In our society, everyone is surrounded by visual and material culture. Visual culture provides a way to communicate with others not only from within our society but also outside. Visual culture tells the story of how we began, where we come from, and even sets a standard for where we will be going. Material culture consists of objects and spaces we experience and surround ourselves with and that can be personal or as a society that deems it as important. Material culture is beyond monetary value but lays deep in personal meaning just like visual culture is beyond the vision and has other subliminal messages. Teachers show students slides, prints, artwork but rarely actually hand examples to them to let them define, touch, smell, and get …show more content…
249). Material culture refers not only to the objects that we view and engage, but it also encompasses the immense array of cultural expressions that transcend objects themselves and applies as a descriptor of all human-generated expressions and activities of a culture (Bolin & Blandy, 2003). “Material culture studies provide opportunities for learners to explore in meaningful and immediate ways the complex contemporary world in which they live” (Bolin & Blandy, 2003, p. 255). Bolin (2012) emphasized that the study of material culture within art education provides the driving force and the opportunity to expand the possibilities of what art education could become. It challenges ideas that have given shape to art education for many years. The term “material culture delineates the entire array of objects in our world. these items become, then, tangible reminders of the many told and silent stories that make up our lives” (p. 40). Material culture is beyond monetary value but lays deep in personal meaning and is very important to art education and in understanding …show more content…
With the internet connecting people all around the world and more and more multinational companies, a multicultural education is becoming increasingly important. “Art educators should take advantage of open source social media engines through which students can appreciate networked society instantly since they are not bound physical limitations and distance” (Shin, p.261). Also, the population of the United States is becoming increasingly heterogeneous. As such, students need a greater understanding of multiple cultures to work and live with people from a greater variety of cultures. Multicultural education is crucial to students being successful in life. Multicultural education is for every student, not just the “other”. Students from the majority culture need a multicultural education as much as minority students. It is important that all students have a strong multicultural
As new technologies and business began to grow shortly after the European empires began, the definitions of culture at home began to become more important. It grew more important for a group of people to bond rather than with technology. Another form of culture is material culture. Material culture is everything that is part of constructed, physical environment, including technology. Nonmaterial culture values beliefs, behaviors, and social norms. Material things as well as nonmaterial things can influence
Just because other perspectives are incorporated in the classroom, this doesn’t mean that everyone will become more understanding and appreciative of other cultures. When multicultural practices have rigorous standards, allow the advancement of social communications with other cultures, and allow the advancement social justice concepts both inside and outside of the classroom, this is when students will become more appreciative of other cultures (Ladson-Billings, 1995, p.162).
Ugbu, J., U. (1992). Understanding cultural diversity and learning. EDUC 160 Urban Education (Spring 2014, pp. 213-228)
These concepts are easily understandable for a student audience, and the examples provided by the author encourages a deeper understanding of the expectations I have when reading the books on multicultural education. This book fits within my understanding of education because the author’s ultimate argument reinforces the understanding I have for multicultural education. However, the author has given numerous examples in his book and also explored interesting concepts in multicultural education. This has challenged my understanding of education because I have learned a lot and after reading this book my perception on education has changed because I have gained great insights about the topic. I am ready to apply the concepts and ideas I have learned in my future classroom as a
Material Culture/p. 34: The material objects that distinguish a group of people, such as their art, buildings, weapons, utensils, machines, hairstyles, clothes, and jewelry. (Henslin 34)
The world is made up of many different types of people, each one having his or her cultural background. Over the years, the United States has become increasingly populated with cultural diversity. This influx has prompted school administrators to recognize the need to incorporate multicultural programs into their school environment including classroom settings, school wide activities, and curriculum as it becomes more evident that the benefits of teaching cultural diversity within the school setting will positively influence our communities, and ultimately the entire nation’s future. The purpose of this paper is to share the pros and cons of multicultural education in the classroom. Additionally, I will express my views compared to those in the reading requirements for this assignment, as well as, new knowledge obtained through the research. Finally, I will share situations where I was challenged introducing a multicultural issue during a class.
The three aspects of society that will be addressed in this paper are culture, social norms and mores, and social ills and injustices. First, culture is simply the “shared products of a human group or society” (Popenoe, 53). The two products of culture are nonmaterial culture and material culture. Nonmaterial culture is basically the intangible such as right and wrong, values, and knowledge. Material culture is material objects that tend to represent nonmaterial culture. Material culture ranges from monuments to fads and technology to even the mundane. All material culture represents nonmaterial culture.
Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students to gain a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably from a judgmental and prejudiced view. Diversity has a broad range of spectrums. Students from all across the continent; students from political refugees, indigenous Americans, and immigrants bring their cultural and linguistic skills to American classrooms. Students not only bring their cultural and linguistic skills, but they bring their ethnicity, talents, and skills.
Visual culture “involves the things that we see, the mental model we all have of how to see and the things we can do as a result.” (Mirzoeff, How to See the World Pg.10). Visual culture doesn’t just involve what we see, it also involves how we interpret what we’re seeing. We interpret what we’re seeing based on our previous knowledge and previous experiences.
“Mom, I want to be president,” Says a young girl. The mom replies, “Oh that’s great, you will change the world.” She gets a little bit older and says, “Mom, when I grow up, I want to be an astronaut.” The mom replies, “Oh that’s great, you will travel to the moon.” She gets a little older and says, “Mom, I want to be a nurse.” Her mom replied, “Oh that’s great you will meet lots of people.” The girl gets older and says, “Mom, I want to be a creator.” Everyone else said, “Oh honey, there’s no such thing as a creator.” Her mom says, “Well, what do you want to create?” The girl replies, “Books, movies, music, dance, art.” The mom then replies, “Well, why do you want to be a creator?” the girl replied, “I can do everything
The cultural diversity in society, which is reflected in schools, is forcing schools not to solely rely on content-centered curriculum, but to also incorporate student-centered lesson plans based on critique and inquiry. This requires multicultural education to a dominant part of the school system, not just an extra course or unit. Further, it demands that learning itself no longer be seen as obtaining knowledge but rather, education be seen as creating knowledge. Multicultural education should be seen as affirming the diversity of students and communities, promoting the multicultural ideas of the United States, and building the knowledge and behaviors needed for students to be a positive and contributing member of society and the global community as a whole.
Material culture or materialism refers to objects as resources and spaces that people use to define their culture. In which cultural value placed on the accumulation of material possessions, a process in which people base their sense of themselves, their well-being, and social standing on possession- Ashley Crossman. Such aspects of culture are used to define one’s social status. Where in the west, the standards of living has never been higher. To a point a ‘hyper-reality’ started to form in our society where it affects everyone’s expectation of life. The main source of these pressure is from people closest to them such as parents and mainly friends and society at large.
Garcia, E. (2002). Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge (3rd Ed.). New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Culture can be summed up as the behaviors, attitudes, customs, and beliefs combined in a society at a given time and place. Culture joins people by establishing a common ground. There are many common elements that result in the formation of cultural subgroups such as religion, family traditions, and the arts. The two most important cultural elements that have influenced my own social group (for better or for worse) would be communication styles and roles within the family.
Children’s artistic development can be fostered by making environments effective. Teachers are designers in this situation as they need to make practical and supportive environments for the children to engage in visual arts activities. The arrangement of the classroom furniture and use of materials should be adaptable to accommodate the needs of different activities (Wright, 2003). Teachers are provisioners as they provide a variety of resources for children to use which includes papers of different