Abstract:
The purposes of this research were to study the child rearing practices of Chao Lay parents in promoting child development and to investigate factors affecting the practices. As an ethnographic study,participant observation and informal interview were used to collect data. Analytic Induction was then used to analyze the data. The results of this study revealed Chao Lay mothers had more roles in child rearing than the fathers and emphasized the childs physical development more than other areas of development. In supporting the childs physical development, Chao Ley parents emphasized eating and folk ways of nursing when their children were ill. In supporting the childs mind and emotional development, Chao Lay parents were usually expressed affection for children by holding and touching and seldom used folk materials to support this development. In supporting the childs social development, Chao Lay parents encouraged their children to have good relationship with other children and adults in the village and tought them to be helpful, sharing and co-operative. In supporting the childs intellectual development, Chao Lay parents supported their childrens language learning, creative thinking and learning about natural, environment within their context. Cultural Ecology theory were used to analyze the factors affecting the child rearing practices of Cho Lay parents. The results revealed geography, family and kinship, economics, society, education, beliefs and culture were factors that had affected the child rearing practices of Chao Lay parents.