Teaching children through ‘little dramas’: Opinions about instructional ribbing from Mexican-heritage and European American mothers

Abstract

The word 'teasing' likely brings on a negative connotation, however, little is known about a particular form of teasing that is used by adults in several underrepresented communities that may function to indirectly teach or socialize children about the expectations of the community. I have termed this form of teasing Instructional Ribbing. This study explores Mexican-heritage and European American mothers' conceptualizations about instructional ribbing as a mode of teaching and guiding children's behavior. Mothers and their 7-12 year-old children (n = 50) listened to stories that portrayed instructional ribbing and answered a series of questions about the usefulness of instructional ribbing. The Mexican-heritage mothers who had experience in Indigenous ways and little experience in formal schooling and formal parenting classes most often viewed instructional ribbing as a positive and useful strategy to teach children, and associated it with positive side-consequences related to their cultural values. The European American mothers most often viewed instructional ribbing negatively and associated it with negative side-consequences. The Mexican-heritage mothers who had extensive experience in formal schooling and/or parenting classes varied in how they viewed instructional ribbing with about half of them viewing it very positively and the other half rather negatively. This study supports the idea that instructional ribbing is a valued form of teaching children in families where it is used to socialize children to the expectations and values of the community.