Feeling-Talk in Preschool: Teacher Views of Emotional Expression and its Significance

Abstract

Introduction:  In recent years, interest in cross-cultural definitions of personhood has grown considerably.  Anthropologists like Shweder (Shweder & Bourne, 1982), and Geertz (1979) have called our attention to the fact that our cherished but deeply implicit notions of what constitutes a person represent just one cultural possibility.  Every culture has a particular set of ideas about what constitutes a self, and these ideas shape how we interact with children.  We want children to develop selves with particular qualities and we want them to adopt the culturally appropriate definition of personhood, in order to become properly socialized.