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Culture Identity in Education Ed.D. 712 (Comparative Education) By: Florie May S. Gonzaga

Ed.D. 712 (Comparative Education)

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Page 1: Ed.D. 712 (Comparative Education)

Culture Identity in EducationEd.D. 712 (Comparative Education)

By: Florie May S. Gonzaga

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What is Culture and Culture Identity?

Culture refers to the customs, practices, languages, values and world views that define social groups such as those based on nationality, ethnicity, region or common interests.

Cultural identity refers to groups or individuals (by themselves or others) in terms of cultural or subcultural categories (including ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, and gender). In stereotyping, this is framed in terms of difference or otherness.

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Today’s students are far more diverse—by race, culture, ethnicity, language, social class and religion. (Sadker and Zittleman 2007). As a result, many teachers are struggling to better serve students from cultures other than their own (National Education Association 2008).

Every student in the classroom with a set of behaviors and characteristics that makes him or her unique and that will affect his or her academic achievement.

Furthermore, students identify with certain groups to experience a feeling of belonging. Campbell (2004) stated that students of all ages have a strong need to belong to groups, because groups provide a source of motivation.

Failing to understand some of the cultural differences of students can result in a poorer learning environment for them. Conversely, appreciating cultural differences can enable teachers to select appropriate children’s books, plan a culturally responsive curriculum, and provide a classroom environment that is welcoming to all children and their families.

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“The Effects of Culture Identity in Education”

“Race”• A group of people united or classified together on

the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution.

• The term “race” relates to supposed biological differences such as differences in skin colour, hair texture or shape of eyes as between different social groups.

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How does race affects education?

Racism plays a critical role in an educational environment. Minority students are less likely to pursue a postsecondary education (Swail 2003) for the following reasons:• pupils may trust and respect someone with

whom they share a salient characteristic, making learning come more easily.

• a teacher of the same race may serve as a more effective role model, boosting students’ confidence and enthusiasm for learning.

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• Poorly funded under racist• Classist system ( low-income students may

lack up-to-date equipment, access to out-of-class programs/fieldtrips, basic equipment such as textbooks and safe schools

• Bullying that would cause isolation, loneliness, disconnection, and discrimination

• Color

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“Culture” The old saying “Know thyself” rings true in understanding culture.

The first step is self-awareness, and the second, cultural reciprocity. We first identify our own cultural values and then determine the cultural values of others. While noting the similarities and differences, we accept and respect others. The final step is cultural appreciation, also known as cultural competency—the ability to maintain appropriate behaviors and roles within our own culture using the natural support system (LaFromboise, et al. 1993). Cultural competency involves respect for others, a willingness to learn about others, and the ability to understand that others may have different viewpoints.

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While teachers cannot be expected to study and know every culture they may encounter in their classrooms, they can be prepared to learn on the spot. With a healthy cultural competence, teachers will be prepared to identify learning differences or needs in students as well as to interact with their parents. All of the students in a given class are sharing the common experiences of their classroom, and thus they create their own unique classroom culture. However, within that classroom environment, each student also brings the cultural sensitivities from their home environment. It is due to this multicultural diversity that teachers would be well-served to use a culturally relevant pedagogy.

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How Culture Affects Education?

Eye ContactKids from many Latin American and Asian cultures show respect by avoiding the glance of authority figures. A teacher who’s unfamiliar with this cultural norm, however, might interpret the lack of eye contact as just the opposite — a sign of disrespect. For many American Indian children, looking a teacher in the eye and answering her question in front of the class is “showing off.” Yet a teacher who doesn’t know this could think the child was unmotivated or inattentive.

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Physical Contact

Culture greatly influences attitudes about physical contact, whether it’s a handshake, hug, or pat on the back. In Asia, female friends often hold hands and men casually embrace one another as they walk down the street. Americans, however, may feel uncomfortable with such public behavior. In some Asian cultures, affectionately patting an adult’s head is strictly taboo, although it can be acceptable behavior between adults and young children.

