Child work in Indigenous American cultures

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Child work in indigenous American cultures covers child work, defined as the physical and mental contributions by children towards achieving a personal or communal goal, in Indigenous American societies. As a form of prosocial behavior, children's work is often a vital contribution towards community productivity and typically involves non-exploitative motivations for children's engagement in work activities. [1] Activities can range from domestic household chores to participation in family and community endeavors. Inge Bolin notes that children's work can blur the boundaries between learning, play, and work in a form of productive interaction between children and adults. [2] Such activities do not have to be mutually exclusive. [3] [4]

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Child work and indigenous American communities

Children's work is a valued means of learning and child-rearing in many Indigenous American communities. It is seen as eagerly contributing in a collaborative and flexible environment, aimed at the children learning consideration, responsibility, and skills with the guidance and support of adults. [5] Indigenous American children are motivated to participate in the community because of cultural values, for example, everyone does something to participate, and wanting to be an equal member of society. [6] The children do not see it as working, but as helping, because they feel responsible for what happens within their communities. [7] As demonstrated by a Mexican Nahua community, children are encouraged to begin child work at the age of two for about 6 to 7 hours a day. They do not need to be convinced to help, but want to be involved in the activity. Child work can be household help, taking care of family members, or helping in community endeavors. [8]

Indigenous American children learn functional life skills through real-time observation of adults and interactive participation of these learned skills within the community. [9] Active contributions to family and community work directly affects children's cognitive maturity by allowing children agency over their own development. [10] This maturity at a younger age allows children to perform, potentially, higher-skilled tasks. Younger children have shown initiative by helping strangers to make them feel like a part of the community. Children do this by offering to help strangers or by treating them like family. [11] This maturity comes from the community fully incorporating children at a young age and allowing them to participate in everyday tasks. [12] The community trusts their children and treats them as equals, so the children want to engage in the community as much as they can. Parents trust their children to translate and negotiate bills with people, when the parents cannot speak the language. [13]

The maturity that indigenous American children develop is demonstrated in Zinacantec Mayan communities, where children learn complex motor skills and techniques for weaving through keen observation of working adults and by executing the skills themselves. [14] Also, in Peru, young Chillihuani boys learn how to build shelters and homes by actively assisting adults during the building process by moving and placing appropriate size stones. [15] Ethnographic studies show that Indigenous American children learn intently through keen observation in activities by other children. [16]

Children's work is also attributed to learning cultural values in addition to individual personality development. Many Indigenous children in Peru develop a sense of responsibility by participating in work often motivated by an internal and external drive to be an active participant in the community. [17] Paradise & De Haan refer to this process as practicing responsibility and reciprocity through role-taking as an observing helper or active performer. [18] Through participation in work, most children in Indigenous American communities identify as cooperative members of a community through first-hand exposure to the direct impact of their action or inaction in community responsibilities. [19] In Guatemalan Mayan communities, children are often expected to take part in these practices. When schools became prevalent, children who were not seen as providing valuable contributions to family and community endeavors may only then be sent away to school to make use of their time. [20]

Some indigenous communities are skeptical of sending their children to Western Schools, because their children lose the initiative to help their families and are not as motivated. Western schooling is a different way of teaching than indigenous communities teach their children. [21] However, children that go through western schooling learn English and end up translating for their families, which is another way of helping them or another way of learning. The children perfect their English and Spanish, as well as their social skills because they interact with many types of people by translating for their families. [22]

Learning by Observing and Pitching In

The initiative that indigenous children demonstrate is part of the process of Learning by Observing and Pitching In. LOPI is a six faceted process of learning commonly used by indigenous American cultures. Also known by "Intent Community Participation," it fully immerses a child into the community and allows them to learn, through observation and participation, as they help within their family as well as within their community. [23] Children learn through their work, which is a cultural tradition among indigenous people. Child work is a social experience that allows a child to gain a sense of responsibility and build ties among the community. [24] LOPI is distinctly different from traditional forms of Western learning. Instead of focusing on "formal" or instructional learning in school settings which typically place emphasis on children's motivation and attention capabilities, LOPI engages with their everyday lives. As it seems, the way in which society decides to teach children falls on either end of the spectrum (LOPI or Westernization ways) rather than on the basis of a continuum. LOPI, as stated above, places high emphasis on integration of children in the endeavors of their families and community. The six faceted process of learning can be summarized as follows: community organization of learning, motive, social organization of endeavors, goal of learning, learning according to means, and communication. [25] An important aspect of the LOPI model is the in-depth ethnographic and biological observations as well as comparative studies that were used to generate the facets about Indigenous American communities. It is necessary to take into consideration the model of LOPI as a coherent system as each facet plays a role in relation to the next. It is also possible to compare LOPI to Assembly-Line Instruction which aims to control the learner's attention, motivation, and behavior in the community. [25] This approach was originally founded due to the influx of new students as a result of immigration. In this approach, school and activities related to family and community are segregated. There are large contrasting differences in the collaborative guidance and the control of the learner's attention and behavior between LOPI and Assembly-Line Instruction. As learning works, there are several different approaches one can take and culture and generational differences have influential effects. Most real life situations will not strictly adhere to either of these models. The original intent of LOPI was to study cultural differences in learning across nations rather than to make assumptions based on race, ethnicity, or national origins.

