In the essay “Don’t Neglect the Little Platoon,” Michael W. McConnell defends the following thesis: Children who have the most respect for other cultures, and the highest attachment to their own, will not learn this through abstract cosmopolitanism. Rather the best form of moral education, is taught through learning to love the good in relationships and small communities. Expanding until you have love for your nation, and from there it is then possible to love the similarities other nations and cultures have to your own. McConnell’s first premise simply refutes the ability to teach a perspective through public schools. He claims at the end of his essay that a successful moral education can be done through “home schooling, religious schooling, …show more content…
First that some serious and bad event has happened to someone else, second that the bad event is not the own person’s fault, and finally that we are vulnerable in similar ways for the event to happen to us (xi). These should be the reasons to care for other beings, because horrible wrong doings happen to people all over the world and we are all just as vulnerable to be the victims. However, McConnell suggests a much different reasoning for why we should do good. He claims that we begin to do good to please our parents, then we continue to do good because thats how we have grown up to be, and as we learn the flaws of our parents who taught us to be good we learn to tolerate and forgive those flaws. Yet, these are all based on the assumption that children want to please their parents. In an age where many kids are born with out traditional home settings, lacking parents, or having very different relationships with them then the type that McConnell likes to assume is just …show more content…
“In addition to giving special attention to the history and current situation of their own nation, [children should] learn a good deal more than they frequently do about the rest of the world in which they live” (6). In this method of education, students will be creating bonds with characteristics of cultures that they personally find good and worthy of upholding. Rather than upholding traditions of their own nation without the respect they where originally meant to give. In this way, you would find differences in other nations cultures and not see them as flaws, but as unique features you can appreciate and strive to
Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier is a work notable not only for its vivid and uncompromising account of his experience as a member of the Wehrmacht in World War II, but also for its subtle and incisive commentary about the very nature of war itself. What is perhaps most intriguing about Sajer’s novel is his treatment of the supposedly “universal” virtues present within war such as professionalism, patriotism, camaraderie, and self-sacrifice. Sajer introduces a break between how war is thought about in the abstract and how it has actually been conducted historically.
The American institution has raised countless generations with misconceptions and lies regarding various foreign cultures. During the 1950’s the educational system in America was given the responsibility of teaching children the horrors and injustices they would suffer if the "evil" communist took over the world. Schools taught students that communist wanted to take away music, apple pie, baseball, and anything else that Americans cherished. Students learned that it was best to believe in the righteous of America. The preceding discussion has much in common with the treatment that Native Americans have received from picture books in America.
Family’s beliefs and values may be different for some and in other cultures they may not be accepted. As teachers, we have to learn about different cultures and expand our knowledge so families could feel more accepted. In the book, Anti- Bias Education for young children and ourselves by Louise Derman-Sparks & Julie Olsen Edwards, talks about how culture and fairness involves two dimensions, children’s development of a positive culture, identity, and their respectful interactions with other cultures. With these two dimensions, it will help the child to continue to express their home culture at school while learning the different cultures at school with their classmates. They learn about what’s right from wrong, how to dress, and talk
Increasing your knowledge in many cultural backgrounds can be beneficial to you and to understand how life is for other people with different cultural upbringing than you. Three stories I found that would be really interesting to not only the students but also to the other teachers that I could be working with are “From Shadows of a Childhood” by Elisabeth Gille, “From Catfish and Mandala: A Two-wheeled Voyage through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam; Last Gamble” by Andrew X. Pham and “Shadows on the Wall” by Charles Mungoshi. I have chosen some articles that will provide more information on the topics and to help understand and explain that learning about other cultures will help the children become more educated with other cultures that
Contrary to what Thomas Hobbs believes, a chinese philosopher by the name of Mencius, shares my beliefs. Mencius is most famous for his claim that humans are naturally born good. That we are born with the instinct to love one another, and hurting another person is an act against human nature. Children are a prime example in this instance. From a young age, children love their parents unconditionally, even when a
In Funds of Knowledge by Moll, the author argues for the importance of using local knowledge for learning in the classroom. Education in the United States has become more focused around curriculum and standards, and students are left without the chance to learn about different cultures and things they can relate and connect to. The first sentence in chapter seven states, “The typical approach to culture embodied in most multicultural curricula taught in public schools today is static, normative, and exclusive” (Moll). Most students in the system do not have the opportunity to share their background and knowledge in order to gain meaningful learning experiences, but rather are taught about the same, old traditions when it comes to multicultural
In this paper, it will be looking at the culture and education practices of Finland, Canada, and China. Education varies from country to country as well as does one's culture, lifestyle of the people who live there. In doing so will review their culture and the role of their education policies that are used to motivate schools and teachers to improve student learning along with how their culture plays into learning. Furthermore, children should be taught with respect to their culture. However, we can also learn from one another. In addition, we have similar and different educational practices from one another. Such as when it comes to the Finnish, Canadians, to the Chinese as, we all learn in different environments because of our culture. Furthermore, and most importantly, thus educational practices vary from culture to culture. For instance, these counties are considered some of the best when it comes to education, Finland, Canada, China and it is because of their educational practices along with their culture government.
