Cultural patterns in nonverbal collaboration between pairs of Indigenous children and pairs of urban middle-class children in México

Abstract

This study examines cultural patterns in nonverbal collaboration between pairs of Mexican children with varying familiarity with Indigenous ways of Learning by Observing and Pitching In (LOPI) and school-like middle-class ways of learning. Two-hundred-fourteen 8 to10 year old Mexican children from either an Indigenous town or an urban middle-class community in a nearby city played Chinese checkers in same-gendered pairs against another team (90 girls and 124 boys). The pairs were “not allowed” to talk or risk having their pieces moved backwards. Coders identified how children worked together and communicated in 5-s segments. Results indicate Indigenous children from families that were likely familiar with LOPI more commonly engaged in collaboration where they worked together seamlessly relying heavily on joint activity. The urban middle-class children whose families indicated no recent Indigenous history were more likely to collaborate less fluidly with large movements and actions seemingly intended to draw attention.