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How close should people stand to each other when they’re having a conversation?

In areas of the Middle East and South America, people stand very close when talking. European Americans like to have more distance between them, while some African Americans prefer even more space. You can create great discomfort by standing too close to another person. Not being aware of this can even prevent someone from understanding or accepting the ideas you’re trying to get across.

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To create a positive environment for communication, your nonverbal message must closely match your verbal message. • First, recognize your own expectations about nonverbal

communication, and then find ways to learn about those of individuals and other cultures. One way to do this is to carefully observe how kids and families speak and behave around each other and with people of authority. This can provide clues about the true meaning of their nonverbal interactions.

• Nonverbal messages have a powerful impact on what’s communicated. When a person is sensitive to these silent messages, he’s far more likely to interact with others in a friendly, comfortable manner and to make his spoken message more understandable.

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“Ethnicity”

• The term ethnicity relates to cultural differences which may exist as between different social groups and sociologists see this term as more useful than “race” for the analysis of different social groups.

• Ethnicity-refers to groups whose members share a cultural heritage from one generation to another; normally defined on the basis of Race

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Factors which can reduce a child from an ethnic backgrounds attainment:

Social class and material factors – Minority ethnic children are more likely to live in low-income households. This means they face the problems that Douglas highlighted, the material factors, such as poor quality housing, no working space etc.

Language – For many children of an ethnic minority English is not their mother-tongue. This can be a disadvantage because they may not understand exams as well as others. Also they might struggle to express themselves with limited English. Finally, some teachers may mistake poor English for a lack of intelligence, when actually this could be completely untrue, meaning that a clever child may be let down by the teacher who might not push the student to their full potential.

Family Life – African-Caribbean communities have a high level of lone parenthood. This can mean that many face financial problems, this can lead to lower achievement in school (Douglas’ material factors). Conversely, single mothers can be a positive role model or influence for many young girls, meaning they perform better in education.

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RACISM – There are two key ways in which racism can affect attainment amongst children on ethnic minority:

A culture of resistance – Racism can lead to low-self esteem among ethnic minorities. A marxist Hall said that this can lead to a rejection of school, he called it a “culture of resistance”

Teacher stereotyping, labelling and conflict in the classroom – whilst very few teachers are consciously racist some may subconsciously hold prejudice against ethnic minorities. This can lower the students attainments in many ways, one is that the teachers give the student lower grades. Another way is that the teacher negatively labels a student of ethnic minority which can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. Racism can also lead to conflict between students and teachers, making learning much harder.

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Ethnocentric school curriculum Ethnocentric - (individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage.). There are several reasons why ethnic minorities may struggle due to this curriculum. One is that the subjects often focus on British culture; naturally White British students will have grown up with this culture, so they might have a greater understanding of the content than students who grew up in a different culture. Another reason is that the content of the curriculum could lower ethnic minorities self-esteem, this is because often the white character is seen as “good” and superior whilst the ethnic minorities are seen as “evil” and inferior.

Some ethnic minorities do better than the average in education. Reasons for this could be:• Teacher stereotyping: Some teachers might stereotype some ethnic minorities

(such as Chinese and Indian) to be intelligent and hard-working. This can bring with it all the benefits high teacher expectations.

• Family Life – Research has shown that some parents of ethnic minority, such as Chinese and Indian, take more interest in their child’s education, they also encourage their child more than other in other cultures. This obviously leads to higher achievement of the child.

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“LANGUAGE”

Millions of children in nations around the world enter classrooms each year unable to speak the same language as the teacher. In the United States alone, English language learners are one of the fastest-growing populations within the educational system. Language barriers can have long-term negative effects on a student's academic performance.

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For many children from homes where languages other than English are spoken, learning English can be a challenge. This brief provides resources and strategies to assist and support teaching staff facing difficult situations when working with children who speak other languages.

