Agenda:
How to cope with cultural dilemmas in an increasingly globalized world.
Program of the day
- Short presentation
- The central concepts: the concept of culture and the concept of dilemma
- Examples of cultural dilemmas
- work with cases
- discussion of cases
- summing up
- answer the challenge
-Read the text: Body ritual among the Nacirema
The evolutionary concept of culture
- some cultures are better and more right than other; Western culture (opinion of those who worked with the evolutionary concept)
- Some cultures rank higher than others on a " developing ladder"; a rank of the stupidity according to the teacher:
1) Pygmees
2) Africans tribes
3) Maons
4) Aborignales
5) Eskimoes
6) Western Europeans
The goal for the western countries to keep on moving up the "ladder"; always moving towards something.
The relativistic concept of culture
- all cultures are equal
- culture as homogenic islands; see all within a culture as the "same"
- Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture; look at it from the cultures' point of view.
Problems
- Problems with the evolutionary and the relativistic concept of culture are:
Individual differences are ignored
the local context is ignored
The complex concept of culture
- culture is not something that you have
- culture is created among people, when they interact
- culture is the tacit knowledge, the meanings and values that we share- but we do not know it beforehand
- everyone in a culture does share the same values
- culture may not be seen as fx national cultures (homogenic cultures)
- there are always differences within a culture- there can be certain dominating logics, but not everyone agree about that logic.
- the cultures are constantly moving- and there will always be negotiations.
- we are moving between several different cultures.
Was handed out cases to work with in groups
Homework:
when people from different countries meet, you can choose to see it as two different cultures which meet or individual people who meet.
An example of how education contribe to the image of the other culture:
In English lessons you as a teacher according to Fælles Mål have to teach about other english speaking cultures. If you mainly educate about traditions you will never give an inside and provide understanding about the human beings with in that culture.
Why is it important to be aware of and have knowlegde about different cultures when working as a teacher? We think it is important because it helps us understand the reason behind people's behavior and it can make us value others even though they are different.
What challenges do you see in the concept of culture? You can easily fall in the trap of stereotyping and jump to conclusions
Is the concept useful when we talk about human differences? It can be useful in getting the big picture but when meeting the understanding individual other factures need to be to considered.
An example of how education contribe to the image of the other culture:
In English lessons you as a teacher according to Fælles Mål have to teach about other english speaking cultures. If you mainly educate about traditions you will never give an inside and provide understanding about the human beings with in that culture.
Why is it important to be aware of and have knowlegde about different cultures when working as a teacher? We think it is important because it helps us understand the reason behind people's behavior and it can make us value others even though they are different.
What challenges do you see in the concept of culture? You can easily fall in the trap of stereotyping and jump to conclusions
Is the concept useful when we talk about human differences? It can be useful in getting the big picture but when meeting the understanding individual other factures need to be to considered.
