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Children, Families, and Communities in Brazil: A Cultural-Ecological Approach to Child-Rearing Values and Practices

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International Handbook of Early Childhood Education

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

Abstract

In this chapter we argue that variations in parents’ child-rearing values, beliefs, and practices cannot be understood by viewing cultures as simply fitting somewhere along an “independent vs. interdependent” or “individualistic vs. collectivist” continuum. Instead it makes more sense to consider cultures as differing along two orthogonal dimensions (autonomy–conformity and relatedness–separation). Cultural-ecological theory requires attending to the everyday activities and interactions in which people engage, and how those activities and interactions are influenced (a) by the cultural group in which people live, (b) by the historical time in which they are growing up, and (c) by individuals’ own personal characteristics. We use this theory to make sense of families and children in different communities in Brazil. Specifically, we show that within-society cultural differences of region, education, and income in Brazil are clearly reflected in parents’ child-rearing values and beliefs and how those values and beliefs have changed over historical time. Most important, however, and as the theory predicts, these variations in values and beliefs have a strong influence on the activities and interactions in which parents engage with their children.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jonathan R. H. Tudge & Elisa A. Merçon-Vargas

  2. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Gabriela D. F. Martins

  3. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, Campinas, Brazil

    Letícia L. Dellazzana-Zanon

  4. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Cesar A. Piccinini & Lia B. L. Freitas

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  1. Jonathan R. H. Tudge
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  2. Gabriela D. F. Martins
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  4. Letícia L. Dellazzana-Zanon
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  5. Cesar A. Piccinini
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  6. Lia B. L. Freitas
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Correspondence to Jonathan R. H. Tudge .

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  1. Faculty of Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Marilyn Fleer

  2. Department of Theory & Research in Education, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Bert van Oers

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Tudge, J.R.H., Martins, G.D.F., Merçon-Vargas, E.A., Dellazzana-Zanon, L.L., Piccinini, C.A., Freitas, L.B.L. (2018). Children, Families, and Communities in Brazil: A Cultural-Ecological Approach to Child-Rearing Values and Practices. In: Fleer, M., van Oers, B. (eds) International Handbook of Early Childhood Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0927-7_78

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