Cultural Practices in Children's Learning and Development

Across diverse settings, cultural practices shape the ways children acquire skills, values and knowledge. From communal storytelling to hands-on apprenticeship in family and community tasks, learning is embedded in everyday life rather than confined to formal instruction. Socialisation routines—such as collective care, non-verbal signalling and collaborative problem solving—reflect longstanding traditions and respond to local ecological and economic needs. Contemporary theory emphasises the mutual constitution of individual cognition and cultural context, showing that development unfolds through participation in shared endeavours. In many indigenous and immigrant communities, for instance, children learn by observing and contributing to household or agricultural chores, fostering attention, agency and intergenerational transmission of values. Conventional schooling often prioritises decontextualised curricula, but culturally responsive approaches seek to bridge home and school by recognising and integrating community knowledge systems. Practical applications include designing programmes that value multilingualism, embedding local history and ecological knowledge in lessons, and training educators to collaborate with families and community elders. Such initiatives not only enhance learning outcomes but also support cultural sustainability and social cohesion.

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Cultural Practices in Children's Learning and Development publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in cultural practices in children's learning and development across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Intercultural perspective: An approach that recognises and integrates multiple cultural knowledge systems and values into educational processes.

Third-party attention: The ability to sustain focus on interactions between others, facilitating learning through observation of social exchanges.

Learning by Observing and Pitching In (LOPI): A framework in which children learn by actively participating in everyday community or household activities alongside others rather than through formal instruction alone.

References

1. Mutually Constituting, Fractal: Individual and Cultural Aspects of Holistic Process. Review of Research in Education (2023).
2. Teaching of Educational Content Expressing Mapuche Values to Children in Initial Education in La Araucanía Region, Chile. Education Sciences (2023).
3. Attention Paid by Children of Rural Mapuche, Urban Mapuche and Non-Indigenous Chilean Backgrounds to Interactions Directed at Others. Behavioral Sciences (2024).
4. Resilient Cultural Practices in Mexican Immigrant Families: Children’s Helping and Parental Goals and Aspirations. Behavioral Sciences (2025).