Cultural Autobiography Paper Part 1 –Who Are You? As you think about the concept of culture, consider how culture affects your life and your view of others. This assignment is designed to guide you through a reflective process that focuses on eight cultural attributes. There are no right or wrong answers to any of these questions. Your focus should be on your reflection and the detailed descriptions of your cultural characteristics. As you write your paper, make direct connections to the class reading assignments or other literature to support or argue your claims. Use APA style when writing your citations. An open-ended (suggested 3-5 pages), a typewritten paper in M.S. Word format examining ‘Who Are You?’ should address the following cultural attributes. You may add other categories you have self-selected to describe who you are. Submit your paper as an attachment to the Oncourse assignment tab. There are two parts to this paper. The first is your responses to the prompts. The second section summarizes your culture and includes any attributes you think are essential in describing who you are. A conclusion statement should focus on the implications that your culture has on your learning. Provide examples. Attributes of Culture Race Although race has often been defined as a biological category, it has been argued that race is a biological concept of little use because there are no "pure" races (e.g., all humans are genetically racially mixed, though few of us might know this or acknowledge it). Recent research in mapping the genetic code of five people of different races demonstrates that the concept of race has no scientific basis (Akron Beacon Journal, 2000). Nevertheless, in the United States, race is a relevant category and is judged primarily based on skin color. The latest U.S. census included a category for "mixed race" in addition to such categories as "White," "Black," "Hispanic-non White," and "Asian and Pacific Islander." Technically, race is not part of a culture, yet people include their race as part of their culture in this county. How is race evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? What benefits do you have in this country because of your race? How has race affected your learning and social experience/s? Gender Gender is defined based on a particular set of physical characteristics related to male and female reproduction (but remember, of course, that one's reproductive organs can be surgically changed). Cultural meanings associated with gender are expressed regarding socially valued behaviors assigned according to gender. Gender roles are those sets of behaviors thought by a particular people to be "normal" and "good" when carried out by the assigned sex. How is gender evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? What benefits do you have in society due to your gender? How has gender affected your learning and social experience/s? Social Class Social class is culturally defined based on those criteria by which a person or social group may be ranked concerning others in a stratified society. Standard terms you might have heard are "working class," "poor," "middle class," "rich," "owning class," etc. There is considerable debate about the criteria that determine social class. Some identify class membership primarily in terms of wealth and its origin (e.g., inherited or newly earned). Others prefer to consider criteria such as the amount of one's education, power, and influence, as well as one's choice of leisure pursuits. How is social class evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? What are the benefits your reap because of your social class? How has social class affected your life experience/s? Ethnicity/Nationality Ethnicity is defined according to the knowledge, beliefs, and behavior patterns shared by a group of people with the same history and language. Ethnicity carries a strong sense of "peoplehood" or loyalty to one's community. Nationality is defined based on shared citizenship that may or may not include a shared ethnicity. In the contemporary world, most nations' population includes citizens and resident non-citizens who vary in ethnicity. While we are accustomed to this idea in the U.S., we are sometimes unaware that it is also the case in other nations. Thus, we tend to identify all people from Japan as Japanese, all people from France as French, etc. Similarly, when American citizens of varying ethnic identities go abroad, they tend to be identified as "American." How did you learn about your ethnicity and nationality? How are the concepts of ethnicity and nationality evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? How have ethnicity and nationality affected your educational and social experience/s? Religion/Spirituality Religion and spirituality are defined based on a shared set of ideas about the relationship of the earth and the people on it to a deity or deities and a shared set of rules for living moral values that will enhance that relationship. A collection of behaviors identified with worship is also commonly shared. Religious identity may include membership in a worldwide organized religion (e.g., Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism), or in smaller (but also worldwide) sects belonging to each of the Standard religions (e.g., Catholic or Protestant Christianity, or Conservative, Reformed, or Hasidic Judaism). Religious identity may also include many spiritualistic faiths, which may or may not be connected to a religious institution. How is religion or spirituality evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? How has religion and/or spirituality affected your life experience/s? Is your religion a dominant entity in this country? Geographic Location Geographic location is defined by the characteristics of the ecological environment in which one lives. This may include the attributes of one's neighborhood or community (rural, suburban, urban) and/or the natural and climatic features of one's region (plains, coastal, hot, cold, etc.). This may also include mobility and the number of places you have lived. How is geographic or regional identity evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? How has geographic location affected your life experience/s? What values do you consider typical of the region where you currently live? Age Age is defined according to the length of time one has lived and the state of physical and mental development one has attained. Chronological age is measured in different ways by different social groups or societies. Some calculate it in calendar years, others by natural cycles such as phases of the moon, and still others by marking significant natural or social events. Most humans view such development as a matter of "stages," but nature and particular characteristics of each "stage" may differ widely. For example, in most western societies, age cohort groups are usually identified as infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. In many nonwestern societies, the cohort group we define as adolescents may not exist, and the classifications of childhood and old age may be longer or shorter. Different societies place additional value on age, emphasizing youth while others venerate the aged. How is age evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? How has age affected your life experience/s? Is age a factor you think will influence your teaching? Language The cultural definition of language is "a shared system of vocal sounds and nonverbal behaviors by which members of a group communicate with one another" (Gollnick & Chin, 1990). It is through language that most other cultural knowledge is acquired. Considerable research on brain function related to language gives evidence that human beings are "hard-wired" for language development at a particular stage in brain development (Chomsky, 1966). Children who are in the company of other people appear to be "programmed" to learn whatever spoken language or sign system is used around them. Children even invent their language systems, complete with syntactical structures, if no other language is available. Language is meaningful regarding both its verbal properties (what we "name things, people, ideas) and its nonverbal properties (its norms regarding interpersonal distance, expressive gestures, etc.). How is language evident in your life? Is it something you think about daily? How has language affected your life experience/s? Define the best way you communicate with others. Other Categories There are other ways we may choose to identify ourselves culturally, for instance, by our health status, our ability/disability identity, our sexual orientation, or our social status. Final Statement Summarize your culture and state what prominent cultural attributes have socialized you. Consider the many ways culture has influenced how you learn and how it might affect the way you teach. Reflect on how you have benefited or not benefited from our educational system in the United States and how this experience will influence the way you teach.