International Labour Organization recognition of child work vs. child labour

The International Labour Organization recognizes the importance of child work in various cultures. In most Indigenous communities, work is a source of pride for both adults and children. Because of different cultural views involving labor, the International Labour Organization (ILO) developed a series of culturally sensitive mandates including Conventions No. 169, 107, 138, and 182 to protect indigenous culture, traditions, and identities. Conventions No. 138 and 182 lead in the fight against child labour, while No. 107 and 169 promote the right of indigenous and tribal peoples and protect their right to define their own developmental priorities. [26] The ILO recognizes these changes are necessary to respect the culture and traditions of other communities while also looking after the welfare of children. In many Indigenous communities, parenting includes teaching children to learn important life lessons through the act of work and through participation in daily life.

Working is seen as a learning process preparing children for the tasks they will have to do as an adult. [27] It is a belief that the family's and child's well-being and survival is a shared responsibility between members of the whole family. They also see work as an intrinsic part of their child's developmental process. While these attitudes toward child work remain, many children and parents from indigenous communities still highly value education. [28] ILO wants to include these communities in the fight against exploitative child labor while being sensitive to their traditions and values.

Related Research Articles

Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. It is a form of social learning which takes various forms, based on various processes. In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a social model such as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher with surroundings. Particularly in childhood, a model is someone of authority or higher status in an environment. In animals, observational learning is often based on classical conditioning, in which an instinctive behavior is elicited by observing the behavior of another, but other processes may be involved as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parenting</span> Process of raising a child

Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and cognitive development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biological relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storytelling</span> Social and cultural sharing of stories

Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation or instilling moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view. The term "storytelling" can refer specifically to oral storytelling but also broadly to techniques used in other media to unfold or disclose the narrative of a story.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adult education</span> Any form of learning adults engage in beyond traditional schooling

Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. It can mean any form of learning adults engage in beyond traditional schooling, encompassing basic literacy to personal fulfillment as a lifelong learner, and to ensure the fulfillment of an individual.

Teasing has multiple meanings and uses. In human interactions, teasing exists in three major forms: playful, hurtful, and educative. Teasing can have a variety of effects, depending on how it is used and its intended effect. When teasing is unwelcome, it may be regarded as harassment or mobbing, especially in the workplace and school, or as a form of bullying or emotional abuse. If done in public, it may be regarded as humiliation. Teasing can also be regarded as educative when it is used as a way of informal learning. Adults in some of the Indigenous American communities often tease children to playfully illustrate and teach them how their behavior negatively affects the community. Children in many Indigenous American communities also learn by observing what others do in addition to collaborating with them. Along with teasing, this form of informal learning is different from the ways that Western American children learn. Informal ways of child learning include mutual responsibility, as well as active collaboration with adults and peers. This differentiates from the more formal way of learning because it is not adult-oriented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collaboration</span> Act of working together

Collaboration is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most collaboration requires leadership, although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. Teams that work collaboratively often access greater resources, recognition and rewards when facing competition for finite resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public participation (decision making)</span> Extent to which societies encourage the people to share in organizational decision-making

Citizen participation or public participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions—and ideally exert influence—regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision-making can take place along any realm of human social activity, including economic, political, management, cultural or familial.

Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together. Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another's resources and skills. More specifically, collaborative learning is based on the model that knowledge can be created within a population where members actively interact by sharing experiences and take on asymmetric roles. Put differently, collaborative learning refers to methodologies and environments in which learners engage in a common task where each individual depends on and is accountable to each other. These include both face-to-face conversations and computer discussions. Methods for examining collaborative learning processes include conversation analysis and statistical discourse analysis.

In philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, intersubjectivity is the relation or intersection between people's cognitive perspectives.

