Cross-cultural conflict and harmony in the social construction of the child.

Adults in a culture symbolically construct an ideal child, and this ideal child is shaped by the culture’s goals for child development. However, the nature of this ideal varies from culture to culture (Harkness and Super, 1996). Ethnic diversity therefore implies varymg definitions of the ideal child. Many American schools are currently populated by children coming from immigrant families. Insofar as home culture differs from school culture, it is possible that parents and teachers may construct different images of the ideal child. Parent-teacher conferences furnish a uniquely rich and suitable locus for studylng the social construction of the child and its variability within a