Culture of Honor
Sustaining a safe, joy filled
classroom environment.
Safe Classroom
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Facilitates learning
Is full of joy
Joy brings freedom and peace
Love casts our fear
An atmosphere of grace is created by love
Put Love into Action
We need to put love into action by creating a
culture of honor and viewing each person as
one of God’s creations. Each child is worthy of
great respect, value and importance.
• We need to speak to the treasure within the
person
• We need to restore
• Offer an atmosphere of grace
Honor
• Is the result of intentionally living out a vision to
encourage those around us
• By honoring someone you are empowering them
• Honoring someone will draw the goodness
hidden inside them
• Promotes the desire to learn
• One does not honor someone just because they
are like us. Honor is a sign of respect.
• Even if honor is cultivated in each home there is
no promise of it crossing over into the classroom
where cultures are diverse.
• Where there is honor there is life.
Weapons of Dishonor
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Sarcasm
Jealousy
Anger
Judgment
Racism
Insecurity
discrimination
Acculturation
• Acculturation is the process of becoming adapted
and socialized to the host culture. There are
many influences on the process.
• Language proficiency
• Age
• Presence of PTSD
• Rural vs. urban orientation
• Educational background
• attitude
Acculturation is a process
• The length of time the process takes is
dependent upon the amount of time spent in
the process
• The quality and quantity of the interactions
between the cultures also has an effect
• The degree of difference between the
ethnicity or nation of origin and host culture
• The level of enculturation
Stages of Acculturation
• Stage One-Euphoria when excitement and
expectations over being in new culture rule.
• Stage Two- Culture Shock * when the reality of
the struggle to acculturate has set in. Emotions
of fear, anger, frustration, hostility may be
present
• Stage Three-Recovery-when the individual starts
to feel comfortable in the new culture. Becomes
acclimated to surroundings since adjustments
have begun
• *this is a key area for intervention
Stages of Acculturation (cont)
• Stage Four-Acceptance-when a relationship
between two cultures is beginning to be build.
Connections have begun to form.
• Stage Five-Appreciation and Adaptation- when
person has not only adapted to the new
culture but appreciates the host culture.
Person is “plugged in”
Culture Shock
There are many ways to alleviate culture shock
*create a safe environment-communicate honor,
respect, and sincere interest
*honor the student by educating oneself on
student’s culture
*educate others about student’s culture
*beware of stereotypical text books, visual aids etc.
*encourage student to bring in some personal
artifacts that represent his/her culture
Culture Shock (cont)
• Be mindful of the term “host” culture. We are
to be welcoming
• Help to bridge the gap during the
acculturation process
• Introduce the components of the host culture
to the new student
• Clearly discuss expected behaviors
• Promote honor
Welcome Parents
• Parents welcome learning from younger
people about the host culture (it may be less
intimidating)
• Will welcome communication from the
teacher
• May welcome a network of other parents in
the acculturation process
• Will appreciate teacher’s care and concern
during the acculturation process
Antidotes to Culture Shock
• Teach the accepted behaviors, skills and norms needed
to function within the culture
• Highlight the favorable aspect of each child’s culture
and express the positive value to whatever appears
foreign to the host culture
• Positive attitudes are transferable
• Experience music, food,clothing, holidays and
traditions of all the students
• Help host culture appreciate positive aspects of the
other students
• Understand principles of communication
Communication
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Language is the primary way we communicate
Is more than words
Includes changes in voice pitch and rhythm
Includes eye contact
Direct and indirect responses
High or low context
Is body language
Discernment
• It is critical that the teacher monitor the
acculturation process
• Look for fear, depression,helplessness
• Inability to communicate
• Monitor students acceptance of new student
• Dispel myths
Myths
• There should be a separate unified set of goals
and curriculum for multicultural education
• A student must melt into host culture and
forget native culture to “fit in”
• Being bi-lingual is a liability
• Ignore the problem and it will go away
Truth
• It is important to acknowledge that
everyone has a culture, not just those that
appear different
• Best curriculum for understanding
America’s diverse cultures recognition,
understanding, and acceptance of cultural
diversity
• Honor individual’s uniqueness
Concepts to be Taught
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Cultural pluralism
Inter-group understanding
Human relations
Activities should be accompanied by
commentaries that explain their cultural
context
Teachers are
• A source of cultural information
• A resource informer
• Arbiter that evaluates students understanding of the
cultural information
• Elicitor that asks students about their culture of origin.
• Encouragers that teach students to be inquisitive
• Guide and structure cultural exploration
• Researchers that introduce the history and contributions of
often excluded ethnic groups
• Responsible to replace distorted and biased information
about a group with more accurate information.
Teachers need to
• Encourage students to work together to understand
one another
• Develop conflict resolution skills-although views may
conflict, encourage respect and honor for each other
• Define rules of engagement
• Encourage global thinking
• Recognize students as individuals as well as integral
parts of the whole group
• Be sensitive to components of host culture that may be
in conflict with students native culture
Teachers need to (cont)
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Acknowledge student’s strengths
Identify student’s learning style
Define student’s need for contextual support
Make efficient use of classroom time
Facilitate high level of student engagement
Discern students learning style( field-independent
or field-dependent)
• Develop effective classroom management
• Understand the physiology of the brain
The Brain
• Brain’s physiology crosses all cultures
• Brain’s cells (neurons) receive messages from
other cells and passes the message on to other
cells. A thought is conceived as an “action” takes
place.
