"Teaching is so WEIRD"

Abstract

Direct active teaching by parents is largely absent in children's lives until the rise of WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized rich, democratic) society. However, as mothers become schooled and missionized - like Kline's Fijian subjects - they adopt "modern" parenting practices, including teaching. There is great variability, even within WEIRD society, of parental teaching, suggesting that teaching itself must be culturally transmitted.