CHAPTER 2 Culture in Society and in Educational Practices Frederick Erickson of ist gradersand thei eacher in Rekeley, Calilomia The t. The chien eet loud in chorus, ing lesson ina inner ican and their richer 1 T: Allright, chs, read hat and remember 2 CC: Wha’ dl Lite Duck see? ial 3 What (emphasizing nal) 3.00. Win 5 Tet. 6 CC. Wha did —whe inal deleted) 71: Wha 8 TCC: Whar did Lite Duck se? (inal t spoken) 9 TOK, very goad (From restr, 1973, pp 96-97) ofall shows choc in intrusions pp tice in speech de cll the ster ‘len had een was being ase Was looking "prehension by teaching the stlets hog4 cn nec wil ago hat what happened in hs quence wit “cular.” The echer tec fake sa moment inthe ening lew paces sconce we PRS ine than wing tat ena an opprtniy Tor tecng ids cea gets, ee eiding lu. Ths pte pit of ule sec ee spreeefece, but idl son an indree way iat wis cong Ke ee Irae tl eatin pronanciaon ye (lleton of fal) Beco tee ahacaor sak» thing ofa soul licence. Bake acer ae spice ee rth chen tht ha was cing sd of hem eae ae teehee ull syle ings chapter wl conte archaea rhe een Sampe of eating etre felt diference ssa ee fame anda cl ena mace, Teachers have a gre der of eee ine they chose cur diference nthe ssoom—-sr nde or Bear ee ho choos fae curl difrence hava profcond influence snake undersending of whats being ask of chem nstrctionaly and on her nescaon s ikea net developed cute as social cence comet inthe carly the med Daeg meted tas anaes ora nan cxlaaion lee po sey they dd rel ations an beefs The peaing fic ons ar pee a they tid becuse of ene inheritance and that the “cise woe of Wee Europeans Were yeti they wre ail pro o non-Westm pcicn Te eine wena aeriticoonil rl by thee of European descent ocr te get the way tay en ES. Athopogs aged tach view wa wrong Pee Tata eo: bec of race o genetic nbertence but Benno ee ees pet Na of ng human dt were cxperenedimceryng He ee cesta: Morse see ditring eared way of ng Rona a ee alee a ene other they were es difrenes Ths wealed he re Cn orb EN tid of he 20h cena te aay eae a OF ng maa ORES bs resrence mele of operand en a of being aman sonal chon oferty deol and as then mine pil anong i Me mana onthe bas of ampsons that some eulecl oes dcting inch soe neler ng and mod Salonen st chic howe cacighment cred that por people, epeciliy pour people of cad ea treaty th chien “igh.” Iwas the oho cholera oe ‘up for toch a aly Ue ancy id eperence tne cece eee tral etek OE exressios of clara proce with crn ee from child desler research~ became substate or onen wonder 8 opp an fs for neo pment sorry nequl.teiw the tae se migh lla Thaw et specially in the fld of edation alaneSS is erm tht can he esily misised and misundersto. (Fr further dcssons of cure see Bohannon, 1992, pp I-14; Giomcaee. 200) ‘One ofthe reasons it shard to think about cure is that~—if those who invented the Mea were cight—e ial arond us some of isle and Some of twiajereas wear failing to us that ve take it for granted. Anthe reason the nation af elea hee {hat anheopolagss temseves have not hee ale o agree as singe deters ee ‘he anthropologist Sir Edward Burnet Tylor (1471/1970 presemtel tsevcr bane defang cy ‘Coltte or isheaton.. that womplea whole which nlades knowledge bell one ea Jaw, custom, and any ater capabilities and hibits acquired by man we sven ata (p. D-A broad-eanging ceiew of scl scence lterature inthe ml 20th cents feast ee than 250 dierent ue ofthe term ctre (Kroeber & Klnethoh, (932) The agpleons irene shading of eaning ofthe term cnltare contin to be argued ener as ann ‘esluton (Kuper, 19%. bac detiniton of clr for nr prpose rele to pee he ‘organiaton of the conduct of every ile (Pollack, 2008). In ether words cates nee ofthe patterning ofthe practices of “dong being human”—in our soustg ei aS inerpretaions of meanings in those ations and inthe eles that underlie sor enn interpretations, {mn a sense, everything in eduction relates to eulure—to its aoquiition, ts ransmision, andi inenton. Claes in ws and al arund sj isthe ae ent Taine ed tsetion, ii personal, familial, communal, institutional. soe, aad glob Yo ens is notion is often difcukto grasp. As we learn and tse culture do de he, eke, Fabia, Our habits become forthe mos ae transparent tous Thun, culture si meal ad ‘side our reflective avareness. We donot think much about the tare sel fore ‘ocular as we use iis a» we do nx think reflectvey about any ala onl ake ae oft ose, IF we hammer shngs ato, we donot thik aban the rece weghe or heey Tearing new cura ways--so long a the new ways ae no ing presente a oheretly eter than the ways the tents already know| | | Conventional Teaching as Cultural Border Wars When reschers tet the donne culture inthe carrie 363 arter of cultural fers ther than of boundaries the carn can become an unsafe plac fr snaenty. Educators ith lineal ignificanee, specially inn we aspect oF eulture as dagnostc indict inche cal grade. Fee earpl, if chldren come fea homes in which aus dono routine wk them teacherlike quests tv which the adult already know the answer, such queens Iya teacher ean intlly sce unfising or ntinating (Feat, 1983). "What coor