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| "Culturally responsive comes from understanding self and others so that different values are understood and respected, rather than one set of values being imposed on all." |
What is Culture? How can it be defined?
cul·ture [kuhl-cher] noun,
verb
- the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners and scholarly pursuits
- a particular form or stage of civilization, as that or a certain nation or period
- development or improvement of the mind be education or training
- the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group
- the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another
(Taken from www.dictionary.com)
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| Culture Map of Alaska (Google Images) |
What is Culture?
Culture is defined as the shared patterns of
behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding
that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns
identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of
another group. (Center for Advanced
Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA))
Culture is who I am. It is so integrated and embedded in me, my personality, my preferences, my hopes, my dreams, my worldview, my future and past, that I cannot separate myself from it. Culture raised me in my grandparents' and parents' words, actions and embraces. Culture was there when I married my wife and raised our children. We talked with our culture influencing us, we acted with culture leading the path.
Today, I am different culturally than my brother or sister. Although we three were raised by the same parents and in the same home, and with many similar experiences, I am different than they. My cultural experience and understanding has morphed significantly due to my arrival and "enculturation" in Alaska.
What is Culture?
What is Culture?
How Can It Be Defined?
[1] "Most social scientists today view culture as
consisting primarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of
human societies. The essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other
tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and
perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives
that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies; it is not
material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. People within a
culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in
the same or in similar ways." (Banks, Banks & McGee, Multicultural Education, 1989)
Culture is the words, expressions and gestures I use to express myself to others. My words can be spoken or written and show the world my culture, including my cultural preferences and biases.
Culture is the words, expressions and gestures I use to express myself to others. My words can be spoken or written and show the world my culture, including my cultural preferences and biases.
[2] "Culture: learned and shared human patterns or models
for living; day- to-day living patterns. these patterns and models pervade all
aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankind's primary adaptive
mechanism" (Damen, Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension on the Language Classroom, 1987).
I get up each morning at 5:00. I follow the same pattern in my morning, in the afternoon and the evening. I have to work to understand others that do differently and value or do not value my patterns.
Since moving to Alaska, my world has been shaken by the necessity to deviate from established patterns. The darkness affects my patterns as well as the extended daylight in other times of the year. My communication patterns have been changed by new words, new expressions, and new expectations by my adopted Alaska culture.
Each day in my life I used similar words, especially in greetings, in welcomes, in discipline, in instruction. Now due to a relocation to Alaska, those words have different meanings.
I get up each morning at 5:00. I follow the same pattern in my morning, in the afternoon and the evening. I have to work to understand others that do differently and value or do not value my patterns.
Since moving to Alaska, my world has been shaken by the necessity to deviate from established patterns. The darkness affects my patterns as well as the extended daylight in other times of the year. My communication patterns have been changed by new words, new expressions, and new expectations by my adopted Alaska culture.
Each day in my life I used similar words, especially in greetings, in welcomes, in discipline, in instruction. Now due to a relocation to Alaska, those words have different meanings.
[3] "Culture is the collective programming of the mind
which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another."
(Hofstede, Communication Between Cultures, 1984).
I am from a California culture that expresses itself differently to people than what I see in Alaska. My mind has learned acceptable and unacceptable phraseology that I can use with the California "category" of people. I have learned in positive and negative experiences, that the same phraseology does not necessarily work in Alaska. The minds of Alaskans have been "programmed" differently than mine. If I continue to choose to live here, I am the one that will adapt.
I am from a California culture that expresses itself differently to people than what I see in Alaska. My mind has learned acceptable and unacceptable phraseology that I can use with the California "category" of people. I have learned in positive and negative experiences, that the same phraseology does not necessarily work in Alaska. The minds of Alaskans have been "programmed" differently than mine. If I continue to choose to live here, I am the one that will adapt.
[4] "By culture we mean all those historically created
designs for living, explicit and implicit, rational, irrational, and
nonrational, which exist at any given time as potential guides for the behavior
of men." (Kluckhohn & Kelly, The Science of Man in the World Culture, 1945)
Early in my Alaskan experience, when it rained, I grabbed an umbrella. I learned from my past that an umbrella is the best defense to an occasional rainstorm. The umbrella was for my protection and an obvious choice.
