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What is school culture
What is school culture
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For my second cultural plunge, I decided to attend a family dinner with a close friend of mine who is from Arles, France. On May 17, 2014 at 4:00pm, my friend, Amy Dubois, invited me to attend dinner with her mother, father, and younger brother in Huntington Beach, California. Amy grew up in a small town in Arles with her family. She lived in Arles until she was 6, and then moved with her family to Huntington Beach, California. I met Amy in middle school and have been best friends with her ever since. Amy and I took French classes together at Huntington Beach High School for 3 years. I was fascinated by the French culture and wanted to learn more about it. I got in touch with Amy recently and asked if I could attend her weekly family tradition French dinner in order to learn more about the culture. She was very excited for me to attend and invited me over earlier to help prepare the food with her family. I decided to do my cultural plunge on a family dinner because of my experience with French culture in high school; I decided it would be a good reminder of the French culture and I wanted to learn more about it.
Stereotyping the French
Stereotypes are very common throughout the world and are very common among cultural and ethnic groups. I know of a few common stereotypes about the French that I have heard numerous times. One stereotype that I commonly hear is that the French are extremely rude. When I was at dinner with my friend’s family, I did not see this stereotype portrayed. Amy’s family was very thrilled for me to attend their traditional family French dinner. This stereotype is often blamed on the French because when tourists are visiting France, the French do not tolerate tourist’s minimal use of their language and may a...
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...ore about the culture. I got the opportunity to have a traditional French dinner with a good friend of mine. I was able to remember the common stereotypes that are addressed towards the French and I was able to notice if they supported or refuted these stereotypes. My cultural plunge showed many aspects of culture as a disability, cultural pluralism, and cultural difference I learned more about the French culture and this assignment made me realize that there is still so much about the world that I do not know about.
References
Convertino, C., Levinson, B. A., & González, N. (2013). Culture, teaching, and learning. In J. A. Banks & C. M. McGee Banks (Eds.). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives (pp. 25-41). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
McDermott, R., Varenne, H. (1995). Culture as Disability 26(3):324-348. American Anthropological Association.
...rtatious, and mainly associated with food. Even the character names such as "Cherie and Lumiere" of "Beauty and the Beast" promotes the romantic nature that the French are stereotyped for. Through the representation of this culture, children would only learn to associate the mentioned stereotypes toward the French and only that. They would not consider other characteristics that the French are also known for, not necessarily the romance and the great French cuisine that we already know of. Having said this, what Disney produced as a harmless depiction of the French, could furthermore fuel of what could be viewed as a limiting representation of the French culture.
They also take the time to prepare the food, and then sit down and eat it socially. As a result of meals being “events” or “celebrations”, they eat slower and enjoy their food. In America, people often eat on-the-go (in their car, while walking, etc.) so food is consumed quickly which makes it easier to overeat. Therefore, the French eat less food in a longer period of time, which allows them to take pleasure in their meal. Another French custom is to always eat at the same time of day, which limits the amount of control a person has on when they eat - this is controlled by the
Regardless of the difference of culture, language and customs, I learned so much about the Brazilian culture in the United States. For example, they have huge families like Dominicans and they stay together as a community one hundred percent. In addition, I myself might incorporate some of their traditions onto mine, maybe not for myself but for my cousins and even for my future daughter. I like they way in which everything was very detailed and organized. Also, I liked how everything had a meaning and a reason for being there. This party has motivated me to go out there and explore all the different cultures that exist in the society that I live in. This event has also taught me a lesson about life, in order for us to find ourselves we need to identify with our ancestors and continue our traditions. There is nothing more pretty than being able to bring our beliefs and customs with us. This is what identifies who we are, and who are children would be.
To start off, a key point that ended up in a shift of the author’s beliefs upon her culture was demonstrated in the quote, “On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns.The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food.” This quote is essential to the disrespectful tone of of the story. Amy is extremely condescending of her culture and seems embarrassed of her culture and its food.
