Wednesday, August 26, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"


The Letter 'Z'...

Zany poetry
Thought-provoking art
Each has different tastes
Yet all comes from the heart

Zealously we maintain our differences, still all can agree that we:
  • feel a zap if we touch electricity
  • know zucchini is healthy
  • have a zodiac sign
  • know that a zither is a musical instrument
  • like to draw a zigzag pattern
  • realize zero means ‘none’
  • know that zaire is the monetary unit in Zaire
  • think zinnia is an unusual name for a plant
  • recognize a zorilla as an animal from Africa
  • know how to print the letter Z

We found that culture/person exchanges are mediated not only by language, visual means or actions but also, at a subconscious level, by an affectively charged conglomerate of representations, figures and experiential memories that we called background thinking. When a person speaks or thinks about any meaningful group, men, women, Black, White or whatever, the content of emotional memories, desires, interests is subconsciously activated at the periphery of consciousness.

We could describe background thinking in the area of personal and social identity, as a compression, experienced subconsciously, of all the contexts in which words, representations, or actions dealing with Self, Alter and society have occurred under conditions of affective arousal. When we display this “compressed material” through the method of representational contextualization, we find an invariant structure that I have called the affective-representational circuit, and the content of this structure, evolves in a continuous resonance with the world.


Zavalloni, Marisa

Thursday, August 20, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'Y'...



You can see that we are different
Your culture, my face
But when we learn to get along
Our world becomes a better place

You and I and others are different – that is plain to see – still all can agree that we:
  • live in the same year
  • wake-up to a yesterday
  • tend to yackety-yack to one another during recess
  • yawn when we are tired
  • enjoy trying a yoyo
  • think our favourite foods are yummy
  • know what is young and what is old
  • shout yes when the teacher asks if we can help
  • believe the sun is yellow
  • know how to print the letter Y


In my view, the most significant contributions made by transnational institutions like McDonald’s is that people can use them as bridges to other cultures. In the present case, it is American culture that makes the Beijing McDonald’s ultimately attractive to Chinese consumers. The customers want a “taste” of America, and the outcome of their pursuit is the creation of a Chinese version of American fast food culture. McDonald’s success in Beijing can therefore be understood only in the context of this localization process. Given the centuries-long development of Chinese cuisine, it is only natural that foreign foods have undergone the transformative process of localization. It is also tempting to predict that, twenty years from now, the “American” associations that McDonald’s carries today will become but dim memories for older residents. A new generation of Beijing consumers may treat the Big Mac, fries, and shakes simply as local products.


Yan, Yunxiang

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"


The Letter 'X'...



Xian’s 祖父母 live with his family
Judy’s far from home
With your grandparents in your heart
You’ll never be alone

Xerox copies of one another we are not, still all can agree that we:
  • know that xi is a letter in the Greek alphabet
  • like the sound of a xylophone
  • know that Merry Xmas means Merry Christmas
  • know that Xhosa is a language
  • have an X-chromosome
  • know that xenon is one of the elements on Earth
  • know that an x-ray machine can be found in a hospital
  • think that xeranthemum is a big world for a flower
  • know that xenophobia is often compared to racism
  • know how to print the letter X

The emerging research on popular culture in relation to literacy sheds light on how students interact outside of school with print and no-nprint texts that are uniquely meaningful to them in a cultural and linguistic way (Alvermann & Hagood, 2000; Alvermann, Moon, & Hagood, 1999; Buckingham, 1993; Buckingham & Sefton-Green, 1994; Chandler, 1999; Finders, 1997; Gee, 2000; Lewis, 1998; Luke, 1998). Dyson’s (1993, 1997) work with teachers who supported diverse students’ integration of popular culture into their reading and writing experiences at school suggests a crucial role for popular culture in students’ acquisition and exercise of skills in multiple literacies (ie. print and non-print text such as icons, images, and multimedia found on the internet and in TV shows, music and music videos…etc.). If these teachers had focused on teaching traditional print literacy and had not allowed their students to write and act out stories about superheroes, popular songs, and so on, the students’ rich literacy knowledge might not have been apparent. Thus, it seems important that teacher education courses emphasize the need for preservice and inservice teachers to become knowledgeable about their students’ experiences with popular culture, to examine the multiple literacies involved in interactions with popular culture, and to explore ways to integrate popular culture into teaching.


