ELEMENT STATEMENT: Preservice education students are helped to develop a clearer sense of their own ethnic and cultural identities.

THE BIG PICTURE: An understanding of culture is important in promoting effective teaching. Banks and Banks (1993) define culture as "the ideations, symbols, behaviors, values, and beliefs that are shared by a human group"; they add, "Culture can also be defined as a group's program for survival and adaptation to its environment [natural and social]" (p. 357). Given this two-pronged definition, one's culture can include but is not limited to the following: ethnicity or race, religion, socioeconomic class, geographic region, gender, profession, age or generation, disability, and sexual orientation.

It seems obvious that prospective teachers should learn about the cultures of their future students. To enhance their appreciation of other cultures, they also should learn about their own cultural roots. Cochran-Smith (1995) notes:

"In order to learn to teach in a society that is increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse, prospective teachers, as well as experienced teachers and teacher educators, need opportunities to examine much of what is usually unexamined in the tightly braided relationships of language, culture, and power in schools and schooling. This kind of examination inevitably begins with our own histories as human beings and as educators; our own experiences as members of particular races, classes, and genders; and as children, parents, and teachers in the world." (p. 500)

Hilliard (1991) uses the analogy of an iceberg to explain an individual's understanding of his or her cultural identity:

While the tip of the iceberg represents the individual's conscious understanding of his or her culture, the submerged part symbolizes the larger, more subconscious influence of culture in one's life. Coming to an understanding of this subconscious influence requires some inner exploration.

The task often is doubly difficult for Americans of European descent, in general, and for white preservice students, in particular. Howard (1993) notes that when asked to categorize themselves, whites often identify themselves simply as "Americans"; he adds:

"Many of us [European Americans] today are ignorant of our ethnic history because our ancestors worked so hard to dismantle their European identity in favor of what they perceived to be the American ideal. ... From the moment they arrived on American soil, they received a strong message: Forget the home language, make sure your children don't learn to speak it, change your name to sound more American--or, if the immigration officials can't pronounce it, they'll change it for you." (p. 37)

Because they are part of the white majority and most likely have grown up in culturally segregated settings, white preservice students may bring little intercultural experience to teacher education. They may be accustomed to seeing their cultures reflected in societal institutions, and they likely have had few, if any, occasions to question their own cultures.

Hollins (1996) points out that by critically examining specific aspects of one's own culture as well as the cultures of others, prospective teachers can "systematically construct a working definition of culture that will guide decision making in planning instruction for different populations of students" (p. 33).

GOALS:

• Teacher educators will help preservice students understand the concept of culture, the variety of ways culture manifests itself, and the importance of exploring their own cultural backgrounds.

• Teacher educators will have a repertoire of activities and assignments for the teacher education classroom that facilitate preservice students' understanding of culture and the roles it plays in their own lives and in society.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTION: Following are several activities and assignments for the teacher education classroom that lend themselves to prospective teachers' examination of their cultural backgrounds. Some of these suggestions may not appear to pertain directly to the cultures of preservice students; however, investigation of the concept of culture often catalyzes examination of one's own culture.

The following activities are sequenced in order to move the preservice student from an inquiry into culture as it pertains to self to an inquiry into culture as it pertains to society.

• Arrange desks in a circle. Ask students to introduce themselves and highlight any situations in their lives when they were in the numerical minority, as if they were a giraffe among hippos. The instructor should provide an example by first introducing himself or herself in such a manner. This activity, for which ample time should be provided, contains several benefits:

• In articulating situations in which they have felt different, students will think about what makes their own backgrounds distinctive and what in their backgrounds is similar to the backgrounds of classmates.

• Even though the class may appear to be monocultural, students will see the class as a whole being characterized by diversity.

In reflecting on their own and classmates' experiences of being in the minority, students will begin to feel empathy for those who are members of minority groups within society.

• Assign students to develop a cultural autobiography, a written account of one's cultural heritage. Using genealogical research, students may wish to investigate family trees, determine the family's immigration history, and interview older relatives. Emphasize that one's cultural heritage consists of far more than a family tree. Use questions such as the following to prompt this deeper consideration:

• Which values and beliefs in your family have remained constant from generation to generation? How did these values and beliefs originate? Have some outlived their usefulness? Which values and beliefs have changed? When and why did they change?

• If your ancestors were poor when they entered the United States, were they able to elevate their economic status? Why and how did this change occur?

• How has your family been treated in the United States? Have family members ever experienced discrimination? If so, how did they respond?

• How did your family adapt to its environment? Do you see these attitudes and behaviors today?

