Collaboration, Harmony, Attention & Acomedido: Learning Strengths among Mexican and Indigenous Peoples of the Americas

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium examines collaboration and relational values among Indigenous and Indigenous-heritage communities of the Americas, from a LOPI theoretical perspective (Rogoff & Mejía-Arauz, 2022). We document how children, families, and college students engage in shared endeavors marked by mutual support, harmony, attentiveness, and being acomedido. Paper 1 describes collaborative workshopping with Guatemalan Mayan mothers and grandmothers, examining decades of change and continuity in collaboration and harmonious interactions. Paper 2 analyzes generational shifts in children’s third-party attention in the same Mayan town. Paper 3 examines Mapuche children transforming a classroom task into a collective effort grounded in cultural values. Paper 4 explores Mexican-American students’ collaborative approaches in higher education. Collectively, these studies inform educational research grounded in community strengths.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Cultural-Historical Research

Chair

• Itzel Aceves-Azuara, California State University - Sacramento

Papers

• Inclusive Collaboration and Harmony – Between Researchers and Mayan Research Participants - Barbara Rogoff, University of California - Santa Cruz; Itzel Aceves-Azuara, California State University - Sacramento

• Third-Party Attention Across Generations of Guatemalan Mayan Children - Itzel Aceves-Azuara, California State University - Sacramento; Barbara Rogoff, University of California - Santa Cruz; Katie G. Silva, University of California - Santa Cruz

• The primacy of the common good: Mapuche children collaborating to achieve a learning goal in a science classroom - Paula Alonqueo, University of La Frontera

• Do College Students Collaborate Differently? A Cultural Lens on Latino and European American Group Work - Itzel Aceves-Azuara, California State University - Sacramento; Amanda Maria Lopez, California State University, Sacramento; Mariana Lara, California State University - Sacramento

Session Organizer

• Itzel Aceves-Azuara, California State University - Sacramento

Discussant

• Andrew Dayton, University of Southern California