Parental Ethno Theories Of Childhood Development - 2795 Words

PARENTAL-ETHNO THEORIES Culture refers to many characteristics of a group of people, including attitudes, behaviors, customs and values that are transferred from one generation to the following. Cultures throughout the world share many similarities, but are distinguished by considerable differences. For instance, while masses of whole cultures, experiences happiness, how this feeling is expressed varies from one culture to the next. The way we greet someone, or behave in circumstances, with family, with guest, has the shadow of culture or environment in which we are supported and grown up. Culture has a very important function to play in child development. As the culture changes from place to place accordingly the ways of child rearing.†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"When he doesn’t have his nap or go to bed on time, we can always tell the difference—he’s not so happy and playful.† This scenario based on an actual observation illustrates how parents’ cultural beliefs, or â€Å"parental- ethno theories are expressed in the everyday lives of households. Understanding parents’ theories about their children are the key to understanding the strategies parents use to avail their kids grow up to become successful members of their communities. In particular, parental theories about children as learners provide grounding in the ways that parents think about children’s environments for learning. The topic of cultural variations among different societies is especially relevant when we look at the ideas and practices of parenting, since families bear the central duty of raising the following generation of citizens who will require working together across ethnic boundaries in an increasingly complex universe. In addition, cross-cultural research within a larger category such as â€Å"the West† offers the possibility of discovering both universals and differences: the themes and variations that make each culture seem recognizable yet different. PARENTAL-ETHNO THEORIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT NICHE Super and Harkness proposed a