Youth participation is the active engagement of young people throughout their own communities. It is often used as a shorthand for youth participation in any many forms, including decision-making, sports, schools and any activity where young people are not historically engaged.

Social learning is learning that takes place at a wider scale than individual or group learning, up to a societal scale, through social interaction between peers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Childhood in Maya society</span>

The role of the children in ancient Mayan civilization was first, and foremost, to help their elders. Once children turned five or six, they were expected to contribute to the family and community. They were treated as young adults and received more responsibilities as they grew older.

Team learning is the collaborative effort to achieve a common goal within the group. The aim of team learning is to attain the objective through dialogue and discussion, conflicts and defensive routines, and practice within the group. In the same way, indigenous communities of the Americas exhibit a process of collaborative learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Informal learning</span> Category of learning situation

Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and organizing in terms of the learning context, learning support, learning time, and learning objectives". It differs from formal learning, non-formal learning, and self-regulated learning, because it has no set objective in terms of learning outcomes, but an intent to act from the learner's standpoint. Typical mechanisms of informal learning include trial and error or learning-by-doing, modeling, feedback, and reflection. For learners this includes heuristic language building, socialization, enculturation, and play. Informal learning is a pervasive ongoing phenomenon of learning via participation or learning via knowledge creation, in contrast with the traditional view of teacher-centered learning via knowledge acquisition. Estimates suggest that about 70-90 percent of adult learning takes place informally and outside educational institutions.

Informal education is a general term for education that can occur outside of a traditional lecture or school based learning systems. The term even include customized-learning based on individual student interests within a curriculum inside a regular classroom, but is not limited to that setting. It could work through conversation, and the exploration and enlargement of experience. Sometimes there is a clear objective link to some broader plan, but not always. The goal is to provide learners with the tools they need to eventually reach more complex material. It can refer to various forms of alternative education, such as unschooling or homeschooling, autodidacticism (self-teaching), and youth work.

Learning through play is a term used in education and psychology to describe how a child can learn to make sense of the world around them. Through play children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous education</span> Education that focuses on teaching within formal or non-formal educational systems

Indigenous education specifically focuses on teaching Indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content within formal or non-formal educational systems. The growing recognition and use of Indigenous education methods can be a response to the erosion and loss of Indigenous knowledge through the processes of colonialism, globalization, and modernity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child development of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas</span> Overview of the child development of the indigenous peoples of the Americas

Styles of children’s learning across various indigenous communities in the Americas have been practiced for centuries prior to European colonization and persist today. Despite extensive anthropological research, efforts made towards studying children’s learning and development in Indigenous communities of the Americas as its own discipline within Developmental Psychology, has remained rudimentary. However, studies that have been conducted reveal several larger thematic commonalities, which create a paradigm of children’s learning that is fundamentally consistent across differing cultural communities.

Child integration is the inclusion of children in a variety of mature daily activities of families and communities. This contrasts with, for example, age segregation; separating children into age-defined activities and institutions. Integrating children in the range of mature family and community activities gives equal value and responsibility to children as contributors and collaborators, and can be a way to help them learn. Children's integration provides a learning environment because children are able to observe and pitch in as they feel they can.

Indigenous cultures in North America engage in storytelling about morality, origin, and education as a form of cultural maintenance, expression, and activism. Falling under the banner of oral tradition, it can take many different forms that serve to teach, remember, and engage Indigenous history and culture. Since the dawn of human history, oral stories have been used to understand the reasons behind human existence. Today, Indigenous storytelling is part of the broader indigenous process of building and transmitting indigenous knowledge.

