CLASS CULTURE
GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: Social Studies
OVERVIEW:
To begin to understand people of different cultures, students must
first know how all cultures are alike and different. There are
certain things that all cultures have, whether or not they are
exactly the same. These things are called cultural universals
and include such things as religion, values, what is considered
right and wrong, games, music, rites of passage, etc. This concept
should be discussed before the present lesson. The object of
this lesson is to show that even within the class there are
many different cultures - that every person has his/her own culture,
but within the class there are a few things that everyone can agree
on and those ideas make up the class culture.
NOTE This lesson is not for the faint of heart.
Although this is a level I lesson, there must be a level of trust in
the group so that gut level discussion can take place. Be prepared
issues such as capital punishment, abortion, and religion to come up.
After doing this lesson, it is much easier to talk about different
cultures and value systems with compassion and empathy.
Student Motivation:
One of the cultural universals often discussed is "right and
wrong". Each culture has its own ideas about what is OK and not
OK to do. this lesson will help to find out what the people in
this class consider to be wrong. The things we can all agree on
will reflect the culture of THIS class.
Problem:
List many, different, and unusual things that you consider to be
"wrong", that is, things that are not acceptable to do.
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
Each student first makes a private list of things s/he considers to
be "wrong" or unacceptable behavior.
After about ten minutes, students get in groups of two or three and
share their lists.
First, have people determine categories that the ideas fit into.
This will determine how many different ideas there are.
Then make group lists. In order for an idea to be on the group
list, both people in the group must agree to it. At this point
the teacher may need to remind people that everyone has his/her
own culture that is a result of being raised in his/her family
and his/her own ideas, but that what we are after is things everyone
in the class can agree on.
When the groups of two have a common list, they join another group of
two and repeat the process. At the end of this time, all the ideas
from each group are written so that everyone can see them.
At this point everyone has discussed and defended his/her ideas at
least twice. Now, for an idea to be a part of the class culture,
everyone in the class has to agree that it is wrong. If there
are disagreements, people may make short speeches presenting their
ideas and reasons in an attempt to persuade other people of their
viewpoint.
In the end, the ideas that are left represent the cultural universal
of what is unacceptable behavior in this particular class.
Evaluation:
Many - number of ideas on the original lists
Different - number of different categories
Unusual- number of ideas that no one else thought of.
Extensions:
People who feel strongly about an issue may want to prepare to debate
it formally, or poll other people, or find out what the courts have
to say about it.