When I first raised the umbrella in an Alaskan storm, the umbrella was snatched from my hands, bent convexly, and blown to the other side of the street. Now I do not use an umbrella in an Alaskan rainstorm. This may be somewhat irrational, but it is my new behavior based on new experiences.
Early in my Alaskan experience, when it rained, I grabbed an umbrella. I learned from my past that an umbrella is the best defense to an occasional rainstorm. The umbrella was for my protection and an obvious choice.
When I first raised the umbrella in an Alaskan storm, the umbrella was snatched from my hands, bent convexly, and blown to the other side of the street. Now I do not use an umbrella in an Alaskan rainstorm. This may be somewhat irrational, but it is my new behavior based on new experiences.
[5] "Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created
by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to
the social realities around them" (Lederach, Conflict Transformation Across Cultures, 1995).
I do not know how to fish and choose not to hunt. I do not understand those that choose to kill animals. But I have seldom in my life gone hungry or done without for any period of time. I have not lived in harsh environments that forced me to use an array of items in my environment simply to stay warm or fill my stomach. These are social realities for many Alaskans.
I do not know how to fish and choose not to hunt. I do not understand those that choose to kill animals. But I have seldom in my life gone hungry or done without for any period of time. I have not lived in harsh environments that forced me to use an array of items in my environment simply to stay warm or fill my stomach. These are social realities for many Alaskans.
[6] "Culture
has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and
shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings" (Unseem & Unseem, Human Organizations, 1963).
In our school, the students and staff interact on various levels. I notice adults and children addressing me with different words and attitudes because of my grey hair. It was not until I began to study local Alaskan culture that I learned of the appreciation of elders. I now find myself greeting grey-haired people in public locations. The shared behavior has not become mine.
In our school, the students and staff interact on various levels. I notice adults and children addressing me with different words and attitudes because of my grey hair. It was not until I began to study local Alaskan culture that I learned of the appreciation of elders. I now find myself greeting grey-haired people in public locations. The shared behavior has not become mine.
How Can It Be Defined?
The word Culture
is highly misunderstood. The semantic field for this expression
collectively includes but is not limited to:
Language
: the oldest human
institution and the most sophisticated medium of expression.
Arts
& Sciences :
the most advanced and refined forms of human expression.
Thought
: the ways in
which people perceive, interpret, and understand the world around them.
Spirituality
: the value system
transmitted through generations for the inner well-being of human beings,
expressed through language and actions.
Social
activities : the
shared pursuits within a cultural community, demonstrated in a variety of
festivities and life-celebrating events.
Interaction
: the social
aspects of human contact, including the give-and-take of socialization,
negotiation, protocol, and conventions.
(Roshan
Cultural Heritage Institute (www.roshan-institute.org)
How does our own cultural identify influence how we approach the study of culture in Alaska?
Teachers bring themselves—their life experiences, histories, and cultures—into the classroom. They bring their assumptions and beliefs about what a good teacher is and does, their knowledge of education theory, research, and human development, and their love and knowledge of content areas. They bring their personalities and teaching styles that are shaped by social and cultural interactions. The longer teachers teach, the more their beliefs and knowledge are reorganized and sculpted by experience.
Experience, culture, and personality are just part of who teachers are, and they go wherever teachers go—including their classrooms. For teachers from dominant cultural backgrounds (white, middle class teachers in the United States), their own culture may not be something they are immediately aware of because it fits so seamlessly with prevailing opinions, beliefs, values, and expectations about behavior, education, and life choices. Yet, many choices that teachers make are determined more from their cultural background than from individual beliefs. The expectations that teachers hold for teaching and learning are grounded in cultural beliefs that may be unfamiliar to students and families from Native Alaskan cultures.
Teachers continually express their culture; the danger is being unaware of that expression. Coming to an understanding of the ways in which one’s beliefs, experiences, values, and assumptions are linked to culture is an essential feature of culturally responsive practice.