Xu, Hong Shelley

Monday, August 3, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'W'...





Welcome, bow, namaste, smile, nod
Kiss on the cheek, noses together, mano po
Pat on the head, annyong ha shimnikka
All of these to say hello

With all our differences, all can still agree that we:
  • wish for joy in the world
  • love to wake-up to a golden sunrise
  • know right from wrong
  • work to the best of our abilities in class
  • believe our teacher is wise
  • like to win in games
  • brush our teeth to keep them white
  • wear our very best on special occasions
  • try to never waste our food
  • know how to print the letter W


From the very beginning of anthropology as an academic discipline, debates about the meaning of culture have united and divided anthropologists. Of late, the tone of this debate has become especially strident, separating the good from the bad, the enlightened from the ignorant. In its earlier usage culture was defined by most anthropologists as a shared set of beliefs, customs, and ideas that held people together in coherent groups. In recent decades, however, the notion of coherence has come under attack by ethnosemanticists, who have discovered that people in supposedly close-knit groups (bands of hunters, factory workers, bureaucrats) do not share a single system of knowledge. Culture, therefore is not something that people inherit as an undifferentiated bloc of knowledge from their ancestors. Culture is a set of ideas, reactions, and expectations that is constantly changing as people and groups themselves change.


Watson, James

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'V'...





Vermicelli, rice, kimchi, balut
Potatoes, spaghetti, sushi, dim sum
Poutin rapee, curry, kærnemælkskoldskål
We all have our favourites – yum, yum

Variety is obvious in our class, still all can agree that we:
  • love to have fun when we are on vacation
  • value education
  • vow to do our best in class
  • have a ‘voice’ in the world
  • enjoy watching a cartoon video
  • have blood passing through our veins
  • feel a little fear when listening to vampire stories
  • believe in the importance of voting on issues
  • like to visit friends
  • know how to print the letter V

I teach an introductory graduate course titled Multicultural Perspectives with an enrolment of about 25 students per quarter. We explore ways in which race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, exceptionality, and social class collide and influence beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. My goal is to equip students with the foundational knowledge, attitudes, and abilities to work effectively in diverse communities …



Educators must create and nurture a sense of safety in controversy-driven courses before learning can happen. Creating a safe place that motivates students to take risks for their personal and professional growth involves at least seven elements: collegiality, empowerment, role modeling, preparation, shared purpose, reflection, and commitment. These elements are the building blocks of a safe classroom. They are prerequisites to a positive class atmosphere where students’ capacity to take risks are maximized. Each element is realized through a number of strategies which make the elements come alive.

Valerio, Nina L.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'U'...




Uniting in the future in many different ways
There will be marriages, weddings, and wonderful things
Arranged, sehra, tea-ceremony, ketubah, pamanhikan
Tsyhanshchyna, zaffa, karamu, and golden rings


Unbelievable are all our differences, still all can agree that we:
  • ultimately want to be good students
  • stand united in class
  • once had an umbilical cord
  • ask the teacher for help when we are uncertain
  • feel adventuresome when searching for the undiscovered
  • sometimes undervalue our personal strengths
  • know we are an important part of the universe
  • often look high for a UFO
  • try to uphold our values
  • know how to print the letter U


Teaching a multicultural or diversity-related course can create a tremendous challenge, and if not carefully approached, can generate and escalate students’ defensiveness and negative dispositions, which can contribute to defeating the whole purpose of multicultural education. Greenman & Kimmel (1995) note, “the road to multicultural education is paved with good intentions, but rutted with potholes of resistance”. My personal odyssey sheds some insights. As I look back on that first experience of teaching multicultural education, I can safely say that the students rejected the ideas I presented because they felt impacted by the issues which they perceived scapegoated the white race of which a vast majority of them claimed membership and because they were determined to protect their cultural hegemony, which resulted in defensive attitudinal behavior …



… those of us in teacher education who teach multicultural education courses will continue to struggle with ways to prepare preservice teachers who are inexperienced and parochial in their worldview and who exhibit high levels of defensiveness when enrolled in multicultural/diversity courses. Yet, in each class, I do believe that the multicultural experience surprisingly touches some and makes a difference in their lives.




