Redfield, Robert (1943/1970) Culture and Education in the Midwestern Highlands of Guatemala. “…toilet training: ‘If the child is old enough and able to understand, but nevertheless, still soils bed, it will be beaten however, only after it has been told several times not to do so, and then too, only if it still does not stop’.” (Casimir 2010: 35) … ‘We do not explain to the children what is good and bad, because they do not understand.’ …Children are also said to learn by experience-for example ‘when they touch the fire they learn that it hurts’.” (Casimir 2010: 31) ‘It dos not yet understand’ and ‘he or she is still a child’ are phrases often heard when a toddler or small child does not behave in the way expected of an older one. “West Pashtuns make a clear cognitive distinction between an adult and a child. “Even one of the highest character values of Pashtun society-‘courage’-is transferred mainly through the maternal line, through the mother’s milk.” (Casimir 2010: 30) These characteristics are principally translated, as they say, through ‘blood’…breast mild is equated with blood…thought to be formed from residual menstrual blood that has not been shed during pregnancy.” (Casimir 2010: 30) “The primary concept among the ‘qualities’ and capabilities of a child, and later the capacities and character of an adult, relates to what we would refer to as ‘genetic’ or ‘innate’. (2010) Growing Up in a Pastoral Society: Socialization Among Pashtu Nomads. 1 2 3 4 The decision to teach our childrenĬasimir, Michael J.