“Teachers need to find ways of creating a space for mutual engagement of lived difference that does not require the silencing of a multiplicity of voices by a single dominant discourse” (Giroux, 1992). Cultural responsiveness requires teachers to acknowledge and understand their own cultural values and how this impacts their own teaching practice.
Cultural disconnect can occur when individuals from different cultures interact. The dominant cultural perspective will prevail unless teachers are able to create space to discuss and explore a variety of values, beliefs, and expectations with the family. Teachers, students, and families may disagree on the nature and value of schoolwork; work ethics may differ in definition; and the role of home, family, and community may diverge in respect to school.
Teachers who understand and value their own cultural identities recognize culture as a simple, yet complex. In doing so, they create the possibility for deeper connections with their students and families. Cultural responsivity comes from understanding self and others so that different values are understood and respected, rather than one set of values being imposed on all. Culturally responsive teachers can build robust learning environments in which students and teachers can build richer and deeper understandings of themselves and each other as they investigate and uncover the school curriculum
www.urbanschools.org/pdf/cultural.identity.LETTER.pdf
I am very closed-minded to new things, including Alaska culture. I don't intend to be this way, but I am, and partially due to my culture. It affects all that I do, all that I say, and all the ways I interact with society and the environment around me.
As an educator, I must be extremely careful not to allow my cultural background and way of life to dominate in the classroom. This is the same with the study of culture in Alaska. I always have the choice to be open to the local culture, or to live in my own "egocentric bubble."
I have found two types of "transplants" living in Alaska. The first group comes from "elsewhere" and continues to live in the new surroundings and with new people carrying their cultural preferences and biases like a flag, proudly displayed for others to see. This person is not interested in learning from the AK culture, not integrating local customs in his life.
The other type of person is one with a strong cultural background, but one that comes to AK with an open mind, an open heart, and arms ready to embrace new experiences. I hope to always be in the second group.
A couple of rules I've learned that allow me to be influenced by Alaskan culture:
[1] Allow for additional time. Time to communicate, time to interact, time to explain, and mostly time to listen to others.
[2] I am still a guest in the state. Slowly others are inviting me into their world. I cannot force myself into their world, nor regularly deny the existence of their world and the differences in our cultures.
[3] Eat everything that is offered to me.
[4] It takes more time to travel in the weather. Allow for the additional time and don't be anxious.
[5] My students are all very different. They look, act, speak, and make choices based on their own culture and background. As educator, I need to make extra effort to get to know them.
[6] My students, and the staff at my school are not "singletons." They all come with extended family that are important to them.
[7] My students do not learn from me. They learn as they interact with the world around them, including with me.
How does our own cultural identify influence how we approach the study of culture in Alaska?
Teachers bring themselves—their life experiences, histories, and cultures—into the classroom. They bring their assumptions and beliefs about what a good teacher is and does, their knowledge of education theory, research, and human development, and their love and knowledge of content areas. They bring their personalities and teaching styles that are shaped by social and cultural interactions. The longer teachers teach, the more their beliefs and knowledge are reorganized and sculpted by experience.
Experience, culture, and personality are just part of who teachers are, and they go wherever teachers go—including their classrooms. For teachers from dominant cultural backgrounds (white, middle class teachers in the United States), their own culture may not be something they are immediately aware of because it fits so seamlessly with prevailing opinions, beliefs, values, and expectations about behavior, education, and life choices. Yet, many choices that teachers make are determined more from their cultural background than from individual beliefs. The expectations that teachers hold for teaching and learning are grounded in cultural beliefs that may be unfamiliar to students and families from Native Alaskan cultures.
Teachers continually express their culture; the danger is being unaware of that expression. Coming to an understanding of the ways in which one’s beliefs, experiences, values, and assumptions are linked to culture is an essential feature of culturally responsive practice.
“Teachers need to find ways of creating a space for mutual engagement of lived difference that does not require the silencing of a multiplicity of voices by a single dominant discourse” (Giroux, 1992). Cultural responsiveness requires teachers to acknowledge and understand their own cultural values and how this impacts their own teaching practice.