Ukpokodu, Nelly

Thursday, June 25, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'T'...



Turning to my classmates
Listening to our sound
Laughter, love and learning
Music all around

Though we are very different, all can agree that we:  
  • can tell time 
  • would like to see a tyrannosaurus rex 
  • stay safely at home when there is a typhoon
  • know that it is always best to tell the truth
  • recognize some things that are taboo
  • have become aware of the word ‘terrorism
  • love our teacher
  • know to give before we take
  • recognize that we live in a world of advanced technology
  • know how to print the letter T

Aspects of self (private, public, and collective) are differentially sampled in different cultures, depending on the complexity, level of individualism, and looseness of the culture. The more complex, individualistic, and loose the culture, the more likely it is that people will sample the private self and the less likely it is that they will sample the collective self. When people sample the collective self, they are more likely to be influenced by the norms, role definitions, and values of the particular collective, than when they do not sample the collective self. When they are so influenced by a collective, they are likely to behave in ways considered appropriate by members of that collective. The more they sample the private self, the more their behavior can be accounted for by exchange theory and can be described as an exchange relationship. The more they sample the collective self, the less their behavior can be accounted for by exchange theory; it can be described as a communal relationship. However, social behavior is more likely to be communal when the target of that behavior is an ingroup member than when the target is an outgroup member … When the culture is both collectivist and tight, the public self is particularly likely to be sampled. In short, a major determinant of social behavior is the kind of self that operates in the particular culture. 



Triandis, Harry C.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'S'...



Socialization in a wonderful place
Learning to work hand-in-hand
Each from a different country
With the class as 'our common land'

So many differences, still all can agree that we:  
  • appreciate the warmth of the sunshine 
  • like to snack on treats that are sweet 
  • feel sympathy when a friend is sick
  • are curious about what's up there in space
  • know that smog is not good for your health
  • like the scent of Mom's home cooking
  • know how to write a sentence
  • have certain items that we hold sacred
  • feel safe in the care of our parents at home
  • know how to print the letter S

Though the essence of a group's culture is its pattern of shared, taken-for-granted basic assumptions, the culture will manifest itself at the levels of observable artifacts and shared espoused values, norms, and rules of behavior. it is important to recognize in analyzing cultures that artifacts are easy to observe but difficult to decipher and that values may only reflect rationalizations or aspirations. to understand a group's culture, one must attempt to get at its shared basic assumptions and one must understand the learning process by which such basic assumptions come to be. 



Schein, Edgar

Sunday, June 14, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'R'...



Rules, laws, right, wrong
Values, judgments, and policies to pass
Different in each country
But just one set in class

Real differences - they do exist, still all can agree that we: 
  • uphold special rituals
  • follow the rules of the classroom
  • like eating delicious ripe fruit
  • try to be responsible individuals
  • dislike having a runny nose
  • know we have 'rights'
  • dash for cover when it starts to rain
  • like to run
  • try to correctly respond to a friend's questions
  • know how to print the letter R

For myself, I have found a way that allows students to freely say what they desire in a non-threatening situation by using the discussion board and their web page. Too often I have heard teacher educators who consider themselves multicultural, yet point to the lone Asian student and say, "Let's hear this from the Asian perspective" or when I encountered a multicultural-ist as a student being told it was "too bad" I didn't know Spanish, and I should consider myself a "spokesperson" for "my" people. The voice we need to allow our students to use is the one that empowers them to think in a non-obtrusive, non-stereotypical environment that freely allows for discourse. If students do not offer any verbal commentary in class, yet participate within the discussion board and feel empowered by this, then the class has been a success...

There are some issues I have had to face regarding web-enhanced courses: the web page being down, students not being able to access the page, limited knowledge in technology by my students and myself, and students not trusting their technological ability. But after thinking about the road that was traveled for many students, and the voices that may not have been heard if not for something like the discussion board, I get caught thinking back to the "the editor" who stated, "A little change does me good." It has.


Ramirez, A.Y.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'Q'...



Quickly I walk to school every day
Some in their native countries travel by 
Jeepney, subway, bus, tuk-tuk, tram
In Moosenee some use a helicopter - oh my!

