Culture Journal Entry and Culture Flyer

Peer Leadership

Cultural Diversity Packet

Culture Journal Entry and Culture Flyer

• DUE Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Strategies for Choosing and Using Activities for Social Justice Learning

Group Membership

Culture Pie

Culture Cake

What is my culture?

Understanding the Depth and Breadth of “Multicultural”

Journal

Due Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2013

** Bring something into class that is associated with your culture to share with our class and then with your freshmen.

Topic: Culture

Journal Entry: What does your culture means to you? How does your family celebrate their cultural history?

Flyer

Objective: Each group of co-leaders is to create a flyer (due Wednesday with your journal) that will be handed out to you frosh on Wednesday.

The following must be included on you flyer:

Must indicate that culture is the topic

Every culture have something to be offered

Each member is to bring something from their culture to so a “Show-n-Tell”

Indicate that you already have an item or story to share with them

Must indicate an extra incentive for your class to participate

Strategies for Choosing and Using Activities and Exercises
for Social Justice Learning

You are preparing to lead a workshop, teach a class, or facilitate a dialogue. You know what issues and topics you'd like to cover, how many participants you'll have, and your objectives. You've sat down to compose a plan--an outline for the experience. What is your next move?

For many educators, trainers, and facilitators, the next move is to flip through our mental Rolodex of activities and exercises, jotting down the names of those that might fit into the context, time allotment, and atmosphere in which we'll be working. Many of us have shelves of books describing endless collections of activities and exercises for this and that topic or binders full of outlines and descriptions of activities from classes and workshops in which we've participated.

In my own process of planning classes, workshops and dialogues, trying to piece together the optimum experiences for participants, I developed eight simple guidelines that help me avoid common programming pitfalls. The following are my strategies for choosing and using activities and exercises for intergroup learning.

1. I must build my lesson plan around topics and concepts I hope to cover, then design or choose activities that can lead to an exploration of those topics or concepts. I must not build my lesson plan around which activities I most enjoy facilitating.
2. I must diversify the types of activities and exercises I use. Every group of participants will have a range of learning styles and comfort levels with different types and formations of activities. Some enjoy big group work, others prefer to work in pairs. Some like simulations and role plays, others prefer narrative and story-telling activities. I must try to pull from a range of approaches when designing my plan.
3. One key to social justice learning is deep dialogue. I must avoid filling so much of my class or workshop with activities and exercises that I fail to leave ample time for dialogue and processing.
4. Too often, multicultural or social justice program designs call for People of Color to teach White people about racism, women to teach men about sexism, and so on. I must avoid activities that call for oppressed groups to teach privileged groups about their oppression.
5. Whenever possible and appropriate, I must model a willingness to be vulnerable by participating in class exercises and activities. This can be particularly effective when activities call for story-sharing or personal narratives. In these cases, I can set the tone for the kinds of stories or narratives I hope others will share.
6. Many popular diversity activities simulate life through role plays or other experiences in which participants are asked to take on one or more predefined identities. These can be effective, interactive, and engaging, but I must balance them with activities or discussions that draw from the actual lived experiences of the participants.
7. Films can provide excellent illustrations of concepts, leading to fruitful dialogues. But I must avoid using long films that drain away dialogue time. (Many filmmakers produce two versions of their films--a full length version and a shorter "training" version.) In addition, I must be thoughtful about how to transition from a film back to the personal experiences of the participants.
8. I must be creative. Too often, educators and facilitators become dependent on one or two activities or exercises. But only I know the context in which I am working--canned activities and exercises are not designed for every context. I have a sense for what will and will not work within that context. I must be willing to take the time to thoughtfully design new activities or modify existing ones.

The Cultural Pie

Directions: Color in by proportion what has MOST affected you

Example: 3/10 Religion, 2/10 Family Values… until you have 100%

Possible Proportions:

Age

Sibling Position

Ethic Background

Race

Gender

Economic Status

Where Family Born

Area Where You Grew Up

Friends

Values in Family

Religion

Other (Name it)

Your Culture Pie:

The Culture Cake

Directions: Choose six areas below that have had an affect on creating you

Age

Sibling Position

Ethic Background

Race

Gender

Economic Status

Where Family Born

Area Where You Grew Up

Friends

Values in Family

Religion

Other (Name it)

Fill in the cake from top to bottom; start with the one you feel is most important:

What is my Culture?

Your culture is determined by many factors. Here is a chart that will help you to understand some of the things that influence who you are.

Part I Directions: Fill in the blanks in Column C. Leave Column A empty at this time.

Column A / Column B / Column C
My nationality is…
My ethnicity is…
My race is…
My religion is…
My gender is…
My age is…
My economic status is…
I live in… / City/Suburb/Rural?
Family born in US? / Parent/Grandparents/Greatgrand
My grade-level is…
My birth order is…
My career choice is…
Languages I speak include...

Part II Directions: Share your answers with the class. As other people are giving their answer tally how many are similar to yours in Column A.

Does your group have high cultural diversity or low? How does this help your discussion and interactions? Hinder it?

Understanding the Depth and Breadth of "Multicultural"

Purpose:

The Depth and Breadth of "Multicultural" is designed to engage students in a process of defining "culture" and examining its complexities. Often, especially in a class about multiculturalism or diversity, "culture" becomes synonymous with "race" or "ethnicity." This activity reveals the limitations of such a conceptualization and challenges the assumptions often made by educators about what students identify as the important strands of the "cultural" in "multicultural."

Preparation:

Preparation for this activity is very simple. You need only a chalkboard or large sheet of paper. At top, center, write "MULTICULTURAL." Make sure your students or workshop participants are positioned such that they can all see the chalkboard or paper.

