Conceptions of Educational Practices Among the Nahuas of Mexico: Past and Present

Historical documents and recent fieldwork indicate that, since the sixteenth century, there is robust continuity in central beliefs about learning among Nahuatl families. Nahuatl documents from nearly five centuries ago and current Nahuatl adults consider guidance and teaching to be accompaniment of the learner, more than direct action, because nobody can enter the minds and personalities of others. Learning by observing and pitching in is valued: The adults can organize good conditions of apprenticeship, they can indicate the good direction and the goal, serve as examples, and protect the learner. Across centuries, Nahuatl educational practices consist of facilitating observation by copresence, early training for attentive engagement, hiding nothing, and not preventing children from trying, as well as persuading children to be responsible, to work, and to adopt a calm attitude for paying close attention.