eis he kndergaren teacher sae on the ist day of schon, hoking up a red piece of eomsraction riper in fone of an APican American chill whose mother xo well. "Aoabvob (don’t Tow" cit reps, thinking there most he some ick becuse anyboay ean sce chat the purer iste "Lacking in reaing readies" the vache thinks, writes inthe cls permanent Feeoeds assign the cil othe boom rang group cause we do not recgize knowing about teacherike questions as a distinc elral Akl, we may not see the teacher’ informal readiness text 4 clr a ealarlly ised Sock raring of cultural iference as a bonlr ean be done inadvertently by teachers who are themselves members ofthe stulen’ ethnic group and specch community well ashy teachers thoare of majority background The cultural responsiveness in contradictory way bene the vnble and the invibe aspects of ealare. For example, in the sane multiracial kindergasten or fitgradeclsroon in which a teacher ses informal tens uf rening readies ch treat nvsble clr Knowledge and sll ay 4 eultural border Sich s recognition ef teacher questions and how tamer them), he tacher may have pia picture of Frederick Dongle onthe wal rea hook abou bi ie, presented information of {Wese Arcana poste ight nd nag basse vocabulary in Yoru or Swahili, Vet hanging 4 picture of Douglas the ican American aboot on the wall ext picture of Gorge Washington. the White slavholder, or introducing stulents to an Afican language Joes rot make chat caso fly mlsculer if invible aspect of the communicative eltual Practices of Afican American students are il being teed in invidious ways ‘Swch contradic between formal and informal culture must he config ad alonaing for stents, even thaigh they may esperince that allemation without conscious awareness. This why atecon to fous of iil nfo cular well x thon of ible teal nltare seems so important forthe sucess of srtempts ae matclral eduction, And in all {thi work we munccritcllyinvesigate oe notion of Ele an success sl, for "school Fuilue™ and "school success” are thnscles cultural consrctions, generally within socery and locally within ach clasaroonn (se Varenne & MeDert, 178), levance of clssroom lering environment con der CONCLUSION: ON DIVERSITY OF TONGUES AND THEIR EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL The Russian lierary critic Bakhtin 1981) prides ws with a final way to ennider cake os invented inthe in ity continuity and int ves a ransmitted acne generations present moment. He tue the novel as ieemerged inthe Hoch ad 1th centuries in Spa, France, snd Ena, respectively and as develope sn England, Brace, and Rani the Toth century, Bakbin ote thatthe clic elias depicted sare f ways of speaking50 seross their various characters who red in soil cas, gender, and eeyion. That diversity heeled fetal, rom the Greck, meaning "fering tongues." He believed that a fine hve encapsulated key aspects of the tu diversity in speech sje found in the society 3 the Natori inomencin which that novel was writen, To produce sacha text convincing the Surhor mst have icorported the divert of tongues present inthe soviet. akin (941) also observed «personal heteroglosia within the characters ofthe nove akin w hain its ator. For example, in de Cervanter's Daw Quote (2008), Bathtn noice that the poo Don of bairgeois batkgrownd, sally spoke in an imitation of the Herary rosnance: Thu, hi speech syle sounded like the Spanish ofthe nobly. Sancho Panza, the pessamc usally spoke the speech style ofthe lower clases. Yetonce ia while when engage tith che Don or hen reflecting to hil on what he bal been experiencing, Sancho's speech “ited sll townrd the more prestigious sje of Spanish. This teseney apparent fromm the beginning ofthe madern noel, was more pronoaneed in 1th-cenury French and Ruin rovel, Russian ser for eximpl, were depicted as speaking in a vaietyof speech styles, what Balin called socal languages” some more elevated and agente, some mre subordinated and passive. Worldview, personal stats, and agency seemed to shift, a did che characters language sie Bek’ (198) insights suggest ways of understanding how ealtural diversity s organized and distetuted within asoieyy and within persons. Thete i heterglosia within a society Members of dict socal estegric and socal networks speak more often than not: Alering ways (erniscent of the “speech community” aoion discussed earlier) Men do end to speak ferent fom women, African Americins from Whites, working-class people From upper midecas peopl, gay fom sight, lundamentaist Christians fom Unieaians physicians fom layers (and physicians from nurses. These ways of speaking are relatively intinouslydstrbued within the various socal groupings they become badges of idemny ‘of sich grouping; and forthe most major socal categories sh as cs, gender, ace and ‘tinct, and relgon these social languages tend to pert actos generations In other won, Seca disions and cultural and lingustic diversity appear to he consendly rented i Moreover the ifering ways of speaking carry with them difering points of view tha ave the result ofthe difering hfe expenences of the speakers and, as the feminist