Out of the five contexts of development in chapter one, the one that is more important in my own life than the others has been development in multicultural. The text book states that culture is “the system of shared beliefs, conventions, norms, behaviors, expectations and symbolic representations that persist over time and prescribe social rules of conduct.” Being born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with a multicultural of being in the Caribbean and also being a U.S. citizens has been different for me, compared to other cultures. For example, this summer I was looking for an apartment, so I stop by the leasing office to apply for the apartment. After viewing the apartment and speaking with the lease agent she give an application to complete at
home and return it to the office. When I got home and started filling out the application, I then realize that it had no place for a Social Security number. As continue, I find that the question was kind of odd. That’s when I notice that the application was for and non U.S. citizen. The leasing agent assumed from Caribbean accent and my appearance, that I was a non U.S. citizen. The text also mention that people often use the word culture to refer to large groups of other people like Hispanic culture, Asian culture or even Caribbean Culture. It also mentioned, that people need to be careful because that invites stereotyping and prejudice, since such large groups include people of many cultures. Another example, when I am applying for a job and the ethnicity and race sections on applications comes up I always have to question myself which ethnic group do I belongs. Do I put African American, Asian, Hispanic or other? People of ethnic groups share certain attributes, but particular ethnicity differ culturally. I have been living in the U.S. main land most of my life but never could fit in any large ethnic groups. People always try to label me as African American, or even Indian because of my skin color; I do share some of the cultural attributes with these groups, but are different in so many ways. This has also played a big role in my social context development.
Culture often means an appreciation of the finer things in life; however, culture brings members of a society together. We have a sense of belonging because we share similar beliefs, values, and attitudes about what’s right and wrong. As a result, culture changes as people adapt to their surroundings. According to Bishop Donald, “let it begin with me and my children and grandchildren” (211). Among other things, culture influences what you eat; how you were raised and will raise your own children? If, when, and whom you will marry; how you make and spend money. Truth is culture is adaptive and always changing over time because
...Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 353-355. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Apr. 2014
There are various theories of development which have an influence on current practices in schools today.
“At a time when people are seeking to become more culturally aware it is important to note distinctions which make cultures different and unique from one another” (Giger, 2013, p. 163). “Culture involves much more than race, ethnic background, and language” (Smith, 2013, p. 32). Culture is a combination of learned behaviors, beliefs, and values that are reinforced through exposure to social interactions within one’s immediate social group or surrounding society. A personal interview was conducted with Andrea Sinkler, is an African-American female, whose culture influence is mainly attributed from her association with family and social interactions.
Within the United States there is a huge diversity of cultures. Culture is many different things, it is a tradition, it is the values and beliefs passed down from generation to generation, and culture is the identity of any country. Culture helps to identify one cultural group from the other. Although we may live in the same country,city, or state we still differ from one another by the way we dress, our beliefs, language, traditions, music, art, food, religion, and politics.
Throughout the duration of this composition, I will provide cultural information depicted from the African, Indian, and Chinese cultures. The information will consist of background information, societal issues, policies that are implemented, and the profound decisions, law making and the way a group of individuals live in general. (Petrakis, Kostis, 2013) explained how cultural differences were a notion utilized in policy creation that highlights the impact of cultural capital on population and individual behavior.
As stated in the first paragraph of this article, “Multicultural education has been transformed, refocused, reconceptualized, and in a constant state of evolution both in theory and in practice.” Multicultural education is always changing. Culture is something that changes on a day-to-day basis. The way our society changes is no one’s hands, but our own.
One of the most difficult challenges faced by the children of immigrants is trying to find the perfect balance between the different cultures they are expected to abide by. They attempt to adapt to the culture that is most widely accepted by those around them while maintaining the culture that their parents have chosen to raise them in. When they begin to integrate into the surrounding culture, the children of immigrants are less likely to be accepted due to the community
Culture has a big impact on how we all fit in as individuals in today’s society, and since this assignment is about that I decided to include some of my own experiences to illustrate my point of view and compare it with those of my classmates and some of the readings.
Culture is the knowledge, language, values, customs, material and symbolic elements that acts as a lenses through which one views the world and is passed from person to person and from generation to the next in a human group of society (Kendall, 2005). Culture varies in a particular society at a particular time and place. This defines that cultures throughout the world and during different time periods are unique. Likewise, in a multicultural nation, such as Canada, there are various cultures with distinct views, opinion, beliefs and values that have been brought by the new immigrants and shared within their ethnic communities, as well as their families (Kendall, 2005). Over a period of time these cultures and views can conflict, and result in one perception of what is believed to be right to override the other. Thus, the simplest way to think about culture is to think about the distinction between nature and nurture. Nature refers to human nature or genetics. Nurture refers to care given to children by parents, and social environmental influences.
There are millions of them. Not a single one is the same, no matter how similar they may look. Of course, I am talking about people. Many factors influence the way humans work. They are shaped by parents, peers, and biology. From their mannerisms, to the way their chin points, nurture and nature affect every aspect of human life. There is a debate brewing in the psychological, sociological and scientific communities over which of these two have the higher influence. While most of the members of these communities acknowledge the fact that both nature and nurture affect development, some believe that only one solely determines certain aspects of life, such as gender. Dr. John Money is one of these people; he believes that gender identity is solely a product of rearing. He advocates that when humans are born, they have a blank psychosexual slate. That is to say that, at birth, individuals do not have a gender identity, and they can be raised as either male or female. He does have his skeptics though. Milton Diamond was the first to challenge his beliefs publicly. Nature versus nurture is an argument that has been around for ages, and research is still being done to help to determine which the true winner is.
The Problems of Defining Development Development is very difficult to define as it has a wide range of meanings and has therefore been used in a variety of ways, by different people or organizations at different times. For example, geographers will link development with improvements in human welfare. e.g. greater wealth, better education and health. Many geographers will measure development in terms of the countries HDI (Human). Development Index.
According to Geert Hofstede (1983, p. 76), culture can be explained as the ‘collective programming of the mind’ and it influences how people think and how they act in different situations. This distinguishes members of one group or category from another. He argued that people are mentally programmed and that it influences the lifestyles, attitudes and norms of people and their belonging in particular groups (Hofstede 1983, p. 76). Another definition of culture is that it explains the different way in which people of different populations perceive values, norms, attitudes and roles in society. By gaining an understanding of the differences that separates a culture from another and gaining knowledge on how cultures operate on a daily basis, conflicts and misunderstandings can easily be avoided (He & Liu 2010, p. 2).
As I personally take the time to have a reflection over the course of “Child and Adolescent Development” I find myself intrigued with the amount of knowledge I gained during this course this semester. I wanted to take the time to concentrate on three specific areas in which I felt I had the most growth, but also came as a challenge to me as well. It is important when reflecting over a course that I look at what I found to be challenging, as this was an opportunity of growth for me individually. In this paper I will review some of the main topics that I found to be interesting but also resourceful for my future aspiration not only as a family life educator but also a mother one day.
Human development is a process we all have to go through in life. Not everyone go through the process of development the same. This class has taught me a lot of information about how we develop in the eight periods of human development. I also learned that my dimples are part of my phenotype and that it has a strong genetic base (p 54). My mother told me as an infant most of my physical milestones that were expected I met. My height and weight was normal as an infant. I started gross motor skills of crawling and walking at a normal age. I did not go daycare I stayed home with my mother, while my father worked. Having both parents in the household allowed me to benefit from additional support of two parents. My relationship with my mother was