My perspective on cultures that are different from my own are based off experiences that I have read in books, classes that I have taken on different cultures, ideas from people that I know, characters that I have watched in movies or shows, and world news articles that I happen to read online. If I had more time, I believe taking classes on the different cultures that could be found within my classroom would be the best way to better understand my students. I feel that I am more knowledgeable about the cultures that I have taken classes on, because I was able to go more in-depth while learning, rather than the superficial knowledge that can be gained through word of mouth or stereotypes.
The ways in which we experience people, ideas, issues, cultures, etc., can be impacted both positively and negatively. Stereotypes are a major problem when thinking about cultures, because a lot of them are likely to be untrue or not apply to the people we interact with. Humans fear the unknown, or a lack of knowledge. This leads to the reason why it is important to learn more about different cultures, so that we can learn not to fear people or cultures that are different from our own. The experience of a different culture is not always negative. I took four years of Spanish all throughout high school. The classes did not only focus on the language, but also explored the culture. We celebrated holidays that were specific to Spanish culture, which were fun and engaging, explored their cultural ideas on family, and much more.
I believe there are both benefits and drawbacks to the technology that we use today. We have knowledge right at our fingertips; however, we must make sure that what we learn is based on fact rather than opinion. The technology and social media that we have today allows us to connect to others across the world that we would not have been able to connect to in the past. We can also research people’s cultures that are different from our own, as long as we ask the right questions. However, a lot of the news that we read today and the movies we watch have been politicized or opinionated. That is why it is important to read many different articles from different sources about the same topic, so that we can be better informed to come up with our own ideas about something. Social media can also spread false information, because almost anyone can post something that is untrue about a culture or idea.
Hali, I also form perspectives through things like social media. I like how you classified this knowledge as superficial, which seems very accurate. You mentioned how humans fear the unknown, which may be why we feed into stereotypes so much, to feel as though we know something about something we once didn't, to subside that fear. I love that your Spanish class to it a step further!
ReplyDeleteI also noted that much of what we may see with technology, especially, may not often be factual.
Hali,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up so many good points! I completely agree with you on stereotypes, and wish that this was a concept we could get rid of. Stereotypes are an over-generalization of cultures and people, and people are so unique that you can't fit them in one box. I also agree about politicized agendas, and how you should look at multiple sources for information to make sure you are getting the most accurate picture.
Hali,
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting that you took four years of Spanish. I only had to take two semesters of it. I also agree with you that there is positive and negative representations of cultures in the media. You see it a lot in television and movies. Fake news can also be a problem persuading political views. It is hard to know what is real or not. Have you ever gotten tricked by fake news, and how so?