ferreira of the Brazilian Consortium on Human Development at the University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto. The project aims to explore social ecology of child development. The Carolina Consortium involves the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. The Brazilian Consortium involves the University of Brasilia, University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto, State University of Campinas, Federal University of Pernambuco, and Federal University of Fluminense. Research topics in this group-to-group interaction include the construction of semiotic means in adult-infant interaction; cooperation and competition in children's peer-group relations; co-constructivist analysis of parental and teachers' roles in educational settings; life-course analysis; and children's development of literacy in sociocultural contexts. All of the institutions involved in this collaborative effort will benefit from an exchange of knowledge and methodologies and the establishment of an organized framework among Brazilian and U.S. developmental scientists. ***
