Cultural Awareness

Human Relations: Cultural Awareness

Throughout the semester the subjects and content in Human Relations has ranged from the BaaFaa BaaFaa activity, the Star Power activity, the White Privilege article, teacher beliefs and expectation articles, Brown Eyes and Blue Eyes video, Cycle of Socialization, and the Iceberg article. These activities have all contributed to the theme of cultural awareness. Cultural Awareness ranges from knowing and understanding ones own culture to understanding another's culture, or of the culture of a given society. These activities also evoked awareness about our beliefs about culture. The beliefs we have about the world and the cultures that reside in in are important in developing these thoughts.
The BaaFaa BaaFaa activity was useful in understanding how we view other cultures. When the two hypothetical cultures came together, they ultimately did not get along or understand each other. Each group had a set of rules for how society should handle it’s citizens. The groups were split on this, one group was against being close and the other was very much a touchy feely community. This activity allowed us to see both sides of the viewpoints two different cultures can have.
Another activity that influenced cultural awareness was the starpower activity. This activity helped us to understand that once a group is in poverty it is difficult to get out of it. The powerful people at the top of monetary status are the ones with power and have voice enough to make decisions and rules governing the middle and lower classes. This activity was very instrumental in guiding thought on how the system puts groups at a disadvantage.
The Brown eyes and Blues project that was viewed in class may have been the most useful and thought provoking of all the activities. This project, done in Iowa, was fascinating. I feel that I can somehow grasp the possibility of someone using their differences to categorize who is the more superior or more negative group. This idea is difficult to grasp having never witnessed very extreme discrimination.
Another activity that played a significant role in understanding how cultural awareness is important was the cycle of socialization. The cycle of socialization showed how people ultimately reinforce the beliefs and issues in society that may cause racism and stereotyping. The cycle illustrates that people who feel that they have the power to stand up against the stereotyping and racism are better off and have the ability to pass these qualities on to their children.
The iceberg activity was a great example of how our self awareness allows us to look at ourselves and see how many things about ourselves cannot be seen. This leads to thought about others, how we cannot see everything about them. Their culture might seem visible at first sight, but we should always look past those judgements and make sure to take a second look.
These activities were very useful and thought provoking concerning cultural awareness. As teachers, being culturally aware benefits our students and gives them a deeper world view themselves.