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4 ways people can identify with culture.

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How do we talk about acculturation and about adjusting to a new culture? There is a simplistic either/or view of acculturation which takes the attitude that a person is either American or ...(fill in the blank: French, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Russian, etc..) that does not really capture the full picture of how a person adjusts to a new culture. In this post I'll introduce a more nuanced model of acculturation that better describes how different people adapt and adjust to a different culture than the one they grew up in.

Culture

Merriam Webster has six different definitions for the word culture. The meaning I use on this website is:

Culture: the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time

Culture is something that surrounds us, that we live in like a fish lives in water. We usually take our own culture for granted until some event makes us realize that our beliefs about the world and how to behave in it are not shared by every person. That event exposes us to another culture. Obvious examples of such an exposure are moving from one country to another, such as migrating from Asia to the US, or from Germany to France. Other examples may be interacting with a different group, where "different" refers to a difference in ethnicity, race, class, religion or age. For minority or immigrant families, just stepping out of one's home into the public space results in exposure to another culture.

Acculturation stress

It is a challenge to move from one culture to another. In the new culture, we are exposed to new values, beliefs and behaviors and we are changed by them. Beliefs we hold are possibly not taken for granted anymore. Who we are may be questioned. What is important to us may not seem so important anymore. Our behaviors may change. We have emotional reactions to the cultural change. The stress that results from the cultural change is called acculturation stress. This stress can be positive (the person enjoys being in a new environment and looks forward to learning and adapting) and negative (the person is overwhelmed by all the changes). Many factors play into acculturative stress and the possible intensity of stress experienced by the individual: how similar and dissimilar the two cultures are, whether the contact is voluntary or not (for example, choosing to emigrate as opposed a forced relocation), whether the contact is permanent (immigrant versus international student). If we are talking about immigration, the person's migration experience (simple plane travel as opposed to fleeing at the risk of losing one's life), the difference in status and life conditions in the country of origin and in the host country, and changes in family structure all contribute to the migration and acculturation stress.

Adjusting to a new culture

Let's talk about a hypothetical individual who has moved, say, from Asia to the US. Let's make the person a woman. I could also talk about an adult male moving from Germany to the US, but for this discussion, let's assume a female adult, named Lily, whose family moved from China to the US.

One way of thinking of how Lily adjusts to the mainstream American culture is to ask: "How Chinese is Lily?" "How American is she?" As a way to address these questions we might look at: how much English does she speak? How much Mandarin? What foods does she eat? What books does she read? What TV shows? Who does she hang out with? What are her attitudes and values? and many other such questions. These questions are used to notice how much has Lily taken on the American culture and how much she holds on to Chinese culture.

A simplistic way of thinking of Lily's acculturation opposes the question "How Chinese is Lily?" to "How American is she?" The assumption is that Lily is either Chinese, or American, or somewhere in between, and that a person is either Chinese or American, but not both. This way of thinking assumes that immigrants such as Lily assimilate into the mainstream culture of the US. It is a one dimensional model.

However, to look at Lily's adjustment to the US only in terms of how "American" she may be misses an important part of her cultural experience. Lily may be Chinese in some ways and more American in others; she may be more Chinese with her family, but more American with her peers. She may consider herself to be both Chinese and American, or neither.

Berry's two dimensional acculturation model

John Berry has a model for acculturation that I find very useful to describe how people adapt to a new culture.. It is very helpful in terms of describing individuals' experiences but also family experiences and conflicts. In this model we look at a person's acculturation in terms of 2 dimensions:

how much does the person seek to maintain connection with the culture of origin? (What is Lily's attitude toward her heritage culture and identity?)

how much does the person want to learn and adopt the new culture (What is Lily's attitude toward learning and interacting with the new culture?)

The two dimensions used to gauge acculturation leads to the following table (sometimes called a 2 x 2 matrix) that describe four ways people may chose to adjust to a new culture.

The 4 ways to adjust to a new culture correspond to 4 different acculturation strategies that people use in response to a new culture.

1. Assimilation

People who consider their culture of origin to not be important and who want to identify and interact mainly with the new culture are said to be using an assimilation strategy. (upper right quadrant of the table)

2. Separation

People who value their heritage culture and do not want to learn about the new culture fall in the lower left quadrant of the table. These people are adopting a separation strategy to acculturation.

3. Marginalization

People who neither identify with their heritage culture nor with the new culture are pursuing a marginalization acculturation strategy. (lower right quadrant)

4. Integration (Biculturalism)

People who seek to maintain their heritage culture and learn from and interact with the new culture are considered to be using the acculturation strategy of integration, or bicultural strategy. (upper left quadrant)

Acculturation strategy and psychological health

These four strategies describe ways individuals respond to the challenge of a new culture and how they adjust. Research on the emotional and mental health of people using the different strategies shows that people who use the acculturation strategy of marginalization are more depressed, anxious and have poorer mental health than any of the other groups. People who use the integration (biculturalism) are the most psychologically healthy (and are more successful) than the other 3 groups. The psychological health of those who use separation or assimilation lies somewhere in between.

