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Website about culture

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This is not meant to be a definitive list of questions, but an indication of what general areas of culture might contain significant information for the teacher in a bilingual education program, together with illustrations of what kinds of specific questions might need answers and what their significance might be. The various aspects of culture do not have the same relative importance to people in different groups, but that is among the questions for which we need answers.
1. GENERAL

What are the major stereotypes which you and others have about each cultural group? To what extent are these accepted by the group being typed?

To what extent and in what areas has the traditional culture of each minority group changed in contact with the dominant American culture? In what areas has it been maintained?

To what extent do individuals possess knowledge of or exhibit characteristics of traditional groups?

These general questions must be kept in mind when asking questions about 'traditional' or 'typical' cultural beliefs or behaviors in all of the areas of culture which follow. While there are systematic differences between groups of people which we need to recognize and understand, we need to critically analyze all information for the effects of stereotyping, recognize the facts of acculturation, and be sensitive to individual differences. Otherwise there is a danger of merely adding to the stereotypes, of incorrectly identifying minority groups in the United States with ancestral groups in the country of origin, or generalizing what is 'typical' to all.
2. FAMILY
The family is the initial and often the primary socialization unit for the child, and many of the individual's most basic social perceptions and values are formed in that context. An understanding of the family structure and system of expected responsibilities, values, and behaviors is essential to the teacher, not only so that these may be realistically portrayed and reflected in the classroom, but also to provide a source of guidance in dealing with the child or the child's parents or guardians. Such knowledge can be helpful in anticipating and interpreting the behaviors or attitudes of the child or other family members in particular situations. In addition, it may serve as a point of departure or contrast in presenting information about family patterns in the majority culture. Teachers at all levels should be aware of the often very subtle presuppositions about family structure and responsibilities which pervade literary and even nonfictional writing, and can lead to misunderstandings or self-depreciation on the part of the student. Since family structure is so variable, particularly under circumstances of immigration and acculturation, individual differences (including those associated with social class) should be carefully determined. At the same time, differences between expressions of group 'norms' or 'ideals' and individual reality should be appropriately recognized.
3. THE LIFE CYCLE
The stages in the life cycle, while to some extent biologically determined, are like all aspects of human existence, basically culturally defined. When one ceases to be a child, when and by what criteria one becomes an adult, how one is treated at different stages by members of other age groups, what one's privileges and responsibilities are at different stages, are quite different in different societies. It is not 'natural', for example, for children to be uninhibited and noisy-this is a product of socialization in a particular society. In many societies (e.g., Samoan), children already have significant economic responsibilities by the time they are seven. Stages recognized in one culture, e.g., teenage, may be absent in others. Adulthood may be defined by something other than age, such as marriage or becoming a parent. Attitudes and values regarding stages differ widely; in some cultures, sixty is the age of wisdom, in others of retirement. Passage from one stage to another may be totally unmarked in one society, and a major traumatic event in another. Stages may also differ by socioeconomic class, as may also the attention given to occasions of passage. Of particular significance for educational (and sometimes mental health) concerns is the fact that for groups undergoing rapid acculturation, such as Koreans or Arabs, there may be wrenching changes taking place in the traditional roles, relationships, and responsibilities of different stages in the life cycle, making them individually variable and causing great psychological stresses and strains.
4. ROLES
In addition to many other aspects of culture, the early socialization of children involves learning a role. Initial role acquisition includes learning what behaviors are appropriate (and expected) when relating to different members within the family, and then when relating to different classes of individuals within the wider social group. Most children find the new roles they assume when beginning school a fairly natural extension of their earlier socialization experiences, but for some, patterns of social interaction, which they have learned at home are not of value in the school context, and these children must acquire entirely new roles. Since the child's life aspirations are often based on roles recognized by the group, it is important for the teacher to know how these differ from or match roles which may be explicitly or implicitly taught in school. In addition, since children (and parents) from minority cultures often have limited experience with and understanding of majority culture roles and how to acquire them, the child's knowledge and perception of these matters should be examined also.
5. INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Mitigation techniques are different within different groups, and students may encounter many problems in our schools when they come from cultures that do not use the same ones that are accepted there. A middle-class child from the dominant culture has learned to avoid unpleasant tasks with such indirect excuses as 'I'm tired. Can't I do that later?', 'Can I finish this first?', or by dawdling or day dreaming until the time is up. While these techniques are often unsuccessful, the attempt brings no serious reproof. If a student has not learned these cultural strategies and says 'No, I don't,' or just 'No'-which have essentially the same meaning-he may be considered belligerent or rude, and threatened with the principal's office. Teachers must be perceptive as to how they themselves (as culturally conditioned beings) interpret and respond to violations of sociolinguistic expectations and recognize that such 'violations' may simply reflect cross-cultural differences in interactional rules and norms, not occasions for punishment.
6. COMMUNICATION
There is no complete inventory of different social rules for language usage or of different attitudes toward language which may be consulted, but we must still consider both to be very important components of bilingual education; all aspects of culture involve communication. One very general difference concerns who should talk and when. The school supports the convention of talking one at a time (after raising a hand and being called on) and not interrupting; other cultures would consider that rude, a sure sign that no one was interested in what the primary speaker was saying. Some cultures feel it is inappropriate for children to talk at all in the presence of adults, and others that it is inappropriate to respond immediately to a question. The uses of silence differ, as do the contexts for the uses of different languages. Code-switching between English and the native language-actually a very complex linguistic skill-may be highly valued socially. No teacher in a bilingual program can afford not to have a thorough understanding of the status and uses of languages in the local community.
7. DECORUM AND DISCIPLINE
The choice of a language for controls and directions is important in a bilingual program, with English often perceived by students as milder than their home language; at the same time, students from other backgrounds may interpret the normal classroom projection level of English as a signal of anger, even when none is intended. Attempts by teachers to get parents to force children to do their homework or attend school may prove futile if the concept of coercion conflicts with basic cultural values. The desired ends may be achieved, not by imposing the will of the teacher or the school on the parent or child, but by cooperating with other effective mechanisms employed in the child's culture.
8. RELIGION
Violations of beliefs and practices in this area of culture probably result in the most serious conflicts which occur between home and school. Forcing a child to wash 'dirt' off his face (when it had ritual significance), bringing human bones to class for a science lesson, and insisting that children eat lunch during a period of a prescribed religious fast are all examples of very real mistakes made by teachers who did not understand the religion of their students.
9. HEALTH AND HYGIENE
Most cultures have traditional concepts regarding the body, health, illness, and curing which are based in part on the accumulation of practical experience and in part on often profound philosophical and religious beliefs. The cooperation and support of the local community in a bilingual program may depend upon the evidence of respect and acceptance of these beliefs and practices, many of which are in fact demonstrably efficacious. At the same time, lack of understanding by parents of the cause and spread of certain diseases creates a need for culturally sensitive communication to ensure appropriate treatment (including quarantine for infectious diseases, regular administration of prescribed medication, etc.). In addition, an adequate understanding of traditional concepts may be necessary for the adequate diagnosis of illness.
10. FOOD