Amy Tan’s “Fish Cheeks” describes Tan’s upbringing as a Chinese-American caught in between two cultures. In “Fish Cheeks” Tan’s crush Robert and his family were invited to Tan’s house for Christmas, Amy was embarrassed of Robert’s impression of her Chinese relatives, cuisine, and culture (Tan 110). Tan’s situation is not uncommon as millions of first generation Americans encounter similar situations while living within two cultures. Albeit the extreme embarrassment Tan endured throughout the encounter, she contends that her mother taught her a valuable lesson in appreciating her Chinese culture (111). Ultimately, Tan's purpose was to implore first generation Americans to embrace both of their cultures, in spite of its unique traditions (Tan
At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate.
Manning, L.M. & Barruth, L.G. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
My knowledge of not only myself but of my friends and others has greatly increased due to the past marking period projects. As I reflect, I believe I learned the most about myself as well as my friends during the first marking period project with comparing my culture to someone else. For that project I chose one of my best friends from Ireland as a way to understand her culture more. The cultural information I learned from my friends allowed me to open my eyes to actions and traditions I never knew about her before. For example, when I asked a question about Gaeilge, the Irish language, her passion and emphasizes on the importance of the language and the wide-spread belief that Irish is the cultural foundation of Ireland shocked me. I never seized the opportunity to learn and understand the language; her information about the language further enlarged my regret.
Considering the views of students is especially relevant to understanding the difficulties evident in multicultural classrooms. Such students encounter challenges and setbacks adjusting socially and academically to the American atmosphere. The key to solving this problem is not to merely seek the advice and suggestions of teachers and staff, but rather the students themselves. This is crucial as there rests the “danger of unconsciously imposing our own cultural behaviors and expectations on these students, who do not have a working knowledge of our cultural expectations and behaviors” (Turner).
Through the course of researching Greek culture I learned a lot about my own culture and the significance that culture has in the world. Although I come from an Irish culture and not the Greek culture that was used in my group’s presentation, there was still a lot that I learned by completing this project. Primarily, I saw the effect that culture has on people’s lives. When researching Greek food I truly saw how different people eat. In my household every meal is accompanied by some sort of potato product. Although stereotypical, at every dinner my father makes a potato dish for the family. Before this project, I never thought about the significance of this or that this was different than other households in the United States and around the
For my assignment I decided to sit down with people of different cultural backgrounds of myself and learn a little about their culture and how they were raised and what their family is like and just information like that. Overall I really enjoyed this assignment and getting to know these three girls better and understanding what their family was like and how it differed from mine own. I also really enjoyed learning about some of the different culture that each of these girls have experienced from growing up in the way and families they did.
Culture is a powerful influence plays a big role in our interactions. Culture may also impact parenting style and a developing child. Having a strong sense of their own cultural history and the traditions associated with it helps children build a positive cultural identity for themselves. This also supports children’s sense of belonging and, by extension, their mental health and wellbeing. This class is crucial in understanding and working well parents, staff, and children. An effective educator understands how students’ cultures affect their perceptions, self-esteem, values, classroom behavior, and learning. As director, I need to use that understanding to help my students and staff feel welcomed, affirmed, respected, and valued. One way that I can do this is by using multicultural literature, especially children’s literature, to honor students’ culture and foster cross-cultural understanding. If cultural differences are not understood by teachers and management, it can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings on both sides. It will be my job to do all I can to overcome both language and cultural differences to ensure a positive learning environment for
I guess I should start at the very beginning which would be getting up at 6:45 in order to make lunches for the students going on the trip. I had agreed to help Brenda make sandwiches, but neither of us got the key for the dining hall so we had to break into the dining hall with a clothes hanger, we are now professional picks locks because we finally got it open on the 30th try. At any rate we had fun making bagged lunches and pick on each other in the process. Then all the mission students piled into the vehicles to ride to New Tribes Mission, I always thoroughly enjoy the rides on these trips because we frequently have some lively discussions and this trip was no exception. Upon arriving at New Tribes the only thing on the outside property
Gofen, Ethel and Reymann, Blandine. Cultures of the World: France. New York: Times Media Private Limited, © 2003.
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.