Acculturation strategy and family conflict

These four acculturation strategies are ways chosen by individuals to adjust to a new culture. In a group, each individual may chose a different strategy, and may acculturate a different rates. Grandparents may be pursuing a strategy of separation; the father a strategy of marginalization; the mother a strategy of integration and the children, assimilation. Much intergenerational family conflict can arise from this situation. More in another post.

Questions? Want to know more? Ready to take the next step and explore the possibility of working together? Give me a call at (650) 327-3003. I look forward to hearing from you.

Notes:

John W Berry 1997, Immigration, Acculturation, and Adaptation. Applied Psychology: An international review 1997 46(2), 5-68.

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Acculturation: 4 Ways to adjust to a new culture

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How do we talk about acculturation and about adjusting to a new culture? There is a simplistic either/or view of acculturation which takes the attitude that a person is either American or ...(fill in the blank: French, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Russian, etc..)

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What is this and where did it come from?

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Their answers might surprise you.

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A Look at Race Relations through a Child's Eyes

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Do you know the difference?

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Imagine this situation: A classroom of students is settling down to work on a writing task. All of a sudden, one student exclaims, "That's not fair! Why do they get to listen to the instructions on the headphones! I want to listen, too!"

This happens way more often than you think. Not because teachers are inherently unfair creatures (I would know; I'm a teacher), but because students have come to understand "fairness" as simply equal treatment.

You're familiar with this playground mentality of fairness: "I get two crackers, and you two crackers" or "I play with the ball for twenty minutes, and then you play with it for twenty minutes."

Others are starting to question this "Sharing is Caring" idea and over-simplistic expectations of fairness.
Because here's the thing: Treating everyone exactly the same actually is not fair. What equal treatment does do is erase our differences and promote privilege.
Let me break it down.

Teaching middle and high school students taught me all I needed to know about fairness and the persistence of privilege. Here are the two main lessons I learned.

1. When Everyone Is Different, Fairness and Success Also Differs

An important conversation I have with my students is around the idea of equity versus equality. What do "fairness" and "success" really mean when we know that everyone is so different?

Equity and equality are two strategies we can use in an effort to produce fairness.
is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Equality is treating everyone the same.
Equality aims to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help. Equity appears unfair, but it actively moves everyone closer to success by "leveling the playing field."

But not everyone starts at the same place, and not everyone has the same needs.

Classrooms, for example, are made up of different learners. This means that students enter the classroom with different learning styles (such as visual, auditory, or tactile). You can take this short quiz to figure out your own learning style.

Visual learners and auditory learners will process information differently and, thus, have different needs. If the teacher always lectures, auditory learners have the advantage.

So it doesn't matter that the outraged student wants to listen to the audiotape to complete the writing task. What matters is whether the student needs to listen to directions on an audiotape in order to be successful with the writing task.
Since everyone is different and we embrace these differences as unique, we must also redefine our basic expectations for fairness and success as contingent upon those individual differences.
In the real world, this means that some people will need a language translator when speaking to a government agency and others will not. And it wouldn't be fair to just provide Spanish translators just because it is the language most people speak. A Spanish translator would not allow a Korean speaker the same access to opportunities.
That would be privilege.
Privilege is when we make decisions that benefit enough people, but not all people. Privilege is allowed to continue when we wrap it up with actions of equality.

On the outside, everything appears fair, because how can we argue against equal treatment? When we uncover the equality blanket, we see that not everyone's needs are met.

Take gender for example.

Fairness between genders doesn't mean that everyone should become the same. The end goal is not for men and women to reach a complete genderless state. It means that men and women should be given the same opportunities to succeed despite their differences. Check out the United Nations Population Fund for more on gender equality.

We need to recognize our differences as unique, rather than reach for one definition of "success." By upholding just one definition of success, we actively erase our differences. Our differences are not the obstacles.

2. We Need to Engage in Equitable Practices

Fixing the systematic obstacles (rather than fixing individual differences) requires us to be more intentional, but the extra work pays off.

If we cannot blame our differences, then we must look to systematic obstacles. Would we assess a fish's success by its ability to climb a tree? No way. In fact, Albert Einstein once claimed that "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." So why do we insist on administering the same test in the same paper-pencil format to a classroom of diverse students?

As a teacher, this means I must reexamine my classroom system to allow all my students to reach success. My system has to change. I must, yes, think about every student, because my class must help every student learn.

This is called "differentiated instruction" in the classroom, and we need it in the real world, too. We need to recognize the needs of individuals and change our actions to fit those needs.

Take a look at the cartoon below.