slogan puts it The personal s politcal.” Thun the historical experience of a group and partic Puc neerets massing tht things are ally ne way rather than some other is Nlologycome with the socal language ofthe group a uierel by a particular member of that troup, Ways of speaking, then are dssnrses whole aes of sumptions about the world and foles for beng inthe world the are entailed in cersin way of exeating oral and writen Ces {Foucale, 1979, Ge, 10). Mach more is involved than language se alone, To the extent thar various group interes and their dacoures ae involved wath the distribution of power i Soviet, there ean te conflict and contradiction berecen ways of speaking and thinking 9 wel 2setween scl goupings, A scours isnt serue 3 sca nstttion oa subculture. Yer the consstency of ultra reproduction ts not unitary or absolute. There i bo hexeroglosia within persons, Fach person's Me experiences dilersemewhat from those off titer people and every per lies in wre of socal ations each day. Ditleing socsituations provide dtfering ecologies of raionship with other people. They evoke diferng aspects ofthe indrdua’s overall repertoire of wage of speaking. Onc speaia diferent te ‘one's mother than to one's siblings, and to one's teacher than to one's mher, Somesnes in complex relationship, sich as that between an employec and superior who se so fends for beeen spouse: who ar simultaneously lovers patents and aminisrstor of household ‘sources, varieties of interrelated voies ae evoked from moment to momeat in wha pears to be the same soil situation, ‘The uteranies of persons in dialogue lean on ane another it ‘rua influence Balin (1981) claimed. Thos, the phenomenon of ways of speaking (and of elacorss is interemly labile a8 well x sable, Cure a the group evel varie part because individuals difer among one another and within themselves 2s they fad temacres in differing social circumstances. In other words, there isan inherent hybridiey incall practices (se Areag, 1994, Gusierer, Baguedano-Lipes, & Tejeda, 199, Vale & Tone 1995) blending of sources and voices in which new combinations and recombintoes of od ements with new anes are continually being made Ao diverse persons show up inthe scenes of daly lif, they bring their hetcrogosia with them, There ca be fiition swell as confit cro those cult diferences, And dacoures ‘an be contested thy ean be interapted or interrogated. When tat happens, the sumptions ofthe discourse become visible and avaible forertcism, Ifa person or group were change iscoursesin confit, that would be wo take diferent stance in che mon, One may fel an thats not permite o asi that ome’ ight Became the dsmourses vary within persone as wells between group, whatever conc or fliation cere maybe hetwoen the discourses in soiey i experienced within the personaly. ‘This means thatthe diversity of tongues and of voices within the person has profoundcmodorgl content and peofoued significance for personal identity and wholeness Schools ae calcein sites fora diversi of voices and identities. Schools isk stent to uy om new dscournes ew ay of speaking and thinking, new ways of being sel and to appropriate thet the ‘own, Ather best, shools sk this of teachers ae well none tha they may come int loser awarenesof and engagement with the wices of thei sandente nd develop itlleeually within ‘heir careers, appropriating within themselves more of the varions discourses and lneraces Of ‘heir society. Tht ispersonaly risky basiness for both stadents and teachers When discourses ‘or clare, aren contin society then confit ean be experenced within the self ner wich Aiscourser ae being ied Aswe have seen, stent and teachers come to school already having appropiate npc ices and cultures. One task of education can be election an the oes one sleady os Multicultural educston,especily chat which considers invisible ap wel a vise clare, co sssistin that process of personal and group refccon. Teachers aul seadens, hy looking win themseles, can coe to se tat everybody is euler] and mulculal:ineaing theses By litening to he cscourses around and within them aad by testing how those discourses feet—more like self, more lke other, owned, ot alenated—suents ind thet teachers oak Valorize many discourse, texting them a inherently of equivalent worth, eventhough not all ofthe discourses and cultures ae tested a eal in power and prestige the world ‘guts the classroom, If schoo is secure place to ry on new cltres on mice i clr ivcriy feted ashoundaris rather than as border hen students and tls tacos aAFTERWORD What we are talking abou is creating anew tration, telling “new stores tha at fundamentally diferent by virtue ofthe role thatthe lses ofthe historically oppresta have asumed in their constroction Ths is satter uf redefining American cle, no once and for al than he negoited meanings tac ae alway merging out of uric proces. tin dhe day-to-day imeractons of teacher and Stents eating with a rasformed curculum a atempting to create a ransformed detnocatic classroom, tht the new common Culture wil be created and continaly re-create. (Perey & Frave 1993, pp 19-20)