My perspective on other cultures has been formed by my own experiences more than anything. I
have been fortunate to have lived in a variety of places and have been exposed to people from many cultures. I am also an avid reader, and I have read many books about people from different cultures.
I have read many books that have provided me with exposure to a variety of cultures. I know that meeting one person or family from a culture is not a representation of the culture as a whole.
When I meet others or read a book that includes exposure to a different culture, I try to make connections to my previous experiences, but also take note of the differences. Because of my age, experiences, and the way I was raised, I make these connections and comparisons intrinsically and internally. My children, however, form their perspective on other cultures through social media. TikTok and Instagram introduce them to far more than my husband and I do. They are experiencing other cultures in short clips and move one to the next video or image on their for you pages before they even question what they have seen. They literally have the world at their fingertips, but they are not taking the time to analyze what they see and reflect on the cultures they are experiencing. This is a drawback of using technology to experience other cultures. Many of these tiktoks and Instagram posts could be reinforcing negative stereotypes and viewers can misinterpret these as fact.
Hi Mandy!
ReplyDeleteBeing able to make connections to what we see and hear is so important. Even more so, your ability to analyze differences in your experiences and what you see is also important.
Your example of your kids using social media to watch short clips of other cultures is a good example of how our culture is quick to move from one thing to the next without considering the reality of those cultures and how they differ from ours. How might you combat this with your kids? Or with the students in your class?
Mandy,
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point about social media. I feel like our students run through very quick concepts about other cultures and do not think about the implications of what they are seeing. This can be good sometimes, but detrimental more than not. For example, one of the big things for my students to watch is "gang culture" related videos.
This may not seem like a big deal, but then the students walk up and down the halls using signs that they do not understand. In our small town, it probably doesn't matter much, but that is not true for the larger areas where violence is a way of life for gang members. This is a culture that is not processed by students because they are so focused on "race" being the prominent discussion. I am hoping to take some of the conversation from this class to them in the fall. I would like them to start looking at why they think these things are cool.