References

  1. ↑ Bourdillon, Michael (2010). Rights and Wrongs of Children's Work . Rutgers University Press. ISBN   978-0-8135-4889-0.
  2. ↑ Bolin, Inge (2006). Growing Up in a Culture of Respect: Child Rearing in Highland Peru. University of Texas Press. ISBN   978-0-292-71298-0.
  3. ↑ Morelli, Gilda A.; Barbara Rogoff; Cathy Angelillo (2003). "Cultural variation in young children's access to work or involvement in specialised child-focused activities". International Journal of Behavioral Development. 27 (3): 264–274. doi:10.1080/01650250244000335. S2CID   145563973. Archived from the original on 24 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Rogoff, Barbara; Gilda A. Morelli; Pablo Chavajay (2010). "Children's Integration in Communities and Segregation from People of Different Ages". Perspectives on Psychological Science. 5 (4): 431–440. doi:10.1177/1745691610375558. PMID   26162189. S2CID   1391080 . Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Learning by Observing and Pitching In Overview". Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Pewewardy, C (2002). "Learning styles of American Indian/Alaska Native Students: A review of the literature and implications for practice". Journal of American Indian Education. 41: 3.
  7. ↑ Coppens, A. D.; Alcala, L.; Mejia-Arauz; Rogoff, B. (2014). "Children's initiative in family household work in Mexico". Human Development. 57 (2–3): 116–130. doi:10.1159/000356768. S2CID   144758889.
  8. ↑ Alcala, L.; Rogoff, B.; Mejia-Arauz, R.; Coppens, A. D.; Dexter, A. L. (2014). "Children's initiative in contributions to family work in indigenous-heritage and cosmopolitan communities in Mexico". Human Development. 57 (2–3): 96–115. doi:10.1159/000356763. S2CID   143672802.
  9. ↑ Paradise, R.; Rogoff, B. (2009). "Side by side: Learning through observation and participation". Ethos. 37: 102–138. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1352.2009.01033.x.
  10. ↑ Bourdillon, Michael (2010). Rights and Wrongs of Children's Work. Rutgers University Press. pp.  134–135. ISBN   978-0-8135-4889-0.
  11. ↑ Bolin, I. (2006). Growing up in a culture of respect child rearing in highland Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press.
  12. ↑ Maynard, A (2002). "Maynard, A. E.. (2002). Cultural teaching: The development of teaching skills in Maya sibling interactions". Child Development. 73 (3): 969–982. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00450. PMID   12038563.
  13. ↑ Reynolds, J. F.; Orellana, M. F. (2009). "New immigrant youth interpreting in white public space". American Anthropologist. 111 (2): 211–223. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1433.2009.01114.x.
  14. ↑ Maynard, A.; Greenfield, P.; Childs, C. (1999). "Culture, history, biology, and body: Native and non-native acquisition of technical skill". Ethos. 27 (3): 379–402. doi:10.1525/eth.1999.27.3.379.
  15. ↑ Bolin, Inge (2006). Growing Up in a Culture of Respect: Child Rearing in Highland Peru. University of Texas Press. pp. 63–67. ISBN   978-0-292-71298-0.
  16. ↑ Silva, Katie; Correa-Chavez, M.; Rogoff, B. (2010). "Mexican-Heritage children's attention and learning from interactions directed to others". Child Development. 81 (3): 898–912. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01441.x. PMID   20573112 . Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  17. ↑ Ames, P. (2013). "Learning to be responsible: Young children transitions outside school". Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction. 2 (3): 143–154. doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2013.04.002.
  18. ↑ Paradise, R.; De Haan, M. (2009). "Responsibility and reciprocity: Social organization of Mazahua learning practices". Anthropology & Education Quarterly. 40 (2): 187–204. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1492.2009.01035.x.
  19. ↑ Ames, P. (2013). "Learning to be responsible: Young children transitions outside school". Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction. 2 (3): 143–154. doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2013.04.002.
  20. ↑ Rogoff, Barbara (2011). Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 6. ISBN   978-0-19-531990-3.
  21. ↑ Lynn,S. (2007). Transborder Lives: Indigenous Oaxacans in Mexico, California, and Oregon. Duke University Press, 2007. ISBN   978-0822339908
  22. ↑ Reynolds, J. F.; Orellana, M. F. (2009). "New immigrant youth interpreting in white public space". American Anthropologist. 111 (2): 211–223. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1433.2009.01114.x.
  23. ↑ Rogoff, B (2014). "Learning by observing and pitching in to family and community endeavors: An orientation". Human Development. 57 (2–3): 69–81. doi:10.1159/000356757. S2CID   144557719.
  24. ↑ Paradise, R.; Rogoff, B. (2009). "Side by side: Learning by observing and pitching in". Ethos Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology. 37 (1): 102–138. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1352.2009.01033.x.
  25. 1 2 "Learning by Observing and Pitching in to Family and Community Endeavors". www.karger.com. doi:10.1159/000356757. S2CID   144557719 . Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  26. ↑ Larsen, P.B. Indigenous and tribal children: assessing child labour and education challenges. International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), International Labour Office.
  27. ↑ Guidelines for Combating Child Labour Among Indigenous Peoples. Geneva: International Labour Organization. 2006. ISBN   92-2-118748-9.
  28. ↑ Larsen, P.B. Indigenous and tribal children: assessing child labour and education challenges. International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), International Labour Office.
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