Development of teaching in ni-Vanuatu children |
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| Authors: | Eva Brandl Emily H Emmott Ruth Mace |
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| Institution: | 1. Lise Meitner Research Group BirthRites, Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany;2. Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK |
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| 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. |
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