Lance Kerwin S.

Duco
Summary on Cultural Influences on Context: The Educational Setting
Cultures basically teach the same thing, and that is the continuation of
the culture from generation to generation. Hence, in every culture,
educational institutions mold the individual, and are basic means through
which a culture is passed from generation to generation. Moreover,
educational institutions also teach the informal knowledge of the culture such
as proper conduct, values, and respect.
Cultures basically teach literacy, history, arithemetic, and so forth.
However, the uniqueness is found in what cultures emphasize and how it is
being imparted.
Different cultures also have different ways of teaching. There are cultures
that teach through teachers doing the lecture, and other cultures teach
through the students discussing the topics. Moreover, other classrooms are
quiet, while others are noisy and in a very engaging way.
The basic aim of cultures is to prepare the individual to become a useful
person of the society. However, this is not stagnant, but is continually evolving
as society evolves. As a result of this constant evolution, we are now in the
world that knows no boundaries. Hence, people from different cultures come
in contact with each other. This is an inevitable reality. In light of this,
educational

institutions

now

accommodate

this

through

multicultural

education.
Multicultural education stands on the premise that communication is
dependent upon ones insight of culture.
Even though learning may be natural to humans, people do not learn
through the same approach. Furthermore, research has provided that culture

has a significant influence on how an individual learns.

The four dimensions of learning styles that are subject to cultural
variations

are

as

follows:

cognitive,

communication,

relational,

and

motivational.
Cognitive styles refer to the different ways of processing an information. A
cognitive style could be field independent versus field sensitivity which means
that if an individual is field sensitive, he has a more global perspective of his
surroundings and is more sensitive to the social environment. If an individual
is field independent, he prefers to work on his own and is a task-oriented.
Cognitive style could also be cooperation versus competition referring to
whether the individual prefers to work in collaboration with others or to work
on his own in competition with another.
Cognitive style could also be trial and error versus watch them do where
an individual may prefer to learn through trial and error or by learning through
observation first.
Cognitive style could also be tolerance versus intolerance for ambiguity
which refers to whether an individual is open-minded to uncertainties or he
prefers structured environment.
Communication style may be direct versus indirect communication which
refers to whether an individual prefer to engage in direct or indirect
communication. Communication style may also be formal or informal.
Furthermore, it may also refer to nonverbal communication which is under the
heavy influence of culture. It may also refer to topic-centered communication
versus topic-associating communication which refers to manner of studying a
topic.
Relational styles refer to how people relate to each other. It may refer to

dependent versus independent learning which refers to the degree an

individual relies on support of the educator. It may also refer to participatory
versus passive learning. It may also refer to reflectivity versus impulsivity
which refers to the duration of the students thinking about a question before
arriving to an answer. It may also refer to energetic learning versus calm
learning.
Motivational styles refer to the reasons the cultures give on why learning
is important. It may refer to intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation depending on
where an individual gets his motivation to learn. It may also refer to learning
on demand versus learning what is relevant or interesting which refers to
whether a student should study under a curriculum or he is allowed to learn
on what he is interested on.
Multicultural teaching is not an easy task. Hence, there must be
competencies a teacher must carry in order to be effective in a multicultural
classroom. These competencies are understanding diversity, understanding
the self, assessing acculturation, building dialogue, and empathy.
Understanding diversity refers to the importance of knowing the cultural
backgrounds of the students. Understanding the self refers to the educator
being aware of he brings inside the classroom, knowing his strengths and
weaknesses, and how he could improve those strengths and how he could
compensate for his weaknesses. Assessing acculturation refer to the
determination by the educator of his students involvement of their own
culture. Building dialogue refers to a maintenance of an open dialogue with
the students. Empathy is being sensitive to the feelings and needs of the
students.

My Realizations on Cultural Influences on Context: The Educational

Setting
I realized that education is not an easy task, especially in todays
information age and of globalization where communication knows no
boundaries anymore. Unlike long ago that people come in contact and
communicate with people who have the same cultural background, today is a
world of globalization where people, through technology and revolutionary
inventions, communicate with other people of different cultural backgrounds
who may be thousands of miles away from each other.
Hence, there is an inevitable realization that education must be enhanced
in a way that caters the needs of todays globalization.
I realized that the workingmans plight is not anymore limited to the single
arena of labor, but he now comes in contact with fellow laborers but of
different upbringing and culture.
Catering the needs of humanity is not a simple and ordinary task. Today
is an age of unavoidable revolution of cultures crashing with each other, and
the basic and practical solution to pacify this situation is an education that
delivers the right recipe for our current worlds needs.