Quite different - yes we are - still all can agree that we: 
  • try to correctly answer the teacher's questions
  • know that quadruple means fourfold
  • make a straight queue when entering the school
  • try not to quarrel 
  • know when to keep quiet
  • feel a bit of panic when we have a surprise quiz
  • know that winners never quit 
  • like a glass of water to quench our thirst
  • quickly try to complete our homework 
  • know how to print the letter Q

It is imperative that faculty in teacher education programs value diversity, assess cultural factors, manage the dynamics of differences, institutionalize cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity in order to develop diverse teacher education faculty in culturally proficient programs (Lindsey, Nuri-Robins, & Terell, 1999). Building a diverse faculty in teacher education contributes to learning and directly impacts upon students and current faculty.

Diverse faculty impact students' self-analysis regarding their individual perspectives about twenty-first century classrooms. Core values of students are also challenged because of diverse faculty communication styles and cultural beliefs. Diverse faculty ensures that teacher education programs sufficiently prepare education to work in ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse settings.


Quezada, Reyes and Angela Louque

Thursday, May 28, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'P'...



Primal- indigenous for me
Hinduism for you 
Islam, Judaism, Christianity
And Buddhism too

Perhaps we are all different, still all can agree that we: 
  • believe in peace
  • feel shy when speaking in public
  • know that purple is a colour 
  • believe we should keep a promise
  • know the name of our principal 
  • try our best to be positive
  • love to play
  • enjoy painting during art class
  • want to protect our environment 
  • know how to print the letter P

Buddhism has been known to "the West" for many centuries, with stronger contacts establishing only since the 19th century. But even then, knowledge of Buddhism was largely confined to a small elite until the 1960s when it started to become more popular. Today several hundred thousand "Westerners" have adopted Buddhism in one or other of its different forms, and "many more quietly incorporate Buddhist practices on to their daily lives (Bodhi, 2000)...

But if this become true, if there is a revival in the West, what would Buddhism look like in the future? Or asked differently: How can Western Buddhism be characterized? The major feature is the existence of "partly syncretistic, partly innovative attempts to create new styles of Buddhist practice conformable to the Western temperament" (Bodhi, 2000) with the borders of the different schools being blurred. One American bhikkhuni describes the situation as follows: 

All the different traditions are going and most people don't separate. (...) they don't think 'Oh, are you the good kind or are you the bad kind'. Most Westerners think 'Oh you are Buddhist and so you can teach me something about Buddhism.' So a lot of information is starting  to mix in the west. 

Pfaff-Czarnecka, Joanna

Friday, May 22, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'O'...



Our governments can be different in many ways
Communism, socialism, conservatism, and liberalism too
Let's get together and talk it through
Perhaps we'll create our own world view

Oh we know we are different, still all can agree that we: 
  • love to play outside
  • know that the earth orbits the sun
  • need oxygen
  • try to keep an open-mind
  • are proud when our country goes to the Olympics
  • know how to get to the school office
  • grow old
  • know not to say obscene things
  • observe very carefully when the teacher is teaching
  • know how to print the letter O

We are seducing ourselves with a delusional idiom of individualism. To accommodate global capital we are drawn to capital bodies, intelligence, sexuality and possessions. Once again, we are tempted to reject the unemployed, the welfare poor, immigrants and refugees as moral aliens whose fates lay no claim upon our own. We fancy that we can set up new walls between the rich and the poor, between personal and civic life, between today's enjoyment and tomorrow's misery that will fall upon children and youth who are not our own. In the name of an absent capital god we are being asked to break the civic covenant, to fragment our communities, to exit from the city in order to reconnect in an abstractive, vertical union with our global other in the world's finance, film and fashion houses. Meanwhile, the sweatshops, the refugee camps and the prisons do not close; exploitation and violation do not cease; hunger does not abate. We are asked to close our minds, to harden our hearts and not to cry out.

O'Neill, John

Friday, May 15, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'N'...



