Learning without lessons: Opportunities to expand knowledge

2012-01-01articleJournal for the Study of Education and Development Infancia y Aprendizaje42 citationsbronze

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Indigenous Cultures and Socio-Education Indigenous Studies in Latin America Innovative Education and Learning Practices

Abstract

A puzzle presented itself when I began to study cognitive development in a Guatemalan Mayan town, decades ago: How do people learn without being taught? In many Indigenous communities of the Americas, children are included in the wide range of activities of the community and they learn by observing what goes on around them and by pitching in. A new puzzle emerged as I wrote my 2011 book, Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town . The midwife who is central to this book claims that she did not learn by being taught, nor by observing and pitching in to childbirth events, but through dreams and divine selection. This invited article reflects on this research and my ongoing work on cultural values and practices associated with children pitching in to collaborative endeavors with initiative.

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