Food-including the very definition of what does and what does not constitute food-is of enormous social, symbolic, and economic importance in all cultures. The exchange of food and conditions on its exchange form a central theme in some cultures, and major social values are built around it in others. In many cultures it even has religious significance, often as expressed in taboos on consumption or prescribed use in ceremonies. The rules for the eating of food may significantly reflect and provide a means of maintaining the social order. The growing realization that some of the nutritional concepts of the majority culture (such as drinking milk) may be deleterious to certain groups or individuals underscores the cultural basis of nutritional science. Textbooks should be examined for ways in which their portrayal of food may conflict with community values.
11. DRESS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE
Since dress and personal appearance are for the most part readily observable, most of the questions raised are fairly easy to answer. Despite this fact, however, probably more cross-cultural communication 'misfires' take place in this area than any other. In part this is because the values underlying dress and appearance are not as easily discovered, leaving the superficial aspects highly susceptible to misinterpretation and stereotyping, and in part because no other aspect of a person's behavior (except perhaps speech) is so strongly tied to self image and group identity. The significance of this area makes it one which teachers and administrators need to thoroughly understand. At the same time, it is an area for which textbooks need to be examined for implicit cultural bias.
12. HISTORY AND TRADITIONS
Prior to the spread of mass public education in this century, the majority of people in most countries were totally or largely illiterate, and possessed little knowledge of the history or cultural achievements of their country or ethnic group. Among native groups on this continent and elsewhere who lacked a means of graphically representing their languages, knowledge of historical events rarely extended back more than a few generations and, beyond that point, merged into myth. Even with compulsory public education and a highly literate population in the U.S. today, actual knowledge of history on the part of most people is minimal and of literature and art even less. Viewed against such a background, it should not be surprising that many members of minority groups in the U.S., drawn as they have been primarily from uneducated peasant stock, possess little knowledge of the history of their country of origin, or of its literary and artistic monuments. Immigrant farm workers from Mexico do not revel in the glory of 16th century Spanish literature any more than Anglo farm workers in the Midwest take rapturous delight in Shakespeare. These realities must be kept carefully in mind if the absurdities of the 'romantic fallacy' are to be avoided. Many bilingual education curricula commit the error of introducing historical and literary-artistic content of questionable relevance from a group's country of origin, and totally ignore the history and achievements of the group within the U.S. The effect of the romantic fallacy is to produce a curriculum which is irrelevant to the actual background and experiences of the students in the program. The questions above are designed to provide a more realistic basis for the treatment of this area in the curriculum.
13. HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS
Holidays and celebrations are among the most obvious aspects of a culture, and for that reason are readily adopted by schools attempting to be 'bicultural'. However, often only the most superficial aspects of the celebrations are imported into the school context, and there is great danger that they may be distorted in the process, or that the incorporation of the activities in the curriculum may be taken to satisfy the need for minority cultural content, and so prevent the inclusion of much more basic and important aspects of culture. Worse yet, the observance of celebrations may reinforce the stereotypic misconception that this is all there is to the other culture. Hence great care should be taken to learn the true significance of such events, and their function within the context of the student's own culture and community (not just that of some foreign country). Some aspects of some celebrations, including songs, belong to the home or other locale and should not be brought into the school. Among Native American groups, certain songs or dances are of a sacred nature and should never be performed by the wrong persons or at the wrong time of year. Conversely, parents may not understand the meaning of American holidays, and especially why school may be closed, so these matters must be carefully taught, and communicated to the parents as well as the students.
14. EDUCATION
Although our educational system most closely represents the culture of our mainstream middle-class population, it has developed some attitudes, values, and expectations in its own right which set it apart as a subculture within our society in these respects. Successful advancement in the system quite naturally requires adoption of or adaptation to these concepts. Educators must be seen from this perspective as successfully acculturated (since they must have adapted themselves to the subculture in order to complete the years of training for certification); they are transmitters of these attitudes, values, and expectations to the next generation so that it, too, may 'achieve' in school. It is a self-perpetuating cycle.

