Studies on child development in cross-cultural contexts generally contrast child-rearing practices in traditional or non-Western with those of Western societies. Thus, they show how non-Western communities tend to emphasise the importance of interdependence and collectivism between family and group members; Western communities focus rather on the…

Mainstream educators tend to assume that families should follow a school-prescribed pathway, centred on parent-child storyreading sessions, to help their children become literate and achieve educational success. The research discussed here focuses on case studies of bilingual families with six-year-old children growing up in London, and shows that…