This teacher is diligently shoveling snow off the stairs to allow the majority of the students to get inside the building. Instead of shoveling snow off the stairs first, the teacher could shovel the ramp to allow all students access - not just abled bodies.
This is worth repeating: "But if you shovel the ramp, we can all get in."
Often times, decisions are made to benefit the majority of people without paying attention to individual needs and nuances. Instead of gender-specific restrooms, we could offer gender-neutral restrooms to allow everyone access to restrooms - not just those who fit within the men or women boxes.

Privilege is a tricky thing.

I'm not aware of my privilege on a daily basis - no one is. I don't get up in the morning and wonder if I will "pass" because I am a cisgender woman who generally loves her body. I don't feel a bit of my privilege when I sit in an hour-long lecture because I don't have any learning needs or when I'm asked which college I graduated from or when I walk up a long flight of stairs. (I just feel pain in my calves. Oh, my life is just terrible, because the escalators are broken again.)
Usually I am just unaware of my own privilege, because the system generally works in my favor.
What does the other side of privilege feel like?

Jeremy Dowsett says it feels kind of like riding on roads built for cars. For a biker, the roads are dangerous. Not intentionally. Most drivers aren't trying to be jerks. It's just that the traffic rules and road system simply wasn't made to work for both cars and bikes to coexist peacefully. Cars and bikes are different. And the truth is that "the whole transportation infrastructure privileges the automobile."

So the system is flawed when it does not meet everyone's needs.

Can we change the whole system? Rarely. What we can do is advocate for equitable practices in order to promote fairness. This requires extra work.

In the classroom, I will lesson plan for different students' needs and learning styles. I will design stations that allow for use of technology, exploration, traditional book work, and even art - which can (and should) be done for all levels. The extra work is worth it because the key is to allow everyone to succeed. I need to practice equity in order to truly be fair.

We can no longer rely on blanket practices just because they appear fair. Our actions actually have to elicit justice.

Take a look at this famous cartoon regarding equity and equality.

Each child is of a different height. We can't change that. In order to insure that every child has access to the baseball game, we can provide them with boxes to stand on.

But we can't just bring one-sized boxes to lift everyone up. That's equality, and equality does not always elicit true fairness. We need to put in the extra work and give everyone what they need.

***

The first step to justice is being able to recognize it. Do you know the difference between equity and equality? Test yourself here.

Audre Lorde maintains, "It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences."

So look around you. What differences do you notice? And how can you incorporate these differences into the everyday decisions you make?
Amy Sun is a Contributing Writer for Everyday Feminism. She has worked with providing resources and support for Asian/Pacific Islander survivors of domestic violence in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia areas. She also holds her Masters in Women's Studies from the George Washington University, where she has researched the coming out processes for trans* who identify as FTM and MTF.

Filed Under: Tagged With: Articles, Fem 101 Posts

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Equality Is Not Enough: What the Classroom Has Taught Me About Justice

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Students have come to understand "fairness" as simply equal treatment. You're familiar with this playground mentality of fairness: "I get two crackers, and you two crackers." But here's the thing: Treating everyone exactly the same actually is not fair. What equal treatment does do is erase our differences and promote privilege.

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Check out this informative timeline on immigration to the U.S.

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This collection of recorded interviews documents the stories of people whose lives were shaped by Ellis Island. Passengers, families, immigration officials, military personnel, detainees, and former island employees share their perspectives and relive the moments that formed our collective history. Educational, uplifting, harrowing, and inspiring, these precious cultural artifacts give meaning and texture to our collections.

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Discover | Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

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This collection of recorded interviews documents the stories of people whose lives were shaped by Ellis Island. Passengers, families, immigration officials, military personnel, detainees, and former island employees share their perspectives and relive the moments that formed our collective history. Educational, uplifting, harrowing, and inspiring, these precious cultural artifacts give meaning and texture to our collections.

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Treat diversity positively!

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Teaching and research folio on desiging culturally inclusive classrooms.

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The 7 Principles for Inclusive Education

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The 7 Principles for Inclusive Education

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Tips and tricks for increasing equity in your classroom.

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What happens when third graders stop being friends, and start being prejudice.

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Watch full-length episodes of PBS documentary series FRONTLINE for free. A Class Divided - The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, a teacher in a small town in Iowa tried a daring classroom experiment in discrimination.

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One size does not fit all, find out what your intelligences are!

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George Lucas Educational Foundation

Editor's Note: The multiple intelligences quiz has been removed from Edutopia. While the test was a useful tool to explore different ways in which intelligence can be understood, research calls into question whether results were being interpreted and used appropriately.

To learn more, please see this 2018 article on some common misunderstandings about multiple intelligences theory and learning styles.

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The theory of multiple intelligences has captured the attention of many educators who are interested in how students learn. While the theory hasn't been corroborated by research, many teachers find it helpful to better understand the abilities of their students.