Development of teaching in ni‐Vanuatu children

Abstract

Teaching is an important mechanism of social learning. In industrialized societies, 3‐year‐olds tend to teach through demonstrations and short commands, while 5‐year‐olds use more verbal communication and abstract explanations. However, it remains unclear whether this generalizes to other cultures. This study presents results from a peer teaching game with 55 Melanesian children (4.7–11.4 years, 24 female) conducted in Vanuatu in 2019. Up to age 8, most participants taught through a participatory approach, emphasizing learning‐by‐doing, demonstrations, and short commands (57.1% of children aged 4–6 and 57.9% of children aged 7–8). Contrary to Western findings, abstract verbal communication only became common in children aged 9–11 (63.6%), suggesting that the ontogeny of teaching is shaped by the socio‐cultural environment.

The cultural evolution of teaching

“…Additionally, cross-cultural differences in the way caregivers interact with and instruct children may shape the developmental trajectory of children's teaching (see Corriveau et al, 2018 ). When teaching a game to a naive peer, children from rural Vanuatu, where early participation in productive activities is common in everyday life, have been found to use a participatory approach to teaching that emphasised learning-by-doing and short commands up until age 8 (Brandl et al, in press ). Abstract teaching with verbal explanations only became common from age 9 onwards (Brandl et al, in press ).…”

“…When teaching a game to a naive peer, children from rural Vanuatu, where early participation in productive activities is common in everyday life, have been found to use a participatory approach to teaching that emphasised learning-by-doing and short commands up until age 8 (Brandl et al, in press ). Abstract teaching with verbal explanations only became common from age 9 onwards (Brandl et al, in press ). These patterns differ from trajectories identified in industrialised societies, where abstract verbal instruction becomes the dominant strategy by age 5 (see Section 2 ).…”

“…Cross-cultural differences in the conceptualisation of teaching may also shape how children reason about teaching. When reflecting about how they taught their peer, nearly half of the 4–11-year-old ni-Vanuatu children who took part in Brandl et al ( in press ) focused on the content (what they taught); reflection about the transmission process and their communication strategies only increased from age 9 onwards. When reflecting about whether the learner mastered the game, most children at all ages treated the fact that they taught as evidence that learning occurred, with only a minority taking the learner's actual behaviour into account (Brandl et al, in press ).…”

“…When reflecting about how they taught their peer, nearly half of the 4–11-year-old ni-Vanuatu children who took part in Brandl et al ( in press ) focused on the content (what they taught); reflection about the transmission process and their communication strategies only increased from age 9 onwards. When reflecting about whether the learner mastered the game, most children at all ages treated the fact that they taught as evidence that learning occurred, with only a minority taking the learner's actual behaviour into account (Brandl et al, in press ). Again, this departs from patterns observed in industrialised societies with high levels of formal education, where children tend to emphasise their communication strategies and the learner's behaviour by age 5 (see Section 2 ).…”