How does culture affect what we think? How does what we think affect how we think of ourselves? And how does what we think of ourselves affect how we act?
These are all questions that we need to consider when dealing with others, and especially with our students from other cultures. What is their culture's expectations of what a student does? When that student doesn't "measure up" to that expectation, what are the results, both internal and external?
I watched an interesting lecture given by one of the authors of the book Clash! 8 Cultural Conflicts That Make Us Who We Are, Hazel Rose Markus. In her talk, Dr. Markus spoke of the influence of culture on our self-awareness. She pointed out the differences between an independent culture and one that is interdependent, and spoke of the conflicts that arise when there is a lack of understanding about the other culture. She also told about eight cultural contexts where conflict can arise, based on: Hemisphere, Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Class, U.S. Region, Religion, Workplace, and Global Region, and the Independent/Interdependent divide in each of these contexts. In these conflicts, she noted, the Interdependent person has less power than the person who is Independent, and the way to "bridge" the conflict is to meet in the middle between the two. She also stated that categorizing people in this way can lead to stereotyping, but that sometimes the stereotype is true!
John Ivers, of Brigham Young University-Idaho, teaches about what can happen when an individual doesn't "follow the rules" of a culture. Giving one example of the Cherokee nation, in that culture the men were the hunters, and the women the farmers. After their assimilation into American culture, these Indians saw that the only way to live among them was for the men to begin farming. "When the Cherokee men started to farm so that they could adapt to American society, to be accepted by American society, they considered it personally humiliating. … [It] was a feminine thing to do."
Every culture creates an "ought-self." This is what a person "ought to do." As is pointed out by the quote above by Thomas Cooley, the culture has definite ideas about "who I am." Each person plays a specific role in the culture. There are cultural norms that must be followed to maintain acceptance. A person needs to choose how he or she will act in this expectation. How does his or her actual self mirror the culture? What can be done about it?
As we consider the application of this to our students, how will they react to the "ought-student" that their culture expects? Does the student come from a culture where education is highly desirable? Or one where "it's not cool to be smart!"? Do we have female students who love math, but think that it is a "masculine" thing, so back off on their studies so that they do not excel? Is there a son of a football star who does not like sports? How do we help these students to create an actual-self that will succeed, who will have the positive self-image to be able to do his or her best in class?
I don't have the answers. I have seen evidence of the Cooley quote in my life and the lives of many around me. We try to shape our lives, sometimes, around the expectations of our culture. Who are we, really?
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References:
Image: https://impactministries.com/i-am-easily-intimidated-by-people/
Hazel Rose Markus lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNqpug_kxWc
John Ivers lecture transcript: https://content.byui.edu/file/c615d56d-e670-4fbe-8b8b-64325e977465/1/06%20Culture%20and%20Psychology.html
I'd love to find out more about independent and interdependent cultures. I'm not sure I agree with Markus' opinion that an interdependent person has less power than a independent one. There is power in belonging to a group. I need to read more to understand her point of view. Great post!
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