Sonja Boyd Eth305v Assignment 4
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Transcript of Sonja Boyd Eth305v Assignment 4
Sonja Boyd: ETH305VStudent Number:47744561
1
NAME: SONJA BOYD
STUDENT NUMBER: 47744561
COURSE: ETH 305V
COURSE NAME: MULTICULTURAL
EDUCATION
UNIQUE NUMBER: 739284
ASSIGMENT 4
SEMESTER 2
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SECTION A: LIFE STORY
I am Sonja Boyd; I am 31 year old white female. In my
community they consider me to belong to a White English
Culture but my father is Afrikaans and we mostly followed
the Afrikaans culture but spoke English the reason for this
is because my mum spoke English and is a British and my
dad is Afrikaans and a South African, I am of Christian
faith. Today I am going to discuss more about my culture so
that you will get to know how my culture works. My culture is
mostly run through the language culture and not run strictly
according to religion.
My family consists of my father, mother, and two sisters. My
father is the authority of the family and my mother is under my
father and we follow both parents. My father has the authority
to make any decisions regarding what happens within the
household and what happens outside. My mother is in charge of
looking after the children and making sure that the house is in
order, my mum has to make sure that we get fed, clothed and
make sure our schoolwork is done. I am the eldest of my two
sisters and I am responsible for taking care of them and making
sure that they do not do anything naughty and my other two
sisters have to obey and follow our rules. The children’s jobs in
my family are to play and to do basic chores. Our family is a
very strict and close family and any problems that may happen
are dealt with by my dad, through corporal punishment.
The roles of people in my culture are clearly defined. The
priest is the community leader in our church. After the Priest
comes the role of the Afrikaans community. In the Afrikaans
community your father is regarded as the person in charge and
men are expected to work and earn a living and the women are
expected to take care of the children. The grandparents are
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there to help you when you need help and are the one with gifts
to spoil you. In the use language this role is very important
because this defines who you are and whether you were
important or not. If we spoke English to my dad or my dad’s
grandparents we were not respected or accepted as one of them
and were treated differently. But if we spoke English to my
mum’s side we were treated properly, we never spoke
Afrikaans to them because we went to an English school and
my mum spoke English to us.
Discipline is done by my father; he has the authority over us
children. What counts as discipline in terms of my culture is
that if we disobey, or disrespect people that are older than us
we will receive a hiding in any form, we were never punished
by the way children are punished now. The forms of behaviour
that is considered socially acceptable for children of different
ages and gender are that children under the age of 18 are not
allowed to drink as well as you cannot get a driver’s license
until you are 18. Children are not allowed to leave home until
they have finished school. Between the ages of birth to 8 years
your duty as a child is to play and after the age of 8 years old
you have to help your mom with household chores if you are a
female and if you are male you have to help with the garden
and your dad.
In my home we speak both English and Afrikaans, we speak
mostly English. My mum speaks English to us and my dad
speaks Afrikaans to us. In the Afrikaans culture the way you
greet a person is kissing the person hello on the lips or on the
cheek and a hug at the same time or if it is of business nature
you will shake hands. When we greet a person by hugging it is
showing the person we care and love them, however we don’t
hug strangers we just hug people that are known to the family.
When we greet a person that is a relative or someone who is
older than you, you address them as aunty or uncle. We are
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allowed to talk to anybody anywhere, slang in our culture is
regarded as rude and therefore it is not used. In terms of eye-
contact we are expected to look at each other in the eyes
otherwise you would be regarded as being rude and not
listening, when we look a person in the eye it is showing the
person respect and that we are listening.
In terms of Religion, norms, values and meaningful
existence, what is considered sacred in my religion is the bible
and the symbol of the cross is considered holy in my religion.