At issue is the fact that some of the behaviors that children might engage in during these developmental periods, such as playing in isolation and not speaking in either language, may be misinterpreted or mislabeled as a problem when in fact children are simply beginning to acquire the new language. Second-language learners might exhibit social interaction patterns along with limited communication abilities that are similar to those exhibited by children identified with specific language impairments or with speech impairments. Thus, it is not uncommon for many of these children to be labeled as having challenging behaviors or communication disorders when in fact they are following a fairly typical developmental path in acquiring a second language.

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Oral Language DevelopmentAccording to Helen Pinnock at Save the Children UK's Education Team, children are approximately 12 years old before they fully master their native language. Before this point, children are not able to pick up a second language as quickly as older children or adults. Children who begin learning a new language before they completely understand their first language have difficulty expressing abstract concepts or ideas in the second tongue. Ultimately, it is difficult for a child to succeed as a language minority student without having a solid foundation in his first language.

Emotional FactorsAccording to John Schumann, a second language acquisition professor from the UCLA Department of Applied Linguistics, many second language learners are afraid that they do not have a strong enough command of the language to express themselves and worry that they will be ridiculed if they try to communicate with others using the new language. This situation can cause significant emotional stress and may interfere with learning.

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Parental InvolvementParental involvement is often much lower among language minority families. These parents may be uncomfortable about coming into the classroom to talk with the teacher because they are not fluent themselves, so they might not be fully aware of how their child is performing in the classroom. Language minority parents cannot always help their children with homework, so homework assignments may not always be completed satisfactorily.

Academic FailurePinnock claims that children experience higher failure rates in school if the language they learn at school is different from the one spoken at home. In 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conducted research across 26 countries showing that over 50 percent of students who dropped out of school did not speak the language in which they were being educated. This applies to the United States as well. A 2012 report by the American Psychological Association noted that Latino students who spoke one language at home and another at school were at increased risk of graduating late or dropping out of high school.

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Lifting the BarriersLanguage barriers are a difficult hurdle, but they can be successfully overcome. Classroom teachers can help by using techniques such as highlighting and discussing academic vocabulary before introducing the lesson, providing the same material at differentiated reading levels, and by using clear, simple language when describing new concepts. One of the most important things a teacher can do to help language-minority students is to build relationships with her students and their families. This builds trust and respect, which is a necessary foundation for learning.

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“SOCIAL CLASS”

-a division of a society based on social and economic status.

In an ideal world, all students would have an equal shot at success, and excellent schools and educators have dedicated themselves to this goal. However, social class can greatly affect a student's success, and there is a correlation between low socioeconomic status and academic problems. These academic problems can lead to difficulties later on, including unemployment, dropping out of school and taking a low-wage job.

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Parental AchievementA child's first role models are usually her parents, and children take cues from the adults they live with about potential goals, keys for success and what opportunities might be open to them. According to the textbook "Child Psychology," children whose parents completed high school or graduated from college are more likely to do so themselves. Children with a relatively high social class tend to have parents who have achieved these milestones, while children in lower social classes are less likely to have parents who model these achievements.

Class and EnvironmentA higher social class correlates with access to resources such as tutors, private lessons, private schools and higher quality public schools. Conversely, children in lower socioeconomic classes may live in impoverished, stressful environments with fewer resources. A 2012 article in "Youth and Society" emphasizes the ways in which decreased access to such programs can diminish academic achievement, decreasing opportunities for future success.

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Correlations with ClassLow social class is correlated with other factors that can decrease a child's likelihood of success. For example, "Child Psychology" reports that children of lower social classes are more likely to be abused and neglected, more likely to be exposed to substance abuse and more likely to move frequently. The stress of these factors can interfere with a student's ability to do well academically, diminishing possibilities for future success. A 2012 article in the "American Journal of Community Psychology" found that children in lower social classes have higher rates of mental illness and criminal behavior.

