Abstract
The teaching behaviors of Mexican American mothers were examined using an everyday task and a school-related task. The sample consisted of 37 Mexican American mother-child dyads. The children’s mean age was 50.8 months (SD 6.1). The results indicate that when instructing the everyday task, mothers relied on the use of various verbal utterances to guide their children to task competence. When teaching the school-related task, the mothers relied on the use of nonverbal instructional behaviors. This suggests that mothers instruct their children in a complementary fashion, altering their general strategies with respect to the task demands on the children. Regardless of the task, the mothers followed an instructional pattern that is consistent with a Vygotskian framework.
Recommended Citation
Moreno, Robert P.
(2000)
"Teaching Practices of Mexican American Mothers
With Everyday and School-Related Tasks,"
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly: Vol. 46:
Iss.
4, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/mpq/vol46/iss4/6