Everything around us is considered secular such as our house,
schools, work and our environment we live in. My culture
recognises all other religions and their authorities, but our own
religion is our authority to us. For my culture God is the
Supreme authority and the church and its elders and we follow
as a family. We believe that the history of God’s people and
lessons from God are in the bible, which was written by men
but were guided from God. Prayer does play a role in my life,
we pray in the morning, evening, before supper and when we
are at church on Sundays. The holidays we celebrate are Easter
(when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead),
Christmas (when Jesus was born), and the Ascension Day
(when he ascended into heaven). It does conflict with the
mainstream society today because the ascension is not a public
holiday anymore but we do however celebrate Christmas and
Easter, although the true meaning of Christmas and Easter as
we see it is not recognised by everybody. The principles we
follow are mainly biblical, such as the Ten Commandments,
which emphasize love your God as you love of neighbour. Our
norms and values are based on religion. The norms and values
have not changed because the source is the Bible which has not
changed in 2000 years of its existence. Firstly the state will
reprimand the person if any laws are broken, secondly the
church leader can reprimand members of the church if the
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behaviour can be damaging to self, others or the church. An
example can be adultery, slander, violence, and theft. The state
reprimands by means of the court and prisons as well as
implementing fines. The church reprimands in terms of verbal
confrontation or reporting to the authority if needed or by
expelling the person from the church. The activities I would
regard as being useful to exist meaningfully is like going to
church, volunteering, going to work, entertainment, teaching
and learning. The educator can assist by encouraging learners
to actively engage in the activities mentioned above.
The foods we eat are based on the Westernised culture. Mostly
from the European module, but also including some from other
cultures, like Indian, African, Chinese, Japanese and Ethiopian
food. During meals it is good manners to eat with eating
utensils and no talking around the table. There are no
obligations apart from the obligations of looking after one
another with regards to social obligations. We thank the Lord
for the food we eat and thank him for everything. Amen. This
is just thanking the lord for providing us with the food.
In our tradition and customs, we attend Church on Sundays,
and we celebrate holidays around the Christian calendar.
During the Easter holidays we celebrate Easter by the Easter
bunny, during the Christmas holidays we celebrate the birth of
Christ by giving gifts to family members and friends. The
forms of classical paintings, classical composers and modern
paintings and modern composers who are seen as experts in
their field are seen as highly valued amongst our culture.
Traditionally the media we use today to communicate with
people are through newspapers, radio, television, books and the
internet.
The reason why we have Education is to help people learn
about the values and norms of society and to gain productive
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employment. Father-child interaction, mother-child interaction,
and Father and mother interaction, the methods of teaching and
learning at home are reading, television, radio, internet, and
other socialises. It is appropriate that student such as myself to
ask for information from a teacher as this will show the teacher
that I am learning and taking part in the learning process. What
constitutes a positive response from a teacher is when the
teacher encourages the learners when they are battling with
their work by spending more time with the learner, and that the
teacher encourages a positive environment. The pupil’s
response as in my life would be to work harder and know that if
I put a positive attitude towards my education the prospects of
my future will look better. In my opinion parents of a
particular group may have their own expectations of their own
children. Teachers have expectations of different types of
groups but I have never experienced any difference in treatment
amongst my fellow classmates. There was no reward system
that was used, only at the end of term when we received
distinctions we were awarded certificates and also if we
improved in our subjects.
In the Lifestyle of my family, it was living in authoritative and
strict living conditions. We spent most of our free time doing
work for my parents especially my father such as gardening,
painting, and cleaning. We never had free play because if we
were not working we had to study. The planned activities we
did revolved around the school holidays whereby we went and
spent the holidays at my grandparents’ house. In my teenage
life I spent most of my teenage life in sports activities and
helping my family. The hobbies I partook in were cycling,
running, swimming, reading, hockey, Drum Majorettes and
other extra school curricula. The pets we have at home are
dogs and cats.