Cultural disconnect can occur when individuals from different cultures interact. The dominant cultural perspective will prevail unless teachers are able to create space to discuss and explore a variety of values, beliefs, and expectations with the family. Teachers, students, and families may disagree on the nature and value of schoolwork; work ethics may differ in definition; and the role of home, family, and community may diverge in respect to school.
Teachers who understand and value their own cultural identities recognize culture as a simple, yet complex. In doing so, they create the possibility for deeper connections with their students and families. Cultural responsivity comes from understanding self and others so that different values are understood and respected, rather than one set of values being imposed on all. Culturally responsive teachers can build robust learning environments in which students and teachers can build richer and deeper understandings of themselves and each other as they investigate and uncover the school curriculum
www.urbanschools.org/pdf/cultural.identity.LETTER.pdf
I am very closed-minded to new things, including Alaska culture. I don't intend to be this way, but I am, and partially due to my culture. It affects all that I do, all that I say, and all the ways I interact with society and the environment around me.
As an educator, I must be extremely careful not to allow my cultural background and way of life to dominate in the classroom. This is the same with the study of culture in Alaska. I always have the choice to be open to the local culture, or to live in my own "egocentric bubble."
I have found two types of "transplants" living in Alaska. The first group comes from "elsewhere" and continues to live in the new surroundings and with new people carrying their cultural preferences and biases like a flag, proudly displayed for others to see. This person is not interested in learning from the AK culture, not integrating local customs in his life.
The other type of person is one with a strong cultural background, but one that comes to AK with an open mind, an open heart, and arms ready to embrace new experiences. I hope to always be in the second group.
A couple of rules I've learned that allow me to be influenced by Alaskan culture:
[1] Allow for additional time. Time to communicate, time to interact, time to explain, and mostly time to listen to others.
[2] I am still a guest in the state. Slowly others are inviting me into their world. I cannot force myself into their world, nor regularly deny the existence of their world and the differences in our cultures.
[3] Eat everything that is offered to me.
[4] It takes more time to travel in the weather. Allow for the additional time and don't be anxious.
[5] My students are all very different. They look, act, speak, and make choices based on their own culture and background. As educator, I need to make extra effort to get to know them.
[6] My students, and the staff at my school are not "singletons." They all come with extended family that are important to them.
[7] My students do not learn from me. They learn as they interact with the world around them, including with me.
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| Tlingit Regalia (Google images, www.google.com) |
I appreciated the point that Brad Hoyt made by saying that the greatest danger of culture in the classroom is not recognizing that it is there.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important lessons I learned in studying education early in my career was the idea of the "hidden curriculum". That is, students often learn things from their teacher that the teacher has no idea that they are teaching. In the area of culture this would be especially true for teachers, who in assuming their culture is shared by all in the classroom, may be further alienating students from the subject at hand instead of engaging them in it.
"Teachers bring themselves—their life experiences, histories, and cultures—into the classroom."
ReplyDeleteOne of the most fascinating things I have found as a teacher is that my students and I get to exchange ideas from our own cultures in a way that supports our recognition and acceptance of each other. I currently teach in a school with a large population of military kids. Our cultural diversity is fairly high. As a cheechako, I get to talk about my culture but also hear from a great amount of other cultures, outside of Alaska and in.
Brad, you caused me to continue to examine my view of culture when you wrote that teachers bring themselves into the classroom. This means that they share there own culture with its related beliefs and attitudes which influences what goes on in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the defining culture. I put those in my own words as I am always looking to do so in the classroom. However, I like your definitions more that the short explanation in our textbook and will use those in class as an introduction.
ReplyDeleteI guess when I think of "culture" I think of cultural Geography lessons in High School and College. We studied remote groups of people and how their interaction with others made sometime little and sometimes significant changes.
ReplyDeleteAlaskan Native Culture from the outside appears "unchanged" by the outside world, however upon closer study, there have been periods of significant outside cultural influence that have changed both cultures.
I have learned that culture is much more than the garments and foods people eat, it the the sum total of who a people group are, how they think, how they interact within and outside the cultural group.