Abstract
This paper analyzed how a 4 year old boy who had been labeled as 'difficult' became a full participant in the social community at nursery school, in his relationships with teachers and peers. The process of how he established his identity and was accepted and treated as a full member of the community was considered from a relational viewpoint, as an example of Lave and Wenger's (1991) "Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP). "Lave and Wenger conceived of identities as built upon long-term living relations between persons and their place through participation in 'communities of practice. 'Weekly longitudinal observations of the boy were made on videotape between April and December of 1993. Changes in his identity through interactions with peers and teachers in the participation process were evaluated and interpreted in relation to the transformation of the community as a whole, rather than to changes in the individual's internal functions or skills.