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In my culture the dress code depends on the situation,
however we mostly dress in casual westernised clothing. In
school we had to adhere to the school’s dress code, girls had to
wear dresses and boys have to wear either shorts or long pants
with a shirt. Our dresses were not allowed to be higher than
four fingers above the knee. Our hair was not allowed to be
dyed or any hair gel is not permitted. When there were special
occasions or going out we had to dress smartly in a dress and
hair made up. For confirmation we have to wear a white dress
as well as for our weddings as this show purity. We were not
allowed to wear anything that showed our flesh above the knees
and stomach as this was considered that we were prostitutes.
In my culture we divide class into social classes, the Upper
high class people (Elite), Middle class (working class), and low
class (poor). The High class are considered those people who
have power and have lots of income from high paid jobs or
were born into wealthy families, Middle Class are regarded as
those people that earn salaries but are not rich but not poor
either, then we have the Low income class whereby these
people are low income earners and who rely on the state for
subsides and housing. In my current life we still face poverty
but we are regarded as the middle class, however there is a lot
of poverty facing people everyday due to the economic
downturn and people losing jobs everyday. Material objects are
not valued in my life, because we will not take these material
things when we die, and material objects do not define who you
are as a person or family. The most valuable object in my life is
my family.
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b) Write the life story of someone that does not belong
to your culture, in the same format
I am Sandile Ngube and I am 16 years old. In my community
they consider us to belong to the Zulu culture and I am black, in
my family our faith consists of a mixture of traditional and
Christianity. I live in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
My family consists of my Mother, Father, 4 sisters and a
brother. However we have other relatives that stay with us that
are in our blood line. In our Zulu culture it is a sign of respect,
parents and elders are not called by their names, instead their
surnames are used. In the Zulu culture, my father is seen as the
main authority in my family because a man is the head of the
family, and all decisions regarding my family are done through
my father’s approval. My father is the sole provider in my
family and is responsible for providing food on the table. My
mother is a stay at home who takes care of the family needs. If
there are problems within the household it is done with talking
with one another and my father caries out the discipline. In my
family discipline is carried out by giving us punishment and
talking.
The roles of people in my culture are clearly defined. The
priest is regarded as the community leader and we follow him
accordingly. The man of the family is seen as the authority,
therefore the responsibilities my father are is responsible for the
protection of family members, regulating procreation,
providing love, loyalty and non-contingent emotional support,
housing, feeding and clothing of my family. My mother is the
housewife and she has to take care of us by educating us about
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our traditions, values, norms and beliefs. My mum is always
there when we need her; she provides the security and certainty
of human
Our everyday relationships and she protects us from danger and
the restfulness of tranquil existence. We as the children fall
under our parent’s authority and we are expected to abide there
rules and go to school to receive an education. The roles of the
female daughter fall under the guidance of my mother, whereby
my mum teaches the girls on how to take care of their
household roles which prepares them for their future of being a
mother. The boys are under the guidance of my father where
he teaches us the how to take responsibility and to work in the
gardens.
The discipline in my family is done by my father or my
mother; however it is mostly done by my father. In my family
discipline is carried out through either getting spoken too or by
being given a hiding. We follow very strict rules and have to
abide by them. We have to respect our elders and may not
speak unless we are spoken too; we are not allowed to look into
the eyes of our elders as it is regarded as disrespectful.
The language that is spoken in my home is mostly IsiZulu, but
we do sometimes communicate in English when we have
visitors. Addressing those who are older than me, especially
elderly and senior people, by their first names is viewed as lack
of respect. Therefore terms like baba (father) and mama
(mother) are used not only to address one's parents but also
other senior males and females of the community. Sawubona is
usually enough of a greeting for strangers, but a formal greeting
is more appropriate for those who are familiar. The formal
greeting includes a three-time handshake, while asking about
the well-being of the person and his or her relations (Ninjani?).
