This article addresses cultural differences in children's initiative in helping in their home. Many 6- to 8-year-old children from an Indigenous-heritage community in Guadalajara, Mexico, were reported to engage, on their own initiative, in complex work for the benefit of the whole family (such as tending younger siblings, cooking, or running errands). In contrast, few children from a cosmopolitan community in Guadalajara, in which families had extensive experience with Western schooling and associated practices, were reported to contribute to family household work, and seldom on their own initiative. They were more often reported to be involved in activities managed by adults, and to have limited time to play, compared with the children in the Indigenous-heritage community, who were often reported to have plenty of time for free play and often planned and initiated their own after-school activities. The differences in children's contributions on their own initiative support the idea that children in some Indigenous American communities have opportunities and are expected and allowed to learn with initiative by observing and pitching in to collaborative endeavors of their families and communities.

Cultural research can help to identify strengths of cultural communities that are often viewed through a deficit model. Strengths-based approaches open researchers, practitioners, and the public to seeing the logic and value of cultural practices that vary from mainstream approaches. Strengths-based approaches include and extend beyond concerns for social equity: They are necessary for scientific characterization of human cognitive and social processes as well as for effective educational and societal practices. An example of a cultural strength is the sophisticated collaboration shown by many Indigenous-heritage children from North and Central America, which contrasts with the common practice in middle-class communities of dividing up activities into separate roles. These distinct approaches to working together fit with broader cultural paradigms that offer insights into human development as well as inspiration for alternative approaches. As an anonymous reviewer noted, the strengths of each group can be leveraged to mesh with the strengths of others.

Children's views on their household work as mutual contribution within the family may encourage their initiative in pitching in. We asked 9- and 10-year-old children from a Mexican city how they viewed child participation in family household work. Almost all of the 16 children reported that children want to contribute to family household work, which they regarded as the shared responsibility of everyone in the family. However, the 8 children who lived in an Indigenous-heritage community were more often reported to take initiative to make broad and complex work contributions than children from a newly schooled community. The children in the Indigenous-heritage community more often emphasized their mutual coordination and collaboration with other members of the family, whereas children from the newly schooled community often focused on their personal contributions. We examine cultural values that may support children in viewing household work as part of being a responsible family member, and consider the possibility that these encourage children's development of initiative.

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