Exploring culture
Culture and change
Background information
Culture is learned. We learn cultural practices,
values and attitudes first from our families then
from our social groupings and institutions.
What is culture?
While aspects of culture can remain static for
long periods of time, all cultures change.
Changes to a culture can occur due to internal
developments or to the external influences of
other cultures.
This is a challenging question! Culture has
different meanings for different people and
these definitions can change over time. The
importance of observing cultural practices also
varies between cultures and from person to
person within a culture.
Examples of internal developments include:
• new technology, for example, the industrial
revolution changed the focus of English
culture from agriculture to commerce;
• new social practices, for example, new dress
codes during the 1960s and 70s contributed
to a more casual attitude towards dress that
many people in Australia have today.
In 2002, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
described culture as being ‘the distinctive
spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional
features of a society or social group and that it
encompasses, in addition to art and literature,
lifestyles, ways of living together, value
systems, traditions and beliefs’.
Culture can be simply described as all traditions
and patterns of life that are communicated and
passed down from generation to generation
within a particular society.
Culture can also be used to refer to
subcultures within a society. Some examples
in Australia include: pop culture, rock culture
and youth culture.
It is difficult to define culture for a diverse
country like Australia whose people have their
roots in, and identify with, a wide range of
cultural, ethnic and national backgrounds. For
this reason, the Australian culture is described
as an evolving multicultural one.
Examples of external influences that influence
culture include:
• trade with other societies resulting in the
introduction of new goods and
manufacturing processes
• intellectual exchange resulting in the sharing
of ideas
• colonisation resulting in changes to the
cultural practices.
All cultures change, or evolve, with time. It
sometimes happens that when change is
sudden and dramatic, some cultures
disintegrate or cease to exist. History gives
examples of many such cases. The study of
human cultures is called cultural anthropology.
Activity 1.1 What is culture?
Activity 1.2 Culture walk
9
10
Definitions
Ethnicity
A person’s ethnicity describes the particular characteristics a
person has due to origin, language or nationality.
Ethnic
The word ‘ethnic’ is often used by people in one group to describe
people in another group that has different cultural characteristics,
and usually represents a minority. The word is sometimes used
inappropriately.
Race
The word ‘race’ is often used to group people together based on
physical characteristics such as body shape, facial features and
skin colour. As a scientific concept it is widely criticised by experts.
www.morguefile.com
EXPLORE | Y Challenge - celebrating diversity
8
ACTIVITY 1.1 What is culture?
Culture is a difficult concept to define. This activity prompts the team
to think about those aspects of our lives that define culture.
Part A Culture cards
• Pose the question ‘What do we think culture is?’ and have the team
brainstorm their responses.
• Next, pose the question ‘What things about you are part of your
culture?’ Brainstorm responses.
• Provide the team (or small groups) with a set of Culture cards.
• Each person takes one Culture card and, in turn, reads it out stating if
they think it is part of culture.
• The team discusses the response and by general agreement the card
is placed in either the ‘culture’ or ‘not culture’ container.
• The team writes other aspects of their lives on blank cards and repeat
the process.
Is culture more than the food we eat, our language or our appearance?
Do we understand how our own culture influences what we do or think?
Are our beliefs, values, thoughts, the way we act and the ways we
interact with others, expressions of our culture?
Do our beliefs, values, thoughts, the way we act and the ways we
interact with others influence our culture?
www.morguefile.com
This activity helps young people to develop a shared understanding of
what is meant by the term culture and to develop an analogy for culture.
You will need
• 1 x set of Culture cards
per team or small group
(Resource sheet 1.1)
• blank cards
• 2 x containers for cards
• 1 x enlarged Iceberg poster
(Resource sheet 1.2)
• tape, glue or blutack
Part B Is culture like an iceberg?
The iceberg has been used as an analogy for culture because, like an iceberg, only some
aspects of a person’s culture are obvious, for example clothing or language, while other
aspects of a culture are less obvious, for example a person’s beliefs and values.
• Display the iceberg poster and explain that only 1/10th of an iceberg is visible above water
and that 9/10ths is not.
• Pose the question: ‘Is culture like an iceberg?’ Field responses and then invite the team to
attach the Culture cards to the appropriate part of the poster.
• Complete the activity with discussion about how effective the iceberg analogy is.
Are the obvious aspects of culture more or less important than the non-obvious ones? Why?
Is the iceberg analogy a useful one? Why do you think so?
If we can’t be aware of all aspects of a person’s culture, how does this affect our understanding
of each other’s culture?
Be prepared for points of difference during this activity! Some cards, for example The
languages we speak might find quick agreement, others, for example, The types of pets we
keep might be debatable. Others are clearly not aspects of culture because they are not human
behaviours, for example, The country we live in.
Geography, climate and other aspects of experience that are not of human construct can
influence culture but are not aspects of culture.
A tree is also an effective analogy, with the roots underground representing the not obvious
aspects and the leaves representing the obvious. Your team might extend the analogy to
include flowers and fruit. A house is another possible analogy.
9
EXPLORE | Y Challenge - celebrating diversity