Educators must therefore learn about their own system of learning and realize that education does not have the same ends and means for members of different social groups. Stereotypes result if we assume that other systems of education are less advanced, or the students who don't succeed in our particular system are 'deficient' in some respect. Since students learn how to learn from their families in early childhood, cultural differences are very well established by kindergarten or first grade.
15. WORK AND PLAY
Play is often not valued positively in our culture, but is counterpoised to the serious business of life, which we call work. Nevertheless, as anthropologists have shown, what is thought of as play may have a strong educational function aimed at developing certain patterns of socialization. In addition, what may superficially appear to an outside observer to be play may have a serious religious purpose. The system of rewards associated with the attainment of particular roles or the fulfillment of various kinds of activities may differ considerably between cultural groups or even between social classes, and are subject to change over time or under conditions of acculturation. The teacher should be familiar with these factors, particularly in implementing a career education program, to minimize cross-cultural conflict and maximize effective learning.
16. TIME AND SPACE
The organization of time and space is of enormous significance in most cultures, and one of the most frequent areas for cross-cultural conflict or misunderstanding, in large part because it is so often unconscious. Edward T. Hall ( 1959) has even referred to it as 'the silent language' in the title of his book by that name. In particular, the teacher cannot assume that many of the concepts and attitudes regarding time and space (including personal space) held by the majority culture can be taken for granted, but must be explicitly taught. At the same time, a knowledge of the concepts and attitudes of the minority group regarding time and space is important, since it must form a point of departure in teaching, and is essential if the teacher is to recognize when students (or their parents) are following the rules of their own culture for appropriate behavior, so as to avoid penalizing them for apparent infraction of rules they do not know.
17. NATURAL PHENOMENA
Science is sometimes considered a culturally neutral area of the curriculum, but many of the topics taught under that label are loaded with culture-specific beliefs, values, and behavioral rules. While many students succeed in keeping the theories learned at home and school compartmentalized so they may 'believe' both concurrently, with one or the other called to consciousness depending on the context and even the language being used, many others find this area of the curriculum a source of cultural conflict and confrontation. Whenever such conflict can be anticipated, or when students question a scientific theory on the basis of teachings from home and community, the teacher should not hesitate to say that while the school theories are believed by many, there are also many who disagree (which is quite true). Above all, the teacher should not convey the impression that there is only one explanation for natural phenomena, or that people who hold differing views are stupid or superstitious. Even scientists today are increasingly becoming aware of the extent to which culture affects their concepts and perceptions. Science, as a cultural phenomenon itself, can never be entirely culture-free.
18. PETS AND OTHER ANIMALS
The typical social studies unit on pets begins with the ethnocentric assumption that everyone considers the same species of animals to be appropriate for this category. The most serious cultural violations occur in cases where particular animals have religious significance, and where even talking or reading about them is restricted or prohibited. Less serious, though unpleasant, are the negative attitudes which may be directed toward the teacher who expresses fondness for cats or dogs, for instance, which are considered 'unclean' in some other cultures. Again, information on cultural differences is essential.
19. ART AND MUSIC
Most serious conflicts in this area of the curriculum, as in others, occur when religious restrictions are violated. These range from depiction of the human form to the 'desecration' of living things (as in cutting jack-o-lantern faces or stringing berries). Artistic conventions are very important for the interpretation of any tests which make use of pictures, adding to their potential for cultural bias. Each culture has prescribed conventions for both art and music, and no experience which is outside the bounds of those conventions will be recognized or appreciated as 'art'. Receptive appreciation of culturally different conventions may be cultivated, but truly satisfying aesthetic experience is probably limited to the range of conventions which has been internalized as part of socialization. Of course, in art as in all else, it is essential to avoid stereotyping the individual, particularly in minority groups undergoing rapid acculturation.
20. EXPECTATIONS AND ASPIRATIONS
One of the primary rationales for bilingual education is the enhancement of minority students' self-image, but little attention is given to the cultural relativity of that concept. Adopting dominant values for personal 'success' and 'fulfillment' is usually a late stage in the process of acculturation; dominant-culture expectations and aspirations should never be assumed of children who are still primarily under the enculturation influences of the home, and they should never be imposed on individuals who choose to find their own fulfillment and satisfaction within the native community. More members of minority groups today are seeking to find fulfillment within their traditional communities, and the expectation that success is to be measured in the context of the larger society-which is implicit or subtly present in much school text materials, tests, and teacher attitudes or behaviors-can have the strong and dysfunctional effect of contributing to a sense of anomie or failure on the part of the student.