• The axon is the sending part of the neuron and
the dendrite is the catching part of the neuron
• In between the axon and the dendrite is synapse
where neurotransmitters are stored. The
neurotransmitters help or inhibit the dendrite
from receiving the message from the axon.
The Brain (cont)
• There are many hormones in the synapse that are
connected with one’s emotions.
• When a person has had an experience it remains in the
brain until an emotion is attached to that experience. If
it is not a significant experience there will be little
change in the brain.
• Positive emotional experiences facilitate learning in the
brain
• The brain knows learning is an emotional, physiological
and social activity.
• Honor produces healthy hormones that facilitate the
learning process.
Acculturation vs. Enculturation
• The degree of differences and similarities in
the individual’s culture as compared to the
host culture will effect the acculturation
process.
• Enculturation is learning one’s own culture. It
is the process of socialization individuals
undergo in their native culture. Understanding
one’s cultures facilitates acculturation
Culture
• Is a set of common beliefs and values that are
shared by a group of people that binds them
together into a society
• Affects the organization of learning,
pedagogical practices, evaluation procedures,
and rules of schools, as well as instructional
activities and curriculum
• Comes from the word “colare” - to build on, to
foster, to cultivate
Culture is
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A set of accepted behavior patterns
Set of values
Common experiences
A defined social structure
Decision-making practices
Communication styles
learned
shared
Culture Shapes
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The way we think
The way we interact
The way we communicate
The way we transmit knowledge to the next
generation
Ethnicity
• is the sense of identification that a cultural
group collectively has, largely based on the
groups common heritage.
• Is a group of people, whose members identify
with each other through language
• Defines your place in an ethnic group
• Influenced by your national origin
• Gives one a sense of belonging to a cultural
group
Two levels of Culture:
Surface and Deep
Surface
What we identify first
Things we use our five sense to identify
Examples
* food, dress, manners, customs, religion,
written laws, myths, legends, art, music ,tools,
home decor
Deep Culture
• This level takes time to identify.
• It is the beliefs that influence the way people
think, act, and communicate
• Presents the greatest challenge to
acculturation
• Examples
• *Values, unspoken rules, knowledge, concept
of self, morals, ideals, accepted ways of
behaving
Barriers to Acculturation
• Ignorance of culture
• Ethnocentrism-the belief that one’s ideas,
beliefs and practices are the best and superior
• Cultural Imposition-the belief that everyone
should conform to the majority belief system
• Stereotyping-involves assigning characteristics
to a group of people without considering
specific individuality
Multicultural Education
• This begins with the individual and prepares the
person for life in a pluralistic society.
• It will help promote appreciation of other
cultures
• Critical facet to a person’s education
• Appreciates individual races, cultures, and
religions
• Promotes the “salad bowl” or “mosaic” analogy
• Understands the different levels of acculturation
Levels of Acculturation
• Bicultural-maximum level of acculturation to host
culture while maintaining a similar degree of
acculturation to the previous culture.
• Assimilated-maximum acculturation to the host
culture, while resisting social, cultural or familial ties
with native culture
• Traditional-very low acculturation to the host culture.
Maintains traditions of previous culture.
• Marginal-Lost cultural contacts and practices from
country of origin and also resists acculturation to host
culture. There is a sense of “homelessness” at this
level.
Classroom is like a Garden
• The weeds in a garden will inhibit a good harvest.
Weeds are racism, aggression, bigotry, disrespect, and
ethnic prejudice. We need to create a rich soil, a safe
environment for the seeds (the children) to grow. Good
fertilizer is tolerance and the celebration of diversity.
We need to water the seed with wisdom, honor and
respect. There needs to be an understanding that
there are many kinds of seeds. Each seed needs to be
nurtured. Some will require lots of water and sunshine
while others will need shade and little water. We enjoy
a variety of foods that come from different seeds. Let
us rejoice in the variety and honor each and every seed
created.
Pennsylvania Academic Standards
Checklist
• 7. Geography
7.1 Basic Geographical Literacy
A .Geographical representations
B. Locations of Places and Regions
C. Connections among Regions
7.3 The Human Characteristics of Places and Region
A. Population, Culture and Settlement
B. Economic Activity
C. Political Activity
7.4 The Interactions Between People and Places
A. Dependence on Physical Systems
B. Modifications to accommodate environment
PA Standards (cont)
8 Pennsylvania History
8.2 PA. History
A. Political and cultural contributions of individuals
and groups
B. Primary documents, artifacts, and historical sites
C. Continuity and change influence history
D. Conflicts and cooperation among social groups
and organizations
PA Standards (cont)
9 Arts and Humanities
9.1 Production, Performance and Exhibition of Dance, Music,
Theater and Visual Arts
A. Elements and Principle in each Art Form
B. Demonstration of Dance, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts
C. Vocabulary within each Art Form
D. Styles in Production, Performance and Exhibitions
E. Safety issues in the Arts
F. Community Performances and Exhibitions
G. Traditional Technologies
H. Contemporary Technologies
PA Standards (cont)
9.2 Historical and Cultural Contexts
A. Identification Chronologically and
Geographically
B. Analysis from Historical and Cultural
Perspectives
C. Vocabulary for Historical and Cultural Contexts
D. Relationships in Style and Genre
E. Differences and Traditions
Pa Standards (cont)
• 7.4 The Interactions Between People and
Places
• A Dependence on Physical Systems
• B Modifications to accommodate environment