We as educators must always act in the best interests of the children, while we seek to understand and embrace the different cultures by talking, listening and learning from the families and communities that surround us.
I am going to start by define what Culture means, introduce the countries and talk about the Points in my curriculum goal.
Through the novel of Little Bee, I realized that we should know more about ourselves, and the sence of pride of our own culture; standing on the point of a global perspective. Remove prejudice, narrow-minded and limitations, and learn to observe the different nation, different social, different cultural customs, traditional idea. Make us more rational, and have a more comprehensive, more understanding of the human society. We need standing on a higher level to regard ourselves and others. On the whole, all the people are the member of human and the society after all. If both the oppressed and the oppressor can try the best, the oppressor can help the oppressed as unconditional, and the oppressed can identify with their cultural background and self-awareness. Then, I think that cosmopolitanism is not an especially difficult to accomplish.
In a recent study, the National Geographic Society and the Asia Society shed light on a growing concern that showed students from the United States lacked understanding and knowledge of different people, places, and cultures around the world. This growing concern demanded higher-quality education as well as for teachers to understand the value and necessity of developing lessons based on global education. Since the 1980s, the United States government has tried repeatedly to introduce and incorporate multiculturalism and global education into the system but was met with hostility and protests by many of its citizens. Many protestors believed that global education introduces anti-Americanism, and that multiculturalism introduces and encourages "separatism and disunity". Therefore, it is important and necessary to inform and introduce the general public to the benefits of global education, or cultural education in general to our youth. This will help rise a more knowledgeable generation that is better equipped to deal, communicate, understand, and help the rest of the world.
At a young age, third culture kids gain an expanded worldview by living in a country and culture that is different from their home culture. They observe many geographical differences around the world, and they learn that people view life from different philosophical and political perspectives. For example, people in some parts of the world think of Saddam Hussein as a hero, while people from other parts believe he’s a villain. Western culture is very time oriented, while relationships are of far greater importance in Eastern lands....
Also, how other cultures have had a phenomenal impact on how I view everyday situations and how I draw conclusions, whether it’s about an ethnic group, my own and others or about hot topics in the news. Before this class I did not realize cultural relativism. I really was ethnocentric because I never took the time to evaluate other people’s cultures independently of my own. While I think it is normal for people to judge their peers, coworkers, etc. based on their experiences I also feel it would be beneficial for all of us to take the time to try and understand the sociological point of view of others that are not familiar to us or view things very different from us. The tools I have learned in this class seems to have made me a better listener and emphasizer because I have caught myself listening to people just to hear them and not just to respond. The change in my outlook about being intertwined in society has improved my communication skills at work and at
Cross-cultural experiences allow the partaker to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes." This old adage is quite relevant when addressed to the experience of learning in another surrounding. One gets to encounter how another person lives his or her life. They get to taste the different cuisine, enjoy music, and interact with citizens who are dissimilar. By doing this, the individual is seeing what life is like in another atmosphere. They are becoming aware of the different plights and jubilant exercises someone across the globe views as normal. For instance, if someone from a relatively peaceful country visits a warlike realm, they will understand and see "firsthand" the variation of the two atmospheres. When focusing on the situation, it is easier to clarify why certain individuals behave in a different way. These experiences also teach one about oneself. It offers the chance to promote the great country from which one came. Often, America is stereotyped for all types of ideals, such as baseball and apple pie. However, once entered into a new culture, one can adequately portray America for the diverse melting pot and land of opportunity for all races that it indeed is. Cross-culture is a shared mutual respect for the world in which we live. It offers strong ties to other countries, while promoting the greatness of the red, white, and blue.
Globalization is becoming one of the most controversial topics in today’s world. We see people arguing over the loss of a nation’s cultural identity, the terror of westernization, and the reign of cultural imperialism. Through topics such as these we explore the possibilities or the existence of hybridization of cultures and values, and what some feel is the exploitation of their heritage. One important aspect that is not explored is that such influences can also be more than just a burden and an overstepping of bounds. These factors can create an educational environment as well as a reaffirmation of one’s own culture.