This paper reports research on interactional patterns associated with teaching and learning among Polynesian-Hawaiian children. Earlier ethnographic studies indicate that Hawaiian people may employ sets of learning and teaching behaviors which differ widely from those usually used in public schools. Comparison of videotaped mother and child interactions of both Hawaiians and Midwesterners showed that Hawaiian mothers used fewer verbal directions than did Midwestern mothers, although interaction rates were the same in both groups. Children of Hawaiian mothers who were high in verbal direction were more advanced in school at the end of the first grade than were children of Hawaiian mothers who were low in verbal direction. Observation of Hawaiian child-child classroom interactions has resulted in the identification of information-seeking, help-seeking, and teaching patterns. Interaction of Hawaiian children is built on mutual involvement in the accomplishment of specific tasks. The rule-statements and verbal directions pervasively used by teachers in public schools are notably absent from Hawaiian child-child interactions. Further research into child-child teaching and learning is planned. (RH)