The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education Ellen Dupree City College of New York

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education

Culture has a tremendous impact on the way that adolescents learn and develop The influence of culture on education should a!solutely not !e overlooked or underestimated According to "erriam #e!ster$ culture can !e defined as the customs$ values$ !eliefs$ practices$ social !ehaviors$ and traits shared !y a particular group of people The home of the largest pu!lic school system in the %nited &tates is in New York City$ where there are more than one million students in over 12'' schools 1 Those num!ers are e(uivalent to a su!stantial variety of races$ ethnicities$ and cultures that must consistently interact with one another in different settings$ socially and professionally$ and more to the point$ in teaching and learning environments An adolescent)s !ackground and culture has a tremendous effect on how they view the world and process information This fact makes it important for teachers and educators to seek and o!tain knowledge regarding various cultures$ especially in a city as culturally diverse as New York "ore likely than not$ the possi!ility e*ists that a teacher will encounter a multitude of differing ideals$ values$ attitudes and learning styles in any one class room setting This type of scenario can pose a formida!le challenge wherein certain adolescent !ehaviors in the classroom are misinterpreted and misunderstood &tudents who are raised in different cultural settings may approach education and learn in different ways +,n his work$ The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners think differentlyand why. -o!ert Nis!ett worked with psychologists in .apan American Education &ystem / Education &ystem in %nited &tates of America / %&A Education &ystem0 ,ndo!ase com -etrieved 2'1'1'2112
1

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education

and determined that the typical way of viewing the world that many students from those countries have differed from that of their American counterparts .apanese children are praised for !eing (uiet and still at home$ while mainstream American parents encourage ver!al interaction As a result$ in the classroom$ .apanese students can appear non1responsive when they are actually demonstrating respect 42 ,t is essential that educators are a!le to recogni5e and distinguish these differences while in turn !eing a!le to incorporate teaching methods that accommodate the varying cultural ideals and !eliefs that adolescent students !ring to school ,deally$ if educators are a!le to gather relevant information and develop a sense of understanding as to who their students are as individuals in regard to their respective cultures$ it should !ecome easier to define the role that culture plays in the development and education of adolescents +Children from non1mainstream cultural groups often possess cognitive styles that differ from those promoted in the schools This mismatch can easily lead to misunderstandings$ and culturally inappropriate interaction$ assessment$ instruction$ or discipline %nderachievement$ poor self esteem$ and mis!ehavior can result These pupils may end up in special education programs$ either !ecause of misla!eling or !ecause educators have 0created0 a learning disa!ility or emotional and6or !ehavioral disorder 43 The Call to Teach: An Introduction to Teaching and Learning 78earson 2'139 Anderson$ . A 71:;;9 Cognitive styles and multi1cultural populations .ournal of Teacher Education$ 22719$ 21:
2 3

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education

There are certain to !e visi!le differences in the development of learning skills$ a!ilities$ and performance among students of different cultures !ased on their home environments as well as socioeconomic status 8overty is often associated with poor academic performance 8arents in low1income families do not always have the resources that ena!le them to provide e*tracurricular activities for their children and so instead they are left at home watching television or playing video games while their parents work long and late shifts ,t is thought that a lack of involvement among families living in poverty is in part responsi!le for the educational outcomes of students Children reared in these types of environment may not !e as well prepared to meet the standards of the educational system they enter !ecause they are not initially taught at home <or e*ample$ a child that has !een e*posed to a great deal of ver!al interface and communication$ such as !eing taught the alpha!et$ learning to spell with !locks and playing teaching games will have a stronger voca!ulary and skill set upon entrance into school than a child who did not have this type of interaction ,f a child is growing up in a poor ur!an area$ he may !e e*posed to totally different scenarios$ ones in which he learns !roken English and slang and may know all the words to popular +rap4 songs !ut pro!a!ly would not have the a!ility to spell very well =nce a child has grown into an adolescent consistently e*posed to these types of conditions$ the result would !e a lack of skills that ensure success !ut have rather served to instill !ehaviors that contri!ute to poor performance in school

