Mostad, Josh EDU211 -0254110 Cultural Autobiography My names Joshua Patrick Mostad and I was born into a typical white American middle class English speaking family, I was raised as part of the US ethnic majority. My parents are De’Nene and Scott and I have one sister that’s two years older than me. My mom’s a native Montana with a Native American background and my dad has a Norwegian background. My mother was raised catholic, but she never tried to force religion on any of us. I started planning what I wanted in life when I was thirteen, but that plan has changed and evolved quite a bit since then. My childhood education began in Townsend Elementary school where there wasn’t really any diversity at the time that I can remember. As a child …show more content…
I want to stay in Montana as this is my home and would prefer to stay here. I would be most comfortable in a high school or college trades school as I want to be a shop teacher and work with adults preferably. As far as the topics/content I am not sure how to go about that as I all the teaching I plan on doing is skills type teaching. I am sure there is a way to diversify it somewhat but I don’t know how you diversify skills yet but I look forward to learning how. The students I will relate the most to would probably be the brighter students that pick up on things fairly quickly no matter our differences. I can only speculate that teaching in a diverse classroom can be difficult. Teachers need to understand that each and every student has their own unique life style. Therefore, every student learns a bit differently because each pupil is an individual. Stereotypes shouldn’t exist in a classroom so each student has an equal opportunity to succeed. When a teacher is more aware of the uniqueness of the student and their personality, the curriculum and lessons can then be made to meet the needs of everyone in the classroom. The classroom can be run more efficiently and thus
I would like to consider my cultural heritage as diverse, but this is far from reality. Over the years as I matured through my teenage years, I was exposed to different cultures by life experiences and travel. I struggled to create both a personal and cultural identity while trying to adjust to my sight loss and with the support of my family I traveled overseas to experience other cultures for the first time. My family opened up their home to a foreign exchange program in turn allowing me the opportunity to travel over to Europe at the age of 16 years old. This opportunity started the slow progression of experiences that would open my mind to others who are unlike myself, especially traveling to a strange place and feeling different in a mainstream culture. It was not until the past 5 or 6 years until I fully accepted my disability that changed my view on being different, whether it’s race, class, gender or disability. Before this time period, my own fear of being different was so intense that I thought my weakness (disability) made me inferior of not only other cultures, but also my own family members.
One’s cultural identity consists of their race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, religion, and so on. Being aware of your own cultural identity is just as important as being aware of other’s. People’s cultural identity defines who they are, the privilege (or lack of privilege) they receive, and how society views them. It is important to understand that White individuals have more privileges than individuals of color. White individuals do not experience detriment and difficulties due specifically to their skin color and instead receive advantages. White privilege is defined as benefits that white individuals have that people of color do not (Kendall, 2012). The following walks through my personal cultural background, how it was shaped, defined, and developed, and limitations to my personal competencies.
It was a steep learning curve over the next thirteen years as I gained experience and eventually taught in Taiwan’s most prestigious elementary schools. My teaching experience, combined with my understanding of the culture led to my first management position in an educational role as I became the Head Teacher of a public elementary school in Taiwan. I felt a real sense of commitment to the community in this role and I set ambitious goals when I started this position. My ability to work within the framework of the Taiwanese culture helped me accomplish these goals.
Living in the United States as one of the most divers’ countries in the world has made me to recognize the importance of increasing my cultural self-awareness. As Sammers-Flanagan, Sammer-Flanagan in the book, Clinical Interviewing (2014) stated: “The ability to understand how your own thoughts and feelings are influenced by your cultural heritage helps you understand how culture has influenced others. Hopefully, understanding other perspectives will help you avoid imposing your cultural values on your clients.”(p. 367). Increasing cultural knowledge and competence, developing counseling skills, conceptualizing individual and systematic case and recognizing my strengths and growth were the most important area that I have tried to improve them in the Clinical skills’ class.
My cultural background is Italian, Irish and Greek. My father is full Italian and my mother is half Irish and half Greek. I’ve always felt more in touch with my Irish culture and have really connected with it. A few years ago I went to Ireland and I never wanted to leave. Culture has not shaped my sexuality in any way. I consider these places to be my cultural background, but nothing from those cultures have affected me in a sexual way. My grandparents were born in America, my parents were born in America and so was I. I was born in 1996 and sexual norms for that time were that homosexuals were becoming more accepted into our culture. Also rights for the LGBT community were rising and people started taking action.