Names, they vary in many ways
But in the end they tell you 'who'
Ng and Venkatasubramanian
Just to name two

Now it's easy to see that we are different, yet all can agree that we: 
  • know how to print numbers
  • have names
  • know the consequences of a nuclear bomb
  • feel a little nervous before a test
  • need love and compassion
  • have a navel
  • like taking a nap when we feel sleepy
  • have a nationality
  • try to keep our school desks tidy and neat
  • know how to print the letter N

... you may well think that standing up against the daily indignities (of racism) is simple; and you would be quite right. It takes so little action on your part to interrupt the daily indignities. As more people do so, enormous change will begin to take place for those for whom those little bits of injustice become a daily, living hell. So many of us have wanted to help, hut have wondered how one person could really make a difference in ending racism. The good news is that in simply interrupting the daily indignities, you contributing significantly to that goal ...

A corresponding truth is that we often fail to do the transformative work (that is to transform our world of justice) because we get stuck in our need for a certain self-image the need to avoid seeing ourselves as bad so that we do not feel badly about ourselves. That "self-image need" often prevents us from becoming the shining examples of love that we want to and can be. It is time, very simply, to get out of ourselves and get into the world.

Nile, Lauren and Jack Straton

Friday, May 8, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"

The Letter 'M'...



Metical, euro, rial, frane
Tughrik, pound, krona, rupee
The world has almost 200 currencies
And during show-and-tell they're fun to see


Many of us are very different, but still we all: 
  • enjoy beautiful music
  • know the importance of medicine
  • like getting a letter in the mail
  • try to be polite and show our manners
  • like wearing a mask in drama
  • mature with each passing day
  • recognize our class as a mosaic of cultures
  • enjoy the world of magic
  • like to make new friends
  • know how to print the letter M

The power of encountering diverse views of reality through shared stories remains in today's world but it is discovered in a different setting. A fascinating aspect is that not only has the context changed it has also expanded. Today, readers encounter cultures and people they rarely have the opportunity to meet face-to-face (Miller & McCaskill, 1993; Rosenblatt, 1938). Gutenberg's printing press changed the communication settings of the world. People can now encounter diverse perspectives simply by accessing what is now a vast repertoire of books, in a range of media from vellum to pixels on a computer screen.

Through print, the reader is drawn into new worlds where characters give each of us a new lens to use in viewing reality. Characters for whom we feel empathy can generate the development of broader perspectives of our worlds, including the recognition that nor everyone perceives in precisely the same way. Such a recognition could lead the reader to an epiphany of self-discovery grounded in the understanding of just how one's own culture has shaped and molded one's attitudes, values and beliefs (Carlson, 1992; Hansen-Krening, 1992). From this initial awareness of self, the process of ethnic identity development is sparked (Christensen, 1989; Helms, 1993; Sue & Morishima, 1982; Uba, 1994).

Mizokawa, Donald, Nancy Hansen-Krening and Zhongming Wu

Thursday, April 30, 2015

A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education

Vaughan M. Blaney
Director
BSc(UNB,Canada), BEd(UNB,Canada), TEFLA(University of Cambridge), MEd(HKU, Hong Kong)

Book: "A to Z: Cultural Perspectives in Education"


The Letter 'L'...




Left to right or back and forth
These kinds of nodding can both mean yes
The wave of a hand can say come, go, hi, or bye
Keep it straight to avoid a mess


Love or dislike our differences, you'll see all can agree that we: 
  • laugh with smiling faces
  • know how to speak our language
  • want to win and never lose
  • wonder why a giraffe has a very long neck
  • enjoy learning
  • read literature
  • know its important to be law-abiding
  • believe 'late is better than never'
  • try not to be lazy in class
  • know how to print the letter L

Nothing divides anthropologists (and others seeking to generalize about humanity) more than issues of cultural variability. There is no serious dispute among professional anthropologists about the wide variations, documented by increasingly detailed ethnography, in the economic, organizational, and communicative patterns by which humans live. There is also a consensus regarding documented variations in cultural standards of intellectuals, moral, and aesthetic judgment. Furthermore, few anthropologists consider the world a melting pot in which, as popular belief would have it, variation is disappearing so fast that ethnography has no future. On the contrary, it has become abundantly clear that, although hunter-gatherer populations are threatened and many customs have indeed disappeared , world cultures as a whole are resisting homogenization, even as they eagerly embrace Western consumer goods and bureaucratic forms. Anthropologists disagree not about these facts of cultural variation but about what to make of them in generalizing about cultural variability.

LeVine, Robert Alan and Richard A. Shweder