Cultural patterns of collaboration and communication while working together among U.S. Mexican heritage children

To examine the cultural organization of collaboration, 50 U.S. Mexican-heritage sibling pairs (ages 6-11) were videotaped as they participated in a puzzle construction activity. Half were from families with more recent connection with rural practices, and limited schooling (“pueblo families”) and half from “high schooling families” (more connection with middle-class practices, higher schooling). Children were given a previously constructed model, parts to construct another, and left alone. Every 10 s coders noted how the siblings coordinated either: jointly engaged, checking-in, solo, or off-task and if collaboration was organized either verbally, nonverbally, or with multiple means. Children from “Pueblo” families engaged jointly and used nonverbal and multiple means of communication more than children from “high schooling” families who more often worked solo, were off-task, and used talk to communicate. Results are linked to practices in Indigenous American communities where children's Learning by Observing and Pitching In is common.