Bridging the GapA child's social class doesn't predetermine her life, and children from poor backgrounds often succeed while children from wealthy backgrounds sometimes fail. A 2012 article in "Youth and Society" emphasized that access to community activities such as sports teams or after-school programs can decrease the risks of living in an impoverished area. Similarly, "Child Psychology" points out that stabilizing a child's environment -- by teaching a parent parenting skills, removing an abusive caregiver or ensuring adequate nutrition -- can lower the risks associated with low socioeconomic class.

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“RELIGION”Understanding religious beliefs other than one’s own is a key element of tolerance, since faith traditions often define a significant part of a person’s identity. In the United States, the spectrum of religious diversity is a part of our culture as a whole, and religions can sometimes be at the center of political debate. This can happen when certain laws impact the way a person practices his or her religion.

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EvolutionThe theory of evolution is fundamental to biological studies, but because it conflicts with some religious views of creationism, some groups have argued against its inclusion in secular education since Darwin published "On the Origin of Species" in 1859. According to Gallup, 46% of people in the U.S. believe that God created humans independently, and only 15% believe that humans evolved with no divine intervention. Because school boards and other elected entities can change with any voting cycle, the impact these beliefs have on education can change in any given year, and they tend to vary greatly by state. In Tennessee, a bill protecting "teachers who explore the 'scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses' of evolution and climate change" passed in 2012. Kansas schools taught Intelligent Design between 2005 and 2007 but now teach mainstream science, according to the Kansas State Department of Education's website.

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Sex EducationEvangelical Christian groups are strong proponents for abstinence-only education, which encourages adolescents to abstain from sexual activity until marriage. In 2012 alone, Congress set aside $5 billion to fund abstinence-only programs, despite evidence that such programs leave young people ill equipped to protect themselves from STDs and pregnancy, according to the article, "Abstinence-Only Education Debate Resurfaces," published on the U.S. News and World Report website. "The Journal of Adolescent Health" reviewed these programs and studies associated with them, finding that students "who failed at abstinence were less likely to use contraception after they did initiate sexual intercourse." This is illustrated by a University of Georgia study, detailed in the article "Abstinence-Only Education Does not Lead to Abstinent Behavior, UGA Researchers Find" on the University of Georgia's website. The study indicates that states offering abstinence-only programs exclusively have much higher rates of teen pregnancy. David Hall, an assistant professor of genetics at Franklin College who co-authored the study, posits, "It may even contribute to the high teen pregnancy rates in the U.S. compared to other industrialized countries."

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Dress CodesSome schools institute dress codes or uniforms to ensure students are dressed appropriately for a learning environment. Banning headgear is a common dress code rule. However, some religious groups, including Muslims, Jews and some Native American tribes, consider headgear to be part of their identity. At times, this has conflicted with school dress codes; in 1997, school officials suspended a Muslim student for refusing to remove her hijab. According to CNN, the school attorney at the time, D.D. Hayes, said, "As I see it right now, I don't think we can make a special accommodation for religious wear." Although other schools have taken action against students who expressed their religious identity, most schools are willing to accommodate religious garb.

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ProselytizingTeachers and other school employees should not promote their own religion or penalize students who do not share their religion. The law allows students to pray at school in private but does not allow them to lead mandatory prayers, pray at graduation ceremonies, actively proselytize to their fellow students or promote religious bullying. In Collier County, Florida, school officials allow groups to distribute religious literature "passively," by leaving it on tables for students to read. Despite this ruling, secular humanist groups were asked to remove their "passively" distributed secular literature from a school setting, igniting a lawsuit that cited discrimination, according to the article, "Atheist Group Sues Orange Schools, Claiming Censorship," published on the Orlando Sentinel's website.

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THE CULTURAL IDENTITY OF THE STUDENTS- WHAT TEACHER SHOULD KNOW

Student Self-ConceptThe set of beliefs that individuals hold about themselves is termed self-concept or self-image (Bennett 2003). Socializing agents- such as peer groups, media, parents, and teachers-influence the development of a positive or negative student self-concept. A positive self-concept contributes to the academic success of the student, while a poor self-concept "becomes one of the most challenging individual differences in how he or she will learn" (Bennett 2003, 222).This challenge requires teachers to address a variety of social and academic needs of students.