Instructions:

This activity has several steps. Different combinations of these steps will be suitable for different audiences, from pre-K students to pre-service teachers. I will draw each step out individually:

1. Defining "multicultural". Start by underlining the prefix "multi" and asking participants what this prefix means. Responses will include "many," "varied or various," "different," and so on. Affirm all answers, then summarize. This portion should take only a couple minutes. Next, move on to "-cultural." What does this term mean? Encourage participants to define "cultural" both in terms of what they believe a dictionary-type definition would be and what it means to them individually.
2. Tell participants you would like them to explore the understanding of "cultural" more deeply. Ask them to suggest all dimensions of culture they can think of, encouraging them to reflect on their own cultures and the dimensions of that culture with which they identify. There are several effective ways of accomplishing this task. You can have students call out these aspects of culture when they think of them (perhaps even using a student volunteer to list them under "MULTICULTURAL"). Or you might decide simply to go around the room, person by person, asking for suggestions--one way to invite every voice into the conversation.

There are literally endless dimensions to culture, and this will be reflected in the answers. It is likely that an influx of answers will come right away, then the rate of response will slow considerably. This often happens after some of the more surface-level cultural aspects are suggested: music, food, and so on. Prod participants to think more deeply about how they define their cultures. Allow for some short silences or suggest some deeper dimensions such as faith, religion, values, language, family structure, and others. It will be important to collect as many suggestions for this list as possible. Be sure to note that this part of the activity could go on indefinitely, highlighting the complexity of "culture." Also, point out how intertwined some of the dimensions are, illustrating how simplistic it is to make a judgement about somebody based on one cultural dimension. This step should take 10-15 minutes.

1. What's not there? In my experience several interesting cultural or identity dimensions generally are not mentioned by participants. Ironically, these are the very dimensions that most often are associated with multiculturalism, diversity, and related topics: race, gender, sexual orientation, social class. Donotsuggest these additions to the list; if nobody suggests them an opportunity for an important conversation emerges. If your class or workshop is one of the 4 (out of 5) that does not suggest one or more of these items, point this out and ask why the participants didn't think of these dimensions. This will be an interesting introduction to the following steps, as you will see. It's often the case that when participants are suggesting items for the list from their own experiences, and thus through how they define themselves, race, gender, and so on, don't come directly to their minds. But, if they're suggesting items for the list based on howothersdefine them, or how they defineothers, these items do come to mind.
2. Categorizing list items. The next step is to divide the items into categories, which will make the final step of the exercise much easier. Indicate this intention to the group, and mention that you will be using Nitza Hidalgo's "three levels of culture." The citation for this model is:

Hidalgo, N. 1993.Multicultural teacher introspection. In Perry, T. and Fraser, J. (Eds.) Freedom's Plow: Teaching in the Multicultural Classroom. New York: Routledge.

Hidalgo's levels include:

1. the Concrete: This is the most visible and tangible level of culture, and includes the most surface-level dimensions such as clothes, music, food, games, and so on. These aspects of culture are often those which provide the focus for multicultural "festivals" or "celebrations."
2. the Behavioral: This level of culture clarifies how we define our social roles, the language we speak, and our approaches to nonverbal communication. The Behavioral levelreflectsour values. Aspects to be listed in this category include language, gender roles, family structure, political affiliation, and other items that situation us organizationally in society.
3. the Symbolic: This level of culture includes our values and beliefs. It can be abstract, but it is most often the most important level in terms of how individuals define themselves. It includes value systems, customs, spirituality, religion, worldview, beliefs, mores, and so on.

Write short definitions for these levels on the board or sheet of paper you used to record the dimensions of culture. Review each of the categories for a couple of minutes. Give participants an opportunity to consider further how they define themselves within these categories. Ask them to look over the categories and the items on the board for a few seconds. As a group, categorize all items into these categories. There may be some disagreement about where a certain item falls, so allow the same item to be listed under two categories.

1. Consistency in Conceptualization. After you have categorized the links, the next step is to facilitate a discussion about relatedness, importance, and the consistency of how individuals define themselves and others.

Starting with "the Concrete," proceed down the list of Hidalgo's categories, asking participants to raise their hands if they consider the items listed under that category to be the most important considerations for how they define their own cultures. Count the responses to each, and list them next to the category name on the board or paper. Be very clear that they are indicating what they consider important items for definingthemselves, not the ways in which other people define them.

Sometimes, one or two students will choose "the Concrete" or "the Behavioral," but in virtually every case, a vast majority of the participants will choose "the Symbolic." As you discuss each category, ask those who chose it to describe why they did so, and encourage those who did not choose it to explain why. Because most people will choose "the Symbolic," be sure to challenge them on why that is more important than the other levels.

Here comes the "aha" moment...

After discussing why "the Symbolic" is the most important category for most people, refer them back to the lists. Several questions will lead to interesting conversation:

• When you meet somebody, which of those items (under any of the categories) do you use to understand them culturally?
• Is your attempt to understand others culturally consistent with how you want to be viewed and understood?
• What forces in our society might contribute to our simplification of others' cultures, even though we don't want to be defined simplistically ourselves?

1. Alternative Consistency in Conceptualization for Groups of Educators. After recording how many participants define themselves most closely with the three categories, and facilitating the "why" discussion described above, turn to a conversation about education. Which of these categories do you, as an educator, focus on when you are trying to teach multiculturally? (This question will provide an "aha" moment for a lot of participants. Allow a few moments for that to happen.) How has education generally tried to be "multicultural"? What are the aspects or dimensions of culture that we focus on in our classrooms