This strong expression of caring provided both a consistency to the messages communicated from day to day and provided an underlying sense of meaning and purpose. Each student was able to become a valued participant in the practice of the class as the teacher used her knowledge of each student's capabilities to minimize the possibility of embarrassment and failure, adjust the demands of tasks, and confirm each individual's contribution. Tasks that extended across days and weeks and the teacher's ongoing referencing of past activities and future goals contributed to the continuity of learning across time. As participants in coherent practice, the students in each class developed a strong sense of membership and group identity. The classroom does not exist in isolation from the other contexts in which students learn.
Students are members of families.
Classrooms exist within schools, located within neighborhoods and communities. Information flows from one level to another, and each level represents a context for learning and a site of membership and identity. The coherence of these classrooms did not require students to reject or devalue their participation in other spheres. Rather, the teachers found ways to relate the worlds inside and outside of school, and to draw upon students' home experiences and build alliances with parents. Classroom discussions of school achievement, literary prowess, and good decision-making were conducted in ways that students could see themselves as skilled participants in a variety of situations.