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education

>

+The cultural deficit theory states that some students do poorly in school !ecause the linguistic$ social$ and cultural nature of the home environment does not prepare them for the work they will !e re(uired to do in school +This stems from !eliefs and assumptions regarding the a!ility$ aspirations$ and work ethic of systematically marginali5ed people ,t asserts that students of color and low1 income students often fail to do well in school !ecause they are perceived as +culturally deprived42 with a lack of e*posure to cultural models more o!viously congruent with school success &tudents of color and poor students often enter school with a lack of +cultural capital 4 and it is suggested that parents who cannot supervise homework and who use the television to entertain their children are teaching them that school is not important 4> ,ndividuals can !e very ?udgmental of one another and teachers are no e*ception Teachers sometimes have lower e*pectations for students of certain ethnic$ and cultural !ackgrounds #hen teachers lower standards !ecause they e*pect students to perform poorly$ students tend to perform at these lower levels <or adolescents$ a plate full of poverty$ little to no parental involvement factored in with the sense that their teachers don)t !elieve in them and they may start to think$ +why !other@4 Adolescence can !e a very difficult stage of life to go through ,t is a period of time where children are prone to drop out of school especially if they Yosso$ T 72''>9 #hose culture has capital@ A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth -ace$ Ethnicity and Education
4

Aourdieu$ 8 1::B The forms of capital ,n A C Calsey$ C Dauder$ 8 Arown$ and A & #ells 7Eds 9$ EducationE Culture$ economy$ and society 7pp 2'/>;9 =*ford$ EnglandE =*ford %niversity 8ress
5

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education don)t have the support of their parents and teachers

+Although it is acknowledged that certain factors such as culture and socio1 economic status can negatively impact academic performance$ it is highly suggested that these disadvantages should !e compensated for in the classroom A teacherGs low e*pectations and standards can result in fulfillment ,t is fundamentally wrong for a teacher to pre1?udge and !ehave differently towards students !ased on culture and socio1economic status Halue should !e placed on the attempts of low1income parents to provide for their children and e*tra study skills or time management lessons should !e implemented to help children cope with the e*tra challenges instead of assuming that their home life will result in academic failure 4F Culture has a very !ig impact on adolescent education Taking this into consideration$ it should !e the goal of all educators to achieve positive outcomes for all their students regardless of culture Currently that entails developing and implementing educational strategies that are effective in multi1cultural settings ,t is essential that educators are a!le to recogni5e and distinguish when and how to incorporate teaching methods that accommodate the varying cultural ideals and !eliefs of their adolescent students This may !e a daunting task to undertake !ut necessary for the successful education of adolescents

Aaruth$ D I J "anning$ " D 71::29 "ulticultural education of children and adolescents AostonE Allyn J Aacon
6

The Effect of Culture on Adolescent Education &ourcesE

American Education &ystem / Education &ystem in %nited &tates of America / %&A Education &ystem0 ,ndo!ase com -etrieved 2'1'1'2112 The Call to Teach: An Introduction to Teaching and Learning 78earson 2'139 Anderson$ . A 71:;;9 Cognitive styles and multi1cultural populations .ournal of Teacher Education$ 22719$ 21: Yosso$ T 72''>9 #hose culture has capital@ A critical race theory discussion of community cultural wealth -ace$ Ethnicity and Education Aourdieu$ 8 1::B The forms of capital ,n A C Calsey$ C Dauder$ 8 Arown$ and A & #ells 7Eds 9$ EducationE Culture$ economy$ and society 7pp 2'/>;9 =*ford$ EnglandE =*ford %niversity 8ress Aaruth$ D I J "anning$ " D 71::29 "ulticultural education of children and adolescents AostonE Allyn J Aacon httpE66www educationnews org6ednewsKtoday61>;2:' htmlLsthash M1eY(&nf dp