Children's culturally enriched social development

Abstract

Around the world children grow up in a variety of different cultural settings that shape their social relationships in ways that are adaptive for the societies and the social worlds in which they live. The physical and social setting, the family configuration, parents' ethnotheories about appropriate childrearing practices and parenting styles, and the broader social, governmental, educational, and economic context influence the course of the child's social, emotional, and cognitive development. Children learn a great deal over the preschool years as they interact with people in their social networks who help shape various aspects of their social development. Understanding the role of culture is integral to having a more complete, deeper understanding of children's development in their everyday social worlds.