Module 2: What is Culture and Why Does Culture Matter?
First, let’s talk about what culture is. Culture is what people do and how people perceive what they do. Instead of putting people into groups (Mexican culture, Islamic culture), we look at culture on an individual and family basis. Culture is based on the practices and lived experiences of individuals- their daily activities, traditions, knowledge, and skills. This means that an individual’s culture is dynamic, changing as they develop and shaped by what is passed down from one individual to another and everyday interactions (for more information see Funds of Knowledge Alliance, 2023).
Pause and Think
- What are some things you/your family does?
- How might you perceive a situation differently than a friend based on your experiences?
Culture matters because it influences how we view and interact with the world. For example, in this article, we see that bias might affect (a) how we see others and perceive situations; (b) our attitudes about certain people, disability, or education; (c) our behavior; (d) what we pay attention to and how much we listen to others; and (e) and how comfortable we are in different situations. Our brains are amazing and strive to be efficient. For example, to be efficient, humans:
- Are only consciously aware of a small amount of what is around them or what they experience (optional: see for yourself Monkey Business Illusion; Why You Miss Big Changes Right Before Your Eyes
- Categorize information, make connections, and fill in gaps
- Simplify information and develop ways to make sense of the world
Efficiency is helpful, but it can also lead to problems or errors in judgment that we might not be aware of. Learning about the shortcuts your brain makes can help you learn how to more successfully interact with others. This video by the National Education Association (NEA) Center for Social Justice describes what implicit bias is, why it happens, and how it shows up in our world.
National Education Association Center for Social Justice: Implicit Bias Defined
Dr. Celeste Malone (optional: see NeMTSS Virtual Summit | Creating and Sustaining Equitable Systems of Support for All Students for more information) describes some conditions that make it more likely for us to respond in a biased way:
- Time constraints: feeling like you must decide what to do right away
- Ambiguity: shades of gray, it is unclear what needs to be done
- Cognitive overload/busyness: When we have a lot on our minds
- Lack of attention to the task: Dividing attention
To help yourself better respond in these conditions, Dr. Malone recommends practicing and using a neutralizing routine. A sample routine might involve:
- Taking a deep breath
- Reflecting on your emotions
- Making a decision based on the youth’s/family’s best interest
Tara Brach describes another approach to mindfulness and self-compassion. She encourages a meditation called RAIN of self-compassion (originally coined by Michele McDonald). There are four steps in the process:
- “Recognize what is going on
- Allow the experience to be there, just as it is
- Investigate with kindness
- Natural awareness, which comes from not identifying with the experience”
You can visit the Mindful Healthy Mind, Healthy Life website to do practice meditation to see if it is a helpful tool for you.
Marc Brackett and his colleague Robin Stern share another approach to situations when we are stressed, tired, or having trouble regulating our emotions—the meta-moment. This video shares the steps outlined below:
Marc Brackett- How to Use a Meta-Moment Video
- “Sense the shift: You are activated, caught off guard or have an impulse to say or do something that you might regret. You notice a shift in your thinking or physiology.
- Stop or Pause! You create the space before you respond. Step back, breathe, breathe again.
- See your best self. You activate your best self. You think of adjectives or even an image that helps your best self appear. You might also think about your reputation: how do you want to be seen, talked about or experienced? What would you do if someone you respect were watching?
- Strategize and Act. You reach into your toolkit and start closing the gap between you and your emerging best self. (Always the last step.)” –Marc Brackett
https://www.thephysicaleducator.com/blog/using-ruler-as-a-framework-for-intentional-social-and-emotional-learning
Overall, it is important to explore and become more aware of our own implicit biases and strive to interrupt the process. The NEA video notes that you can do this through questioning your assumptions, educating yourself, and taking a stand. Interrupting the process does not necessarily require changing your beliefs; it requires showing respect and openness to others.
Because all families are unique—their configurations, practices, and experiences—we need to try to avoid making assumptions and instead take time to get to know families on an individual level. If we don’t, we are more likely to struggle to build strong, trusting relationships.
We carry experiences into our future interactions, they impact how we view the world. Remember that “…even on our best days—if we are not mindful of our internal thought process and our biases, we make decisions that negatively impact our work. Keeping these biases in mind will help us better support young children and their families…” (Project About Building Connections [ABC], 2019). Vulnerable decision points will happen and sometimes we will make mistakes or not respond with our best selves. This is okay. We can be willing to make mistakes, acknowledge them, accept them, and learn from them. Practicing and using strategies like RAIN or the Meta-Moment takes time. You can explore the following websites to continue increasing your self-awareness, knowledge, and skills, visit the
- Cultural Humility Self-Reflection Tool for School Staff
- Cultural Humility Toolkit
- Marc Brackett
- Mindful Healthy Mind, Healthy Life
- National Center for Cultural Competence
- Project Implicit
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Advisory Board Feature Appreciating Diversity and Understanding Bias
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“I wish [everyone] knew how many different languages and cultures are out there. I have never worked with such a diverse cornucopia of languages and cultures! And every sub-sect of a country has their own culture. . .The advice would be if you mess up [culturally], it’s okay. Just apologize. Try again next time. You’re going to make mistakes. . . .But don’t make the assumption that just because they’re from the same region of the world, they have the same cultural expectations.” Georgia “I think there’s a necessity to discuss biases. Some are hidden and you don’t realize that they’re there until you are forced to acknowledge it because you don’t know what you don’t know until you learn. So those things are hidden until people say the right combination of words or they trigger thoughts, in your mind, you put people into certain categories without any more information. I did cultural bias training and the trainer read a story and left out a few components. He asked everyone their thoughts. It was amazing how many people in the room made multiple assumptions based on what they heard while others steered clear of making assumptions. Here are the facts that I know, and I can only go based on this. But more than 50% of the room had formed their own opinions, their own categories, and knew exactly what was happening in their minds when that wasn’t what was happening. So, I think acknowledging that bias exists upfront helps to reduce it happening on the backend. While figuring out what you do with those feelings and emotions is not easy, it’s critical. While everyone has bias you shouldn’t just move on without doing the work to pinpoint either where it came from or how to combat it in the moment.” The key is eradicating bias.” Phoebe |
