Maternal Schooling and Children’s Patterns of Collaboration in a P’urépecha Town

• In Event: Roundtable Session 59
  In Roundtable Session: Increased Schooling and Changes in Child, Family, and Community Life

Abstract

Objectives and Framework
This study examined whether the collaboration style of Indigenous Méxican children in a P'urépecha community in Michoacán, México varied with their mothers' level of schooling. Teaching and learning in communities familiar with traditional Indigenous ways has been characterized as collaborative, relying on multiple modes of communication rather than prioritizing talk; this form of organizing interaction has been related to learning through Intent Community Participation (Rogoff, et al., 2003; Rogoff, et al., 2007). However these patterns may change with participation in sociocultural activity across generations. Mejía Arauz, Rogoff, Dexter, and Najafi (2007) found that children whose mothers had extensive schooling and were familiar with school-based forms of learning tended to use more talk when working together, in contrast to Méxican heritage children familiar with Indigenous ways. This study examines forms of collaboration within one Indigenous Mexican town where people vary widely in school experience.

Methods and Data
We videotaped 30 groups of four children (ages 8-10) as they played a game of Chinese checkers in teams of two against each other. Children were grouped by gender and maternal schooling levels. Coding of the videos was in 10 second segments and focused on ways in which the children organized interaction and how they used talk and non-verbal communication in that organization. The children could either be:
-Jointly engaged: both children concentrating and focused on the game jointly,
-Playing side-by-side: both playing, but not engaging with one another, or
-Not engaged
Preliminary results focused on pairs whose mothers averaged 6 years of schooling and pairs whose mothers had 12 or more years or schooling (N=8).

Results and Significance
Children whose mothers averaged 6 years of school coordinated jointly in 74.69% of segments, compared to 57.90% for children whose mothers had high schooling. Conversely children whose mothers had high schooling engaged in more side-by-side play, in 38.09% of segments compared to 19.83%. Children whose mothers averaged 6 years of school were not engaged in 4.74% of time segments, compared to 9.33% for children shoes mothers had high schooling. Additionally when pairs were jointly engaged, children whose mothers had high schooling were more likely to use talk as a way of organizing interaction, in 59.95% of those segments compared to 37.11% for children whose mothers averaged 6 years.

These different patterns observed seemed to be related to the children's familial participation in different ways of organizing teaching and learning. Traditional patterns may be changing as more people participate in Western schooling. However by identifying and elaborating different forms or organizing learning it may be possible for communities, families, and children to expand their repertoire of cultural practices for learning.

Authors

• Heather Mangione, Clark University

• Maricela Correa-Chavez, Clark University

• Rebeca Mejia-Arauz, ITESO University