Diversity in classrooms is both positive and negative. However, if teachers are provided with the right resources and keep a open mind, their students can become successful civil human beings.
My education journey has been through some setbacks, but I have continued to push forward and conquer. I have felt that I have a fixed mind set and just am not capable of achieving some things. After learning the difference between growth and fixed mindset I have realized that I have a growth mindset and that everyone is capable of learning anything through hard work and dedication.
It is extremely exciting that you want to come to the United States; it truly is a great place to live. However, there are a couple of subjects that you and I need to discuss, so you are not completely lost when you arrive. So the things that I will discuss and better help you understand are the family cultures in the United States, what community means and the effect it has on others around, how technology affects everyday living here, the social media, educational system and the environment, and finally the relation between self and others.
The concepts included in providing a more diverse, multicultural education are requiring teachers to review their own issues and prejudices while expanding their knowledge of the many cultures that make up the classroom. These efforts help the educator recognize the various individual and cultural differences of each student, as well as gain an understanding on how these differences impact the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon individual and cultural difference research and why diverse students struggle to succeed in school. Furthermore, I will share some instructional approaches I could implement in the classroom to accommodate diverse students. Finally, I will discuss the responsibility of educators in addressing the issue of how our o...
Cultural Appropriation versus Multiculturalism In today's society, there are many different cultures that individuals identify with. Culture is very important to many people and is something that helps define who we are. When different cultures are respected and appreciated, it is a beautiful thing, it can bring individuals in society closer to one another. Ideally, this understanding of one another’s cultures can lead to multiculturalism.
I have always been intrigued by other places, people, and cultures. I enjoy learning about their traditions, everyday lives, beliefs, and values. When I study and learn more about different cultures, my interpretations become more accurate and concrete. Fortunately, I have been given many opportunities to travel to different countries around the world such as Armenia, Mexico, Japan, and several European countries. Visiting these places and learning about other cultures has helped expose me to different perspectives, histories, values, and religions. From my real-world experiences and insights that I gained from interpretational research, I have recognized the many similarities cultures share even though each culture is unique and different.
This is a short summary explains how differences in culture across and within countries can affect international business through several themes.
Have you ever wondered what your cultural identity was? Or what people want to label you because of the way you look? Many people can have more than one culture, some people have up to two or three cultures. Like me i’m Mexican and Native American, but I started questioning my culture when people would ask me if I really was Mexican.
My parents unintentionally shaped part of my cultural identity. Their pursuits on culture answered some of my inquiries but raised more questions. The reason why I write “unintentionally” is that though they treasure culture, they do not teach me doctrines like “you need to value our precious culture” but rather let me form my own values. Furthermore, they do not have a lot of opportunities to instruct me even if they want to, because I have been studying in boarding schools since Sixth Grade. However, as a dedicated observer, I can grab the focal point from most events that are related to culture and link them up in order to have a comprehensive view of how culture affects our family life. As a result, although my parents do not lead me
From an anthropological point of view culture is the set of learned behaviors and ideas (including beliefs, attitudes, values and ideals) that are characteristic of a particular society or any other social group. Although most people that live in a shared society consider themselves to be unique individuals with their own habits and opinions, the truth is most people that live within the same society have similar beliefs, habits and feelings (Turner, 1993). If a person lives in Australia, they are more than likely going to believe that it is normal for both men and woman in a partnership to be working fulltime jobs, that children should be going to school five days a week and they will have the habit of sleeping on a bed. Most people wouldn’t think about these similarities they have with their shared society because they feel ‘natural’. This is what is meant by culture. The word culture has many different meanings, but for anthropologists, culture is the learning of human behavior patterns. English Anthropologist Edward B. Tylor was the first to use this term in this way, in his book, Primitive Culture’ in 1871. Tylor said that culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” Humans have changed or replaced traditional behaviors throughout history to suit their needs; this is obvious when you examine the history of a society. Culture is always changing because culture comprises of cultured patterns of behavior and belief, cultural traits can be unlearned and learned again as human needs differ. The foundations of change can be external and/or internal (Kottak, 2011).