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Taking leave involves the standard Sala/Nisale kahle (Remain
well), and the other person responds by saying,
Uhambe/Nihambe kahle (Go well). It is customary for juniors
and the young to initiate the greetings when they meet their
seniors and their elders. When we approach our elders we have
to either kneel before and we may not look directly into the
eyes of the adult as this would be seen as disrespect to the elder
because the elder has earned their position to be there. We are
not allowed to communicate without being addressed first.
My religion is very important to my culture, we belong to the
Christian community but we also follow some traditional belief
.We believe in the Ancestral spirits are important in our
religious life. Our symbols for our belief are known as the
Cross, dove, anchor, fish, alpha and omega, chi rho we go and
worship in the church. What we consider sacred in our religion
is the Bible which is comprised of the Old Testament and New
Testament. In our church we have the following leaders in
which we follow they are the Priest; bishop; archbishop;
patriarch; pope; pastor; minister; preacher; and lastly the
deacon, and then our family comes after. We celebrate the same
calendar as the Christians; we celebrate Christmas, Easter,
Good Friday, Lent, as well as Heritage Day. We don’t go to
any Zulu church but we go to a Christian church and worship
God, we believe that Jesus died on the cross and was buried for
our sins, we believe that we were all born sinners and that Jesus
will come again alongside God and judgement day will come.
The belief we follow is to “Know, love and serve God”. We do
however follow some traditional beliefs but we no longer
practice it due to the fact we live in a more westernized culture,
however we do some rituals to mark special occasions.
Offerings and sacrifices are made to the ancestors for
protection, good health, and happiness. Ancestral spirits come
back to the world in the form of dreams, illnesses, and
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sometimes snakes. We also believe in the use of magic.
Anything beyond our understanding, such as bad luck and
illness, is considered to be sent by an angry spirit. When this
happens, the help of a diviner (soothsayer) or herbalist is
sought. He or she will communicate with the ancestors or use
natural herbs and prayers to get rid of the problem. We believe
in a creator god known as Nkulunkulu, who doesn't get
involved in day-to-day human affairs. Instead, the Zulu’s
appeal to ancestral spirits called AmaDlozi, or to divination for
assistance with sorcery and evil spirits, which we believe, are
the causes of our misfortune. There are numerous ceremonies
that relate to an individual's stage in the domestic cycle and
also are linked to ancestors. When we were babies we are
named and then introduced to the ancestors in a ceremony
called imbeleko. A girl's first menstruation is celebrated
through a ceremony called umhlonyane. Both of these
ceremonies involve slaughtering a goat. Young women are
declared adults and ready for marriage through a ceremony
called umemulo, which involves slaughtering a cow. Marriage
is celebrated through a wedding ceremony (umshado or
umgcagco). Death is a ceremonial occasion accompanied by
appropriate rites of passage. Another important ceremony is
conducted a year after a household member has died and is
supposed to link the deceased with his or her long-departed
relatives and elevate him or her to ancestorhood. We pray to
our ancestors and God, we pray in the evening. We believe our
ancestors are the mediator between God and us that if anything
happens it is because of our ancestors communicating with us.
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In our Christian beliefs concerning God we believe the
following:
• There is only one God
• God is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• God is perfect
• God is omnipotent
• God is everywhere
• God knows everything
• God created the universe
• God keeps the universe going
• God intervenes in the universe
• God loves everyone unconditionally (though people
have to comply with various conditions in order to achieve
salvation)
• Human beings can get to know God through prayer,
worship, love, and mystical experiences
• Human beings can get to know God through God's
grace - that is through his love and his power God the Son
• God lived on earth as Jesus
• Jesus was both wholly God and wholly human
• Jesus was born to a human woman, Mary, but
conceived of the Holy Spirit
• Because Jesus was wholly human he was subject to
pain, suffering, and sorrow like other human beings
• Jesus was executed by crucifixion but rose from the
dead at the Resurrection
• Jesus's life provides a perfect example of how God
wants people to live
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• Jesus died on the Cross so that those who believe in him
will be forgiven all their sins
God the Holy Spirit
• After the Resurrection, Jesus remained on earth for only
a few days before going up into Heaven
• Jesus promised that he would stay with his followers, so
after he went to Heaven he sent his Spirit to guide them
• The Holy Spirit continues to guide, comfort, and
encourages Christians
A person in our community is reprimanded by the government
and the law, if it has something to do with the community the
punishment will be carried out by the elders and often the
community will approach the pastor for help.
