Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CI 280 Autoethnography
Pauli Badenhorst
with little diversity myself and little exposure to most other cultures. Meaning, I am open to and
extremely interested in other cultures, yet I’m not sure how to go about experiencing or learning
about them due to my lack of interaction with them or with people of those cultures in general.
To me, I feel like I don’t have much cultural diversity; I only speak English, majority of my
friends are white, middle-class Americans, and I’ve never really made a point to go outside of
that norm. I don’t do these things on purpose, rather I think they were categories where I had
been placed that I was unaware of until now. This brings me to the question of: How did I come
to be this being that I am? And how can I change the practices I don’t like? Though from the
surface I have described myself as this very undistinctive person in a society, I realize now that I
do have my own developed practices and thoughts that truly make me a cultural being. It isn’t
just the few most obvious aspects of culture that define you, but the vast, under-the-surface
aspects that build your character and identity. A lot of these characteristics and perspectives
Firstly, I grew up in a household where arts and crafts were daily activities and creativity
was encouraged. My mom was an artist at heart and kept me in art classes outside of school and
during the summer. In addition to this, I was fortunate enough to have an absolutely incredible
art teacher for elementary and middle school. This was super important because fostering a skill
like this at a young age (much like language!) strengthened my retention and desire to learn,
which carried into my adulthood. So art was being pushed as important in every aspect of my
life. I really, truly enjoyed it and art became a huge part of who I am as a person. I always just
thought about it as a hobby or how I got my mind off things, but it wasn’t until I was older that I
It is not an unusual question to ask someone how many/what languages they speak, and it
would not be an unusual answer to hear things like Spanish, French, Italian, etc. But I think now,
what about art? Art is always described as “a way to express yourself” and is that not what
language does as well? Through visual references, designs, tones, colors, subject, almost any part
of a piece, you can convey a message to your audience. This is a skill I learned early on,
especially by working with my old art teacher who was previously an art therapist; she directly
worked with kids and analyzed their art in order to get a better idea of their mental state. Having
this ability, though not to a professional degree, but at least casually, I feel a sense of
bilingualism. Art is not technically an official language anywhere, but consider that the first
written language among humans was pictographs. They were using visual representations in
order to communicate with each other. But because we have amore intricate and sound language
system now, I can use my ability to read people’s art for other purposes. For an obvious example,
looking at artwork helps me understand a person on a level that they may not be able to describe
in a vocal language. In addition, when approaching a piece of art, I must always go in with an
open mindset and a wide range of perspectives because the piece may look like one thing on the
surface, but have a completely different meaning. I have seen this characteristic transfer to other
parts of my life, and help define who I am as a linguistic and cultural being. When approaching
arguments or complicated situations, I always keep my mind open to both sides, consider all
I know that this sense of open-mindedness and perspective will help me to be a better
teacher, especially for ELLs. Through art, I have an accessible, indirect path to communicate
with my students on levels past just their academics. I will be able to find their personalities,
their voices, and their cries through a medium that will not discourage, intimidate, or restrain
them.
Another role that my family and schooling played in my socialization into language and
culture is my concept of “self”. Being one of three girls (and no brothers), I think my mom and
dad really emphasized us becoming successful independent young women. After school they
always sat down with us, my mom would help me with my Science and English work, and my
dad with my Math. They were both very supportive, while also holding very high standards for
us, to which we always strived to meet. This motivation helped me do well in school which in
turn boosted my self esteem. In addition to this, my parents were always supportive of whatever I
wanted to do, or whatever I thought was “me”. Their daughter wanted to wear only basketball
shorts, baggy tshirts, and gel her hair in a tight ponytail for a year or two? That was fine with
them as long as I was a good and hardworking person. Their daughter wanted to try basketball,
then field hockey, then lacrosse, even though she was horrible at every single one of them? They
would still be there for every game cheering my name. I could not thank my parents enough for
being my supporters and for providing the foundation to my independence and success.
One of the best things they did for me was send me to Gwynedd Mercy Academy, a
private, college-prep, all girls school. Now from that alone, it sounds absolutely dreadful, and
that’s what I thought. But it wasn’t until I got there and experienced the sense of community and
empowerment that I realized what the school was all about. Yes, academics were a huge part of
my education there, but their mission is really the well-roundedness and character of their
students, along with the empowerment of women. This school turned me into the woman I am
today, from the incredibly caring faculty, to the sense of community that is instilled in you from
the moment you walk into the building. So together, my parents and my schooling have guided
me to my independence and I wouldn’t have my concept of “self” that I do today without them.
person in a community feels important. I know also that in some cultures it is unlikely of parents
to praise and give as much attention to their children as mine did with me (tying into their
emphasis on the better of the group, rather than just yourself). However, as a future educator, I
know there are ways to incorporate both of these practices, without making my students
One last experience and perspective that I would like to share is sometimes hard to
acknowledge and explain without feeling somewhat uncomfortable. This perspective has
stemmed from my development of manners, what was right and appropriate and at what times.
Just like any other kid, you learn your first manners at home from your parents, who try and raise
you to be the best kid you can be. If you have older siblings, in my case a sister, you look up to
them as role models and learn correct behavior from them as well. In accordance with that,
elementary school definitely has a big emphasis on manners. I went to catholic school for 13
years of my life. There, manners are like rules. If you were not being kind and considerate, you
were most definitely getting in trouble. But growing up in catholic education, you did have that
reminder in religion class every day on how you were supposed to treat people. Everyone is
equal, and therefore no one should be treated differently. The quote, “Do onto others as you
would have others do onto you,” was the Golden Rule, given by Jesus to guide people in fairness
and equality. Growing up with rules like this and a consistent set of morals, I definitely have a
strong foundation for a sense of what is right and wrong and when someone is being treated
unfairly.
However, a point I should mention is that every school I’ve been to before Penn State has
been predominantly white, Catholic, middle-class, and there was little to no diversity in the
student or faculty population. Recently I have discovered that I think the mix of the constant
reminder to treat every one equally, while being surrounded by people who were all relatively
equal, could have had a negative effect. (This is not to demean Catholic practices, or say that this
was their intent; rather, it was how my over-conscious mind interpreted it.) Being told over and
over how wrong it is to treat other people differently, I developed this “fear” of ever making
someone I met who was different than I feel any less important because of our differences. So
then, my first instinct was to ignore any obvious differences between us because that would
eliminate the possibility of me ever accidently insulting them or making them feel inferior. I
would describe this as some say “not seeing color” (and for my example, any other
cultural/physical/social/etc difference). Though this can be a great way to avoid things like
discrimination, it can also strip people from their identity. Being interested in the many cultures
that the world has to offer, this is not something I want. I have a desire to learn about other
people’s cultures but I’ve discovered I don’t know how to approach that desire. I am forever
grateful of the privileged education I have received, and the sacrifices my parents made to send
me there, but sometimes I wish it didn’t come with the extensive shelteredness. This is
something that at the time, I wouldn’t have realized its effect on me, until I came to Penn State.
Now, as an educated young adult, in pursuit of being an educator for those in inner-city,
high-needs areas, I recognize the importance of being able to discuss and share the aspects
culture and language within a community. And I want to make my classroom a community
where all are welcome, and all are embraced for their differences.