RUNNING HEAD: CULTURE AND PARENTING

Culture and parenting

Introduction Parenting is the first and likely most important mechanism through which culture is reproduced (Cauce, 2008). Every child is born into a certain circumstance and learns through interactions with the surroundings. Parents are generally the first and key people in a child’s life, so it should come as no surprise that parenting has influences on the development of children’s temperament, which later impacts their school performance. This article is going to explore how parenting varies among different ethnic groups including Asian Americans, African American, Latinos, and European Americans. More specifically, what factors should be included when considering the parenting characteristics of a unique ethnic group and what implications might they have for schooling today.
Theories
Two of the modern theories that are concerned with cultural influences on human development are Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory and Ecological Systems Theory proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. First, Vygotsky’s theory defined culture as the values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group. His Sociocultural Theory focuses on how culture is transmitted to the next generation. According to Vygotsky, social interaction – in particular, cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society – is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up a community’s culture (Rowe & Wertsch, 2002). Vygotsky believed that adults and more expert peers can help children master culturally meaningful activities. Communications between them could become part of children’s thinking. By internalizing the essential features of these dialogues, children will use the language within them to guide their own thought, actions and