As students develop their self-concept during adolescence, they also develop a sense of cultural identity. An awareness of their self-concept and cultural identity provides the foundation for how students define themselves in terms of how others view them. Thus, teachers need to view students as cultural beings, embrace student diversity, and validate the cultural identity of students. In doing so, classrooms that model tolerance and appreciation of student differences will be created.

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School Environment

Teachers must be aware of how much cultural identity influences the education of students.

Teachers must be cognizant that their teaching practices, their interactions with students, and their own ideas about identity influence the academic success and social development of their students.

Students can discover and share their cultural identities through writing projects that focus on their cultural heritages.

Develop lessons that highlight students' cultures and experiences. Student-teacher and student-student interactions. The teacher can meet students' needs by modeling a concerned attitude for the

well-being of students and by creating a caring environment where students feel valued and appreciated.

A teacher also may show care and concern for students by expressing an interest in their daily or extracurricular activities.

In turn, students should respond positively to a teacher who understands the cultural dynamics of the classroom. Students will strive to build a respectful rapport with the teacher because they feel that the teacher genuinely cares about them.

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Multicultural Teaching

Teachers can help students feel comfortable with their cultural identity and assist them in their learning by using a multicultural teaching approach that embraces diversity in the classroom. Campbell (2004, 60) wrote, "Multicultural education should assist students as they learn and explore their changing identities.

" Teachers with a multicultural education perspective can assist students through culturally relevant teaching, which Gay (2000, 1) defined as "using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them.“

Teacher getting to know students on a personal level, building teaching around the students' interests when possible, and showcasing the talents of students and using those student gifts as teaching tools (Bennett 2003).

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Additional Information on what the teacher should do.

• Our students need to belong, to be valued, and to be appreciated on a daily basis.

• Students' cultures have value in the classroom, and these cultural identities must be validated through lessons and teaching practices.

• A philosophy that demands high expectations of all students is the beginning of empowering students for success.

• The teacher's ability to identify with students or understand the cultural identities of students is necessary for addressing the needs of every student. Therefore, teachers must learn as much as possible about their students so that they can structure activities, build curricular materials, and tap into resources that will help all students be academically successful.

• "Teachers must empower students to succeed by providing them with a Learning environment that respects their culture, embraces their diversity, and celebrates their differences."

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Three Underlying Principals of Culturally Relevant Teaching, Bennett (2003)

a. students must experience academic success,b. students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence, andc. students must develop a 'critical consciousness through

which they may challenge social injustice.

That is, teachers must empower students to succeed by providing them with a learning environment which respects their culture, embraces their diversity, and celebrates their differences. Teachers can empower students by spending more time mentoring them rather than managing them.

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WHAT'S A TEACHER TO DO?1. Call students by their correct names. Ask for help with pronunciation of unfamiliar names, and

help classmates learn to say the names. Do not offer to change or shorten their names or give them nicknames.

2. Ask students how they identify themselves. ("Asian American," "Asian Pacific America," "Korean American," etc.) Do not assume a particular nationality or birthplace. Some students' families will have lived in the U.S. for many generations; others may be recent immigrants.

3. Don't assume Asian American students will have particular academic or athletic interests. Encourage broad participation in all aspects of school life.

4. Help all students identify and challenge the stereotypes of Asians that might arise in film, literature, textbooks, or TV -- Asians as martial arts fighters, math and science geniuses, docile housewives, conciliatory merchants, bloodthirsty warriors or sneaky businessmen.

5. If Asian American students express an interest in their Asian cultures, encourage efforts to bring that cultural connection into the classroom. Seek out literature from their culture to include in the curriculum. Learn words of greeting in their native language and teach these phrases to the entire class. Invite students to describe special holiday celebrations and religious observations. Ask a representative from the Asian-American community in your area to speak to your class.

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