Cultural Identity

Culture is of great significance when approaching an understanding of learning. It is through culture that we formulate our identities as individuals as well as members of society. More often than not it is through the lens of our culture that we view the world. Ultimately, culture creates for us, a series of expectations regarding all aspects of our lives. This is very significant in evaluating the way that students learn and will learn. When we analyze this further we see that we might gain the ability to account for some of the shortcomings of our educational system as well as foresee potential problems that could arise. Therefore, exploring this idea of cultural and the role that it plays in education, serves to aid a host of players within the educational arena including, students, parents, teachers, and administrators. As a future educator it is quite clear that there is a lot to gain in exploring this idea further. In this entry I would like to explore initially exactly what culture is. We can explore some of the main factors that shape it. After we have looked at what shapes culture we can explore the impact that culture has on a persons views regarding, race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion. From there we can examine the impact that my culture has had on me as a learner and how this can be applied to others. Finally we can look more deeply at the role of cultural in the classroom. We can look at how culture creates expectations between students and teachers and how problems can arise when those expectations are not met.
What is culture? Culture is comprised a many factors that make up our identity. A big factor is ethnicity. Every group of people has their own set of traditions. Also religion plays a big part, many of the values that a group has can be a product of their religious beliefs. Regarding religion, we are mostly talking about moral values, Though shall not kill, etc., We can also include the values a culture might have concerning things such as motivation or life goals, in other words what the cultural view is regarding purpose in life, what pursuits are worthy ones and what pursuits are not worthy ones. Regarding urban education, we have seen the problem where education is at conflict with cultural dismissal of the importance of education from both family and peers.
An important aspect of culture is that it encompasses not only what makes us who we are but also how we will view others. Ultimately because of the values and traditions that exist, expectations are created concerning aspects of the world. In certain cultures women are viewed as being inferior to men. It is therefore expected, that women will not pursue things such as education. An idea such as this viewed from an American cultural perspective seems absurd. This isn’t to say that there is no gender bias here within U.S., there is still some progress to be made, however I think most people agree that women are just as capable as men, more so if you count the whole multitasking thing. Culture has a big impact on shaping our identities, both individually and collectively. We decide who we are and where we belong with in society. If we look at the example of a culture that regards women as inferior it is easy to see how this could have the effect of causing a women within the culture to underestimate her abilities. Also In this instance the women’s culture has dictated to her, her place within society. She has been allocated to being below the status afforded to men. Gender is not the only thing affected when viewed through the cultural lens; we also see how it impacts the views of race, class, religion, and sexuality. Religion plays a big role in dictating what is “appropriate” regarding sexuality. Religions such as Catholicism, which was how I was raised, state that homosexuality is a sin against God and wrong. I personally do not feel this way about homosexuality. We might consider an instance where we have a wonderfully effective teacher who connects to his or her students, keeps them motivated, engaged, etc., but is a devote Catholic and views homosexuality as wrong. What happens when this teacher has a homosexual student? This is a tricky problem and it raises the notation, can anyone ever really be neutral with regards to others? This is an important question for an educator who is most likely going to encounter views and opinions that differ from their own. The answer is probably not. Culture is powerful and it is through it that we see the world, however people have the ability to change their views. One step to dealing with this dilemma is at least being aware of it and trying to be conscious to what our own cultural views are.
My upbringing and cultural identity is one in which education is extremely important. I was always expected to perform very well in school. I’m still expected to perform well. For me the expectation was such that there was never a question about finishing high school and going to college. My grandparents did, my parents, did, and I was going to as well. I went to Catholic school through 5th grade. In 6th grade I went to public middle school. When I got to the public school I rebelled a lot, which I credit to the stifling strictness of the catholic school. I started smoking cigarettes, and I tried drinking and smoking pot. I did all the things I wasn’t supposed to do. Interestingly though, for me the importance of school as I stated was drilled into me. Therefore, despite my rebelling I never stopped doing what I needed to do in school. I always received very high grades because that was how it was supposed to be in my mind. The pressure of the importance of school was so great that I couldn’t escape it, so much so that I never even thought about not doing well in school as an option. When we look at the instance where a student has cultural pressure to not do well in school I can understand how significant the challenge is to go against the strength of that cultural pressure.
The last idea we can look it at is the role of culture in the classroom. We can elaborate of the idea of culture creating expectations. Within the classroom culture creates expectations for the students of the teacher as well as expectations for the teacher of the students. We find the potential for problems when these expectations are not met. An example that we saw in class is one in which a student in an urban school does not know what a yacht is. There is a level of expectation that everyone knows that that is a boat, but a student who grew up poor, within an urban environment may have no idea because they have never seen one or even heard of one. An obvious expectation for students is that they speak English. What about an immigrant child who has just come to the U.S.? They will not be able to meet this expectation. Another example regarding language is the expectation that the student’s parents can speak English. What happens when they cannot understand the important documents that are sent home regarding the child? Further still, what if the parent speaks English but can’t read? With all these examples we see how there are expectations that are created within the school environment and how easily problems arise when the expectations are not met.
After exploring all of the notions we see how important culture in creating a person’s identity both individually and collectively as a member of society. Culture dictates that rules, beliefs, and values, serving as a lens through which a person views the world he or she lives in. Culture also serves to create expectations regarding the person themselves as well as expectations of others both within and outside of a particular culture. This fundamental component of a person’s existence is crucial concerning education, especially with regards to understanding the pressures and needs a student will have to be successful in their learning. As a future educator I can take this knowledge and use it as a tool to prevent the problems that arise when expectations are not met, blurred, or missed between my students and myself.