Learning Objectives
- Describe the influence of culture on everyday practices
- Understand the values and assumptions that support cultural practices
- Understand how social identities influence personal identities
Materials
- Videos on cultural practices
Instructions
- Ask participants how they define culture and gather some definitions. There are many useful definitions of culture, so you may choose to give them an “official” one from your field.
- Explain the following concepts about culture:
- Invisible: We don’t usually think about our habits until we travel to a different place or meet people who have different ones. Our cultural assumptions influence us in small ways (do you take your shoes off when you enter a house?) and big ones (do you believe government policies should be guided by a religious text?).
- Nested and overlapping: We are all a part of multiple cultures. For example, the region where we grew up may have different norms about talking to strangers on the street. Our religion and race can give us different practices from others who grew up in the same area. If you live in the U.S., you are influenced by U.S. culture, which is different from other countries.
- Changes over time: Cultures change over time. The culture of the United States is different than it was in the 1950s, and will be different in 2050.
- Provide us with histories and traditions: Culture helps us know who we are and where we came from.
- Provide us with practices, values, and assumptions: Culture tells us what to do, when, and why. Everything from a tweezer or toothbrush to the American flag is based in our cultures.
- Expressed in individual ways: Even if two people share everything about their cultural background, the way they integrate their cultures into their identities and the ways they express their culture can be different.
- Individually or in small groups, ask participants to describe a cultural practice relevant to the course. For example, in a child development course, you might ask about practices around newborns. In the U.S., we often have baby showers, baptisms, and christenings. Some students may have difficulty thinking of examples at this point, and that is fine.
- Show students a video of a family engaging in what is likely to be an unusual cultural practice. In my child development course, I showed the following video of a Korean 100 Day Celebration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeCgimJanR8. To make the discussion beneficial, find a contemporary video with a family that the participants can relate to. The main difference should be the cultural practice–the entire setting should not feel foreign. For example, the video above features Julie Yoon, a Korean-American chef who lives in Chicago. Her age and lifestyle were similar to many of the students in my class. It is important that students do not exoticize the family and dismiss their practices as strange and unknowable.
- After watching the video, discuss:
- What did you see in the video that felt familiar?
- What felt unfamiliar?
- What cultural practices did you see? (Make sure to draw students’ attention to the obvious, different-feeling practices as well as the more familiar practices)
- What is the reasoning behind the cultural practices in the video?
- What were the reasons behind the cultural practices you discussed in your small groups?
- How do cultural practices reinforce our sense of community and social identities?
- Conclude by reinforcing the ideas about culture above. Many practices are invisible until we reflect on them, but all cultural practices are guided by values like appreciating life and family. Furthermore, culture is not a static, homogenous force. Each person will relate to and express their cultures in different ways.
Variations
- This activity can be divided into several lessons.
- You might show multiple videos with varying levels of difference from the participants’ experiences. Start with more familiar practices and conclude with less familiar practices. Remember to keep the ideas about culture grounded in what is relatable.
Extensions
Assessments
Evidence of Effectiveness
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