Summary on Cultural Identity and Cultural Biases

Cultural identity basically refers to an individuals sense of belongingness
to his culture, which involves learning and receiving the traditions, religion,
and thinking patterns of his culture.
Social identity then develops as a result of such membership in the
culture. Personal identity on the other hand, reefers to the individuals unique
characteristics different from those of other members of the same culture.
Cultural identity usually develops through the process of three stages.
These are unexamined cultural identity stage, cultural identity search, and
cultural identity achievement. In unexamined cultural identity stage, the
persons cultural characteristics are taken for granted, and does not have the
effort of exploration. Cultural identity search is a process where exploration
about ones culture starts in order to understand the implications of being a
member of such culture. And finally, cultural identity achievement refers to the
concrete acceptance of oneself and his cultural identity.
A significant concept in cultural identity is the idea of ethnocentrism which
refers to the perception that the values, norms, and beliefs of ones cultur is
superior to those of others. This is because cultures teach what is proper and
we see this as what is good for us, and those that do not conform to this,
does things in the wrong way.
Stereotypes are a form of generalization against some group of people,
making assertions about the characteristics of all people who belong to such
group.
Stereotyping may be inaccurate in three ways. First, stereotypes assume
to apply to to all of the members of a particular group, resulting in a tendency
to deny uniqueness among the individual members. Second, inaccuracy
occurs when the group average being suggested by the stereotype is wrong

or inappropriately exaggerated. And third, inaccuracy occurs when the degree

of error and exaggeration differs for positive and negative attributes. Hence,
stereotyping may lead to incorrect expectations of the future behavior oa an
individual being stereotyped.
Prejudice refers to the negative attitudes against other people which are
based on faulty and rigid stereotypes, and may include irrational feelings of
dislike and even hatred for a group being stereotyped.
Discrimination refers to the behavioral manifestations of prejudice.
Racism on the other hand, is the inclination to categorize people in terms
of their physical attributes like skin color, hair color, or facial structure.
Racism at the individual level involves the beliefs and concepts of an
individual against people of a different racial group. Racism at the institutional
level on the other hand, is the exclusion certain people from equal
participation in the institutions merely because of their race. This racism could
include racism in the government, educational institutions, and workplaces.
Old-fashioned racism refers to an open display of clearly narrow-minded
views against another group.
Symbolic racism, or modern racism refers to the belief of a group with
economic and political power that members of some other group threaten
their accepted values, like individualism and self-reliance.
Tokenism refers to the form of racism where people do not consider
themselves as prejudiced for the reason that they make small concessions
towards members of the other group while holding negative characteristics
against them. It is also known as the pratice of reverse discrimination.
Aversive racism happens when individuals strongly value fairness and

equality among all races but have negative beliefs and feelings against
members of a particular race.
The least alarming form of racism is the unfamiliarity with members of the
other groups, which has most probably been experienced by everybody.
Others may look, smell, or act differently, and may be sources of discomfort
and result to racist actions.
My Realizations on Cultural Identity and Cultural Biases
I realized that cultural identity has its own dark side, unveiling the
negative concepts of racism, prejudice, bias, and discrimination. It is
alarming, yet an unavoidable experience of people of different cultures.
The gravity of these concepts are not confined to educational books, but
exist to the field of reality. Racism, discrimination, and other kinds of biases
are evident almost everywhere. Yet, they continue to remind us of our
weaknesses that continue to allow these biases to continue to trap us in the
arena of negative attitudes.
I have come to the realization that the challenge of these biases is for us
to take a stand, make concrete actions to stop these harmful concepts, and
make a commitment to become responsible citizens with a heart for our
fellow human beings no matter what is the color of their skin, the color of their
hair, their height, other physical attributes, and even their professions.
I have also come to the realization of the irony that we keep on calling
ourselves as civilized, and yet we continue to make the same barbaric
discrimination toward other people of other cultures.
We have come to an age of sophisticated education, and yet we have
never been able to develop our sensitivity towards our fellowmen. We call
ourselves educated, and yet we bypass perhaps one of the most basic and

practical of all human interactions, and that is to accept each human being as
persons with dignity, and deserving of our respect.