To reiterate, education is not just formal schooling, but includes all of the formal and informal procedures for transmitting the knowledge and values of a group from one generation to another, whether in the form of telling stories and proverbs in the family or holding organized classes to teach factual or technical information. Similarly, preferred styles of learning may be present among certain groups or in particular contexts. Trial and error learning, the cornerstone of our educational methodology (including the use of tests), may be antithetical to students' cultural values and have dysfunctional results because it causes embarrassment by forcing students to demonstrate knowledge or skill mastery before they are ready. Traditional education in some cultures may be primarily religious in orientation, or may have the important function of supporting the maintenance of social structures or values which are at variance with those taught in the majority-culture secular public school. The potential conflicts which may arise in bicultural situations clearly need to be recognized if the students' educational experience is to be positive, and consonant with the expectations and desires of the parents and the community.

Dave: E:\My Documents\temp\Questions to Ask About Culture.doc

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This is not meant to be a definitive list of questions, but an indication of what general areas of culture might contain significant information for the teacher in a bilingual education program, together with illustrations of what kinds of specific questions might need answers and what their significance might be.

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How Culture Drives Behaviours | Julien S. Bourrelle | TEDxTrondheim

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Uploaded by MrLynnHistory on 2015-02-15.

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(Cultural Changes Worksheet)

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Citizenship 8 - Cultural Changes Worksheet 

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Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/youtube/ -- Create animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to develop cool animated clips and animated presentations for your website, office meeting, sales pitch, nonprofit fundraiser, product launch, video resume, or anything else you could use an animated explainer video.

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Exemplary work of handmade poster

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Hand made, hand drawn, handwritten, sculpted, collage, assembled, cut, pasted, photographed, manipulated... any beautiful designs using innovative and creative hand made elements. #handmade

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Create a handmade poster (not digital) about elements of culture

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A flipped classroom video on Values, Norms, Mores, Folkways and Taboos.

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Homework 2

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Worksheet 1 Pre Learning Activities

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The social norm, or simply, "norm," is arguably the most important concept in sociology. Sociologists believe that norms govern our lives by giving us implicit and explicit guidance on what to think and believe, how to behave, and how to interact with others. We learn norms in a variety of settings and from various actors, including our families, from teachers and peers in school, through the media, and simply by interacting with others as we go about our daily business.

There are four key types of norms, with differing levels of scope and reach, significance and importance, and methods of enforcement and sanctioning of violations. These are, in order of significance, folkways, mores, taboos, and laws.

Folkways

Early American sociologist William Graham Sumner was the first to write about these distinctions. (See Folkways: A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals (1906).) Sumner offered the framework for how sociologists understand this term today, that folkways are norms that stem from and organize casual interaction, and that emerge out of repetition and routines. We engage in them to satisfy our daily needs, and they are most often unconscious in operation, though quite useful to the ordered functioning of society.

For example, the practice of waiting in (or on) line in many societies is an example of a folkway.

This practice creates order in the process of buying things or receiving services, which smooths and expedites the tasks of our daily lives. Other examples include the concept of appropriate dress dependent on setting, raising one's hand to take a turn speaking in a group, or the practice of " civil inattention"-when we politely ignore others around us in public settings.

Folkways mark the distinction between rude and polite behavior, so they exert a form of social pressure on us to act and interact in certain ways, but they do not have moral significance, and there are rarely serious consequences or sanctions for violating one.

Mores

Mores are more strict in folkways, as they determine what is considered moral and ethical behavior; they structure the difference between right and wrong. People feel strongly about mores, and violating them typically results in disapproval or ostracizing. As such, mores exact a greater coercive force in shaping our values, beliefs, behavior, and interactions than do folkways.

Religious doctrines are an example of mores that govern social behavior. For example, many religions have prohibitions on cohabitating with a romantic partner before marriage. So, if a young adult from a strict religious family moves in with her boyfriend, her family, friends, and congregation are likely to view her behavior as immoral. They might sanction her behavior by scolding her, threatening punishment in the afterlife, or by shunning her from their homes and the church. These actions are meant to indicate that her behavior is immoral and unacceptable, and are designed to make her change her behavior to align with the violated more.

The belief that forms of discrimination and oppression, like racism and sexism, are unethical is another example of an important more in many societies today.

Taboos

A taboo is a very strong negative norm; it is a strict prohibition of behavior that society holds so strongly that violating it results in extreme disgust or expulsion from the group or society. Often times the violator of the taboo is considered unfit to live in that society. For instance, in some Muslim cultures, eating pork is taboo because the pig is considered unclean. At the more extreme end, incest and cannibalism are taboos in most places.

Laws

A law is a norm that is formally inscribed at the state or federal level and is enforced by police or other government agents. Laws exist because the violation of the norms of behavior they govern would typically result in injury or harm to another person, or are considered violations of the property rights of others.

Those who enforce laws have been given legal right by a government to control behavior for the good of society at large. When someone violates a law, depending on the type of violation, a light (payable fine) to severe (imprisonment) sanction will be imposed by a state authority.
Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

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What Are the Differences Between Folkways, Mores, Taboos, and Laws?

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The social norm, or simply, "norm," is arguably the most important concept in sociology. Sociologists believe that norms govern our lives by giving us implicit and explicit guidance on what to think and believe, how to behave, and how to interact with others.

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The definition