• Ask students to create and share visual depictions of their individual cultural compositions. These depictions might take the form of Venn diagrams (see Gollnick & Chinn, 1990) or concept maps.

• An alternate approach to the above activity is cooperative learning. In small groups, one member is selected to tell his or her life story. After the speaker has finished talking, have the listeners create a visual depiction of the cultural influences in the speaker's life. Depictions are shared with the whole group. The speaker then critiques the diagram, identifying any discrepancies between what he or she intended to convey and what was perceived by the listeners.

• As Hollins (1996) suggests, guide students in reviewing the stages of white racial identity development and the stages of nonwhite racial identity development that originally were devised by Helms (1990). For whites, the stages are contact, disintegration, reintegration, pseudo-independence, immersion/emersion, and autonomy. For nonwhites, the stages are pre-encounter, encounter, immersion, emersion, and internalization. Encourage students to determine their own stages of development.

• For initial discussion, select a nonthreatening type of culture--such as professional--and conduct discussions focusing on such questions as the following:

• How can we distinguish lawyers and teachers (for example) from other people?

• What are the values and beliefs of lawyers and teachers?

• How do lawyers and teachers adapt to and survive in their environments?

After students have discussed a variety of cultures, break them into small groups to formulate inclusive definitions of culture. Finally, compare students' definitions to textbook definitions (e.g., Banks & Banks, 1993). Refer to Hollins (1996) for an extended, in-depth process by which preservice students can construct working definitions of culture.

• Collect a variety of magazines and newspapers that are representative of several cultures. Suggestions include Modern Maturity (senior citizens), Ladies Home Journal (homemakers), American Voices and Essence (middle- and upper-class African Americans), and Hispanic (middle-class Hispanics). In urban areas, other publications also may be available: StreetWise (homeless people), Windy City Times (gays and lesbians), La Raza (Latinos), Chicago Jewish Star, and Irish Voice. Divide students into groups, with each group receiving several issues of the same publication. Direct students to peruse the periodicals and determine which beliefs and values are conveyed. In the ensuing whole-class discussion, ask students to identify values that vary from journal to journal, as well as those that hold constant. Such a discussion facilitates students' consideration of differences and similarities among cultures.

• Conduct a class discussion aimed at devising fresh metaphors for the cultural dynamics of contemporary U.S. society. As a starting point, critique the melting pot analogy:

• What is a melting pot?

• Is the melting pot an accurate metaphor? Why or why not?

• When, if ever, in U.S. history was it accurate? To which groups did it apply? To which groups did it not apply?

• If our country were a melting pot, which color would predominate? What would be the color of the mixture as a whole?

Then, lead students in coming up with fresher, more accurate metaphors. Appropriate metaphors might be a fruit salad, a stew, or a patchwork quilt. If students experience difficulty, the instructor might try synectics, an approach to problem solving that emphasizes analogies and creative strategies instead of logical thinking. (See chapter 10 of Joyce & Weil, 1996.)

• After the previous activity, explore theories of cultural pluralism, as articulated by Newman (1973) and summarized by Sleeter and Grant (1994). These theories are: assimilation, amalgamation, classical cultural pluralism, and modified cultural pluralism. Encourage students to respond to the following questions:

• Which theory most closely reflects the melting pot?

• Which theory most closely reflects our class metaphor?

• Which theory most accurately describes U.S. society today?

• Which theories do schools generally espouse, both in mission statements and in practice? In your view, which theory or theories should they embrace?

OBSTACLES TO ACTION: If classroom activities such as these are conducted properly, they require copious amounts of time. The instructor should ensure that students have adequate time to ponder questions and come to conclusions. Extended time also should be allowed for class discussion.

Classroom activities that require students to assess their own values and cultures may stimulate disequilibrium and resistance among some students. Such resistance may take the form of comments to the effect that talk of various cultures emphasizes differences and divisions, rather than similarities and unity. Further, they may say, such discussion concentrates attention on groups to the exclusion of individuals. The instructor and other students may counter with the idea that an understanding of culture facilitates an understanding of individuals.

DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW: Instead of celebrating the culture of each individual, Hirsch (1987) emphasizes the importance of a national culture in promoting a nation's goals, ideals, values, traditions, history, and literary heritage. He argues that schools have the responsibility to define and maintain this national culture.

Dunn (1997) suggests that parents should be responsible for teaching their children to appreciate their native cultures, while schools should teach children to respect all cultures. She emphasizes that schools should be careful not to promote one culture over another, thereby "diminishing [children's] sense of belonging to the dominant culture that is uniquely American" (p. 75).

References

Additional Reading for Element 1