Ch2 Culture Learning Process

7/31/2019 Ch2 Culture Learning Process

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Culture and theCulture LearningProcess

Chapter Two


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Defining Culture

Culture is socially constructed.

Culture is shared by its members.

Culture is both objective and subjective.

Culture may be defined by geography,ethnicity, language, religion, history, orother important social characteristics.

Culture is socially transmitted.


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Culture in Everyday Use

Terms commonly used to describe socialgroups that share important culturalelements are:

SubcultureMicrocultureEthnic groupMinority groupPeople of color


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Subculture

Subcultures sharecharacteristics that

distinguish themfrom the largersociety in whichthey areembedded; these

characteristics maybe a set of ideasand practices orsome demographic

similarity.

Some examples ofsubcultures are:

Corporate culture

Adolescentculture

Drug culture

Culture of poverty

Academic culture


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Microculture

Microcultures alsoshare distinguishingcharacteristics buttend to be moreclosely linked to the

larger society, oftenserving inmediating roles.

Some examples ofmicrocultures are:

The family

The workplace

The classroom

The school


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Ethnic Group

Members of ethnicgroups share a

common heritage, acommon history,and often acommon language;

loyalty to onesethnic identity canbe very powerful.

Some examples ofethnic groups are:

Irish American

NativeAmerican

LebaneseAmerican

AfricanAmerican


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Minority Group

Members of minoritygroups occupy a

subordinateposition in asociety; they maybe separated fromthe dominant

society bydisapproval anddiscrimination.

Some examples ofminority groups in

the U.S. are:Racial

minorities

Women

People withdisabilities

Languageminorities


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People of Color

This term refers tomembers of non-

white minoritygroups; it is oftenpreferred to theterm minority

group, but doesnot clearly identifyspecific loyalties.

For example, nativeSpanish-speakers

may identifythemselves asHispanic people ofcolor, but their

cultural identity maybe as PuertoRicans, Mexicans,or Salvadorans.


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Culture Solves Common

Human ProblemsMeans of communicationlanguage

Determination of powerstatus

Regulation of reproductionfamily

Systems of rulesgovernment

Relationship to naturemagic, myth, religion,

science Conception of timetemporality

Significant lessonshistory

Cultural representationsmusic, story, dance,

art


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The Contributions of Cross-

Cultural PsychologyWhile sociologists and anthropologists

study groups and psychologists studyindividuals, cross-cultural psychologistsstudy the interactions that occur whenindividuals from different groups meet.

Cross-cultural psychologists mayapproach this problem from one or bothof two perspectives:

Continued


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Culture Is Both Objective and

SubjectiveObjective culture

Physical artifacts

Language

Clothing

Food

Decorativeobjects

Subjective culture

Attitudes

Values

Norms of behavior

Social roles

Meaning ofobjective culturalelements


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Two Ways to Understand

CultureCulture-specific

approaches

Help tounderstand aparticular culturalgroup (for

example, NativeAmericans)

Do not account forin-group

differences

Culture-generalapproaches

Help tounderstand howculture works inpeoples lives; a

universalperspective

Suggest questionsto ask of any

culture


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The Culture Learning Process

Sources of cultural knowledge and identity

Individuals in complex societies like theUnited States tend to identify themselves asbelonging to various cultural and socialgroups, depending on their personalbiographies.

There are twelve major sources of culturalidentity that influence teaching and learning.

S f C lt l Id tit


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Sources of Cultural Identity(Figure 2.1)


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Cultural Knowledge isTransmitted by People and

Experiences

We gain the knowledge that contributesto our cultural identities throughinteraction with various socializing agents

These agents mediate our culturalknowledge in particular ways

I t t S i li i A t


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Important Socializing Agents(Figure 2.2)


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Some Results of Socialization

Because the process of socialization isintended to cause individuals tointernalize knowledge, attitudes, values,

and beliefs, it has several results whichshould not be surprising:

Ethnocentrism

Perception

Categorization

Stereotypes


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Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the tendency peoplehave to evaluate others according to theirown standards and experience

While this tendency can help bind people

together, it can also present seriousobstacles to cross-cultural interactions


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Perception

Stimuli received by our senses would

overwhelm us if it werent somehowreduced; thus

What we perceivewhat we see, hear,feel, taste, and smellis shaped in part

by our culture.


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Categorization

Categorization is thecognitive process by

which all humanbeings simplify theirworld by groupingsimilar stimuli.

Our categories givemeaning to ourperceptions.

A prototype imagebest characterizes

the meaning of acategory.

Example: for thecategory bird, we

usually think ofrobins, not chickens


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Stereotypes

Stereotypes are socially-constructedcategories of people.

They usually obscure differences withingroups.

They are frequently negative, and play toethnocentric ideas of the other.


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Some Limits on Socialization

While socialization is a powerful process,it does have limits.

It is limited by a childs physicallimits.

It is limited because it is never finished, andthus never absolute; it can be changed.

It is limited because human beings are notpassive recipients, but also actors in theirenvironments.


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Understanding Cultural

Differences

In a complex, pluralistic society like theUnited States, all peopleare in some waymulticultural.

While we all draw on common sources of

knowledge, we are socialized by differentagents, with different perspectives onthat knowledge.

The Culture Learning


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The Culture-LearningProcess (Figure 2.3)


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Variations in Cultural

Environments

Although the sources of cultural identityare the same in all society, the contentinthose sources may be different.

Moreover, each community varies

considerably in the number and characterof its socializing agents.

Continued


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Given this complexity, it is wise toconsider the immense variation of

possible cultural elements in our ownlives and in the lives of others.

Despite this enormous potential for

variation among individuals and withingroups, there are similarities orgeneralizations that can be made aboutindividuals who identify with particulargroups.

What is needed is a more sophisticatedway of looking at diversity.


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Building a positive attitude toward

diversity involves several elements:

Questioning the dominant model, or the

prototype image

Looking for commonalities among our

differences

Questioning stereotypes

Thinking of differences as resources tolearn from


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Something to Think About

By ignoring the cultural and social forms thatare authorized by youth and simultaneouslyempower and disempower them, educatorsrisk complicity in silencing and negating

their students. This is unwittinglyaccomplished by refusing to recognize theimportance of those sites and socialpractices outside of schools that activelyshape student experiences and throughwhich students often define and constructtheir sense of identity, politics, and culture.

--Giroux and Simon

Ch2 Culture Learning Process

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