Culture, Incongruence, and Competency

1. Culture, Incongruence, and Competency EFRT 308

2. What is Culture? • Definition from Cultural Anthropology • The learned attitudes, beliefs, values, ideas, and traditions, shared by members of a society, and passed on from generation to generation. • Important parts of this definition for educators? • Human variables (e.g., biological sex, ethnicity, race, sexuality, socioeconomic status, ability, generation, language, geographical location, group membership) influence, and are influenced by, culture. • Phenomenon of “assimilation” versus “acculturation” for non-dominant cultural groups in both school buildings and classrooms.

3. Arguing Against “Culture-Blindness” • Cultural incongruence: The culture of the teacher and/or the classroom are not in sync with the culture of student(s) from non-dominant cultural groups. • Social Constructs shape one’s experiences, worldviews, and expectations. Should we acknowledge these constructs as factors in the learning of students from non-dominant cultural groups? Why? • Role of an individual’s “Perceptual Filter” to make sense of the world.

4. Role of Perceptual Filter

5. Cultural Competence and Teaching • Perspective-taking and Teaching • Emic versus Etic perspective • Analyze impact of social constructs, culture, and context on one’s perceptual filter. • Think about the social experiences of the “individual” as well as the “cultural group” for which she or he is a member. • “It’s not about you”: Suspend judgment and listen to the voices/experiences of the individual and the larger cultural group(s) to which that individual identifies. • Physical resources to provide that “voice”?

6. “Ethnography” • What is this practice of “Ethnography”? • What are the tools and skills of an ethnographer? • What are some challenges facing an ethnographer? • What is “The New Darwinism” according to Stephen Steinberg? What is the significance of this concept to ethnographic analysis?