Cultural Identity Assignment

This commentary on cultural identity did not appear on the message boards, and because I am late registering for the class, I now have the unfair advantage of being able to read the class’ responses before composing my own. Mea culpa; I will not cheat like this again. But while I am being guilty, I might as well discuss my perspective in earnest by responding to what I have read and then, hopefully, contributing something unique.

As is to be expected from a class of over sixty student teachers being asked the same question, there was a general homogeneity to the answers to the first part of the assignment – that is, define ‘cultural identity.’ And why shouldn’t there be? There are only so many ways to define a term that everyone already understands. I think that one of the best definitions on our message board came from an anonymous anthropology student. As a mere science buff I could not aspire to phrase it more expertly myself, so I will quote him or her here, for the purpose of establishing a solid launching pad for my own ideas.

Culture (at least from an anthropological perspective) is a combination of abstract values, beliefs, and perceptions that manifest and reflect themselves in people’s behaviours. There are four specific characteristics of culture;

1) Culture is shared. Culture is something unique that binds people together and is intelligible to other members of that culture. Specifically, culture is a means by which groups of people become able to predict one another’s behaviour and know how to react accordingly. It is important to note that the concept of culture differs from that of society. Society refers to geographic groups of people, and often a society can have within it a wide array of cultural groups (like Quebec). In addition, while it is shared, culture is not uniform! No two members of a culture will have identical interpretations of their culture. Smaller subculture groups exist within larger cultural groups.

2) Culture is learned. Culture is NOT BIOLOGICALLY INHERITED! Culture is learned and transmitted from one generation to the next through the process of enculturation. The color of your skin DOES NOT determine your culture, the environment you grew up in, the groups you belong to, and the resulting values, customs, beliefs, and norms that you learn determine your culture.

3) Culture is based on symbols. Art and religion are both parts of culture that involve symbols. Take, for example, a Christian cross, an Islamic crescent, a Jewish Star of David, these symbols mean something to the cultures that use them; they are symbolic of a specific cultures philosophy or creed. At the heart of the symbolic aspect of culture is language, the shared use of words (symbols) to describe the world around oneself.

4) Culture is integrated. I don’t want to get into this point too much since I could go on for pages, and this isn’t an anthropology class, but generally speaking, it refers to the fact that all parts of a culture function together in an interrelated whole.

Source:
Crawford, G., Fedorak, S., Haviland, W., & Lee, R. (2002). Cultural Anthropology. Toronto: Nelson.

What I like about this description of culture - and by extension cultural identity - is that it takes the focus away from the physical and geographical and onto the psychological and social. This distinction is especially important when considering Canada, a nation of immigrants. Imagine, for example, a first-generation Canadian born to parents who lived most of their lives in India, or China, or Hungary. Immediately apparent to us is that this child will likely have a very different cultural experience and therefore a very different notion of cultural identity than his parents. Where and how he is educated will have a tremendous influence. In an urban setting like Montreal or Toronto, he is likely to find a circle of friends who share his family’s background. Then again, he might not. Or he might find such a circle and decide he prefers the company of a different group. Especially in high school, when the need for identity and belonging is most urgent, our first-generation Canadian might form close bonds with friends who have nothing in common with his parents’ history and values, but everything in common with his interests and passions.

I am speaking of the high school clique or ‘peer group.’ It seems to me that in the secondary school setting (and to a lesser degree in elementary school), there is a synthesis of a new layer of culture atop the one that the child has already assimilated at home and in the community. The old culture is not erased, but it will often take a back seat to the new and exciting culture of the peer group. And very rarely are these groups defined by traditional boundaries of cultural identity. In the school cafeteria, the students do not segregate themselves racially, or at least this is a very secondary concern for them. Rather, you are likely to find (if you will excuse my stereotypical language) ‘debaters,’ ‘jocks & cheerleaders,’ ‘stoners,’ ‘geeks,’ ‘skaters,’ ‘emos’… of course, we could have a valid discussion about how segregated peer groups really are in high school, and how much of the ‘clique problem’ is an exaggeration of the media. But let us make the safe assumption that these groups are often present in some capacity at a school, and that they can be vaguely defined by labels like the ones I have used.

Each of these groups develops its own subculture. In high school, the subculture of the peer group might influence a student’s idea of self-identity much more than his racial roots do. Therefore, it is unwise for us as aspiring educators to ignore the subculture, which could possibly be a greater source of social tension in the classroom than ethnicity. A boy who shaves his head, puts a studded collar around his neck and does his face up with white powder and black lipstick might not be cause for concern. On the other hand, his three-time-math-camp-champion lab partner might disagree with you. What prejudices are at work here? How might the issue be managed with sensitivity to both students?

It is a difficult question, though in many ways it is parallel to the question of how to manage students with prejudices against, or misconceptions regarding, race.

Below I have embedded the YouTube video I selected showing my preferred subculture, of which I still consider myself a proud card-carrying member, the geeks. If there were ever a peer group in secondary school in need of a pep-song... well, let's just say they're not always the most celebrated subculture. In this video, the label and the stereotypes are celebrated - and by extension the identity is celebrated - which I find refreshing. Rock on...





EDIT SEPT15: The anonymous anthropologist unmasked!