The food we eat is the normal Westernized culture food, except
we don’t eat pork or drink milk, but we love to eat our meilie
meal, amasi (curdled milk), meat from the cow, beans,
vegetables, and chicken. . The Zulu traditional beer is not only
a staple food but a considerable source of nutrition. It is also
socially and ritually important and is drunk on all significant
occasions. We eat with a spoon or with our hands, and we don’t
sit at a table we sit in front of the television and eat, and we
don’t talk to one another when we do sit together whilst we eat.
When we have family gatherings all the elders being the wives
and grandmothers, aunts and daughters help with the
preparation of the food and the men sit and talk. We celebrate
special occasions such as a graduation where we slaughter a
cow and have a big party. We also celebrate weddings and
birthdays. When it comes to giving food out to the men we are
not allowed to eat first as the men have to eat until they are full
and then the women and children are only then allowed starting
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eating their meal. At meal times usually the men will be
together and eat and the ladies will eat together.
In our tradition the holidays and celebrations are run
according to the South African calendar, we celebrate New
Year’s Day on the 1st January, Human Rights Day, Good
Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday, Family Day (Monday
after Easter), Freedom Day, Workers Day, Youth Day, National
Woman’s Day, Heritage Day, Day of Reconciliation,
Christmas Day (the birth of Jesus), Day of Goodwill the day
after Christmas. In our tradition the most valued art is
expressed through many different art forms, such as music,
dance, art, sculpture and beadwork and basketry. These
traditions are deeply ingrained into our whole African culture.
Listening is an equally important skill, which has been
perfected by the traditional oral practices. Numerous songs and
dances have been transmitted by word of mouth. Music is a
form of communication and it plays a functional role in our
culture. Songs accompany marriage, birth, rites of passage,
hunting and even political activities. Music is often used in our
culture to ward off evil spirits and to pay respects to good
spirits, the dead and ancestors. The most significant instrument
in African music is the African drum. It expresses the mood of
the people and evokes emotion. The beat of the African drum is
the “heartbeat of the community” and its rhythm is what holds
the dancers together. Dance is an integral part of the culture; it
utilizes symbolic gestures, masks, costumes, body painting and
props to communicate. The dance movements can be simple or
complex with intricate actions including fast rotation, ripples of
the body and contraction and release. Dance is used to express
emotion, whether joyful or sorrowful and it is not limited to just
the dancers. Often spectators will be encouraged to join in. The
masks that are used in dances have religious, ceremonial and
functional origins. The artist who carves the mask will
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ceremonially purify himself and offer prayers to his ancestors
for guidance before he begins the actual carving of the mask.
The mask represents a spirit and it is believed that the spirit
possesses the dancer as they wear the mask. The chosen dancer
goes into a trance-like state in order to receive guidance and
wisdom from the ancestors. The dancer will utter and moan the
messages received and a wise man, who accompanies the
dancer, will translate the message. What is well known
amongst our culture is the beadwork we do. The colour of each
bead carries a specific meaning. The beads have been used to
carry messages known as “ucu,” a Zulu term loosely translated
as “love letters”. It is an African tradition for young girls to
send a boy a beaded bracelet of different colours. The boy will
court her for a while and at the appropriate time; he will ask her
the meaning of the beads. Art and sculpture are prevalent in
African culture. and the most common themes depict a couple,
a woman and child, a male with a weapon or animal, or a
“stranger.” Couples are usually freestanding figures of the same
size, representing the importance of “two as one.” A male and
female couple in African art usually depicts strength and
honour rather than love and intimacy, as it is uncommon for
African men and women to publicly display their affection. A
mother and child couple can represent “mother earth” and her
people or the strong bond between mother and child. The male
figure with a weapon or animal, represent honour to departed
ancestors. African men are often honoured in warfare and there
is a great emphasis on weaponry in African art, as it depicts
survival and power. When the stranger is represented in African
art, it usually depicts someone from a foreign country or tribe
that is not welcomed. In our modern society that we live in we
would use the television as a source of media and newspapers,
as well as listening to contemporary music, we enjoy listening
to the Hip Hop music, traditional Zulu songs and pop music.
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The purpose Education in the Zulu culture, my mother is
responsible for teaching us our customs, attitudes and other
details of culture. In turn, we as the children will take care of
our parents when we start working. If we break this cycle we
will be viewed as a community outcast, one who has forgotten
about his or her roots. However it is very important for us to be
educated in our family because it is our future that we look
forward to and without education we will be in the same
position as our fellow illiterate people so it is crucial that we
obtain a decent education to conform to our society today. In
our culture when it comes to questions posed in the classroom
we are not allowed to volunteer information because the
teacher knows best and know more than me, and if I question
her ability it would be regarded as disrespect to the elder.
Therefore it is a difficult obstacle if the teacher asks for my
opinion, but now we have textbooks to back up my answer
which makes it easier to participate in classroom discussions. I
find in my classroom that the teacher has expectations for each
one of us individually but I do find that she is biased towards us
but that is because she does not understand my culture and if
she did understand then she would understand why we don’t
behave the same way as her culture. I however attend a public
system and our reward system is that if you get distinctions you
get recognised by certificates.
The Lifestyle adhered to in my family is an authoritative
lifestyle, my parents will use corporal punishment if it is
required, otherwise my parents will punish me in terms of
taking away privileges and talking to me. In my home we do
have planned activities such as going to church on Sundays and
celebrations but over the holidays and weekends we go out
when we feel like gathering together at the mall to go shopping.
If I’m not out over the weekends playing with my friends then I
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will be working in someone’s garden for pocket money. I am a
teenager and we go and watch movies, and go shopping with
friends at the mall. However most of my time is spent on
studying to get a better education to be a doctor. I enjoy
athletics and netball as well as reading, this is my hobbies I
love doing in my free time. At my home we don’t have any
pets.
In my culture we dress according to the westernised culture
mostly, however we only wear our traditional clothes on special
occasions, such as Shaka's Day and cultural gatherings.
Traditional clothing, however, is very colourful. Men, women,
and children wear beads as accessories. Men wear amabheshu,
made of goat or cattle skin, which looks like a waist apron,
worn at the back. They decorate their heads with feathers and
fur. Men also wear frilly goatskin bands on their arms and legs.
Women wear isidwaba, a traditional Zulu black skirt made of
goat or cattle skin. If a woman is not married, she may wear
only strings of beads to cover the top part of the body. If she is
married, she will wear a T-shirt.
In the Zulu culture class is distinguished by social class, we
have the Upper class of the immensely wealthy and/or powerful
people, middle class which consists managers and highly paid
professionals and the Lower class of people paid average or
low wages or receiving "welfare". Some are homeless. My
family follows this social status as this is the norm of the
urbanised culture we follow today. I believe that social status of
people will never be done away with because people prefer to
measure themselves against something and feel they have
accomplished something in life. Poverty does impact on
everybody’s lives, especially for some of my family members
who live in the rural areas, because they are illiterate and are
unable to get a job they have less money to buy food and they
don’t have electricity, or running water. However we are
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regarded as middle class because we live in the urban areas and
my father has a wonderful job of being a manager in a shop, so
he is able to provide for all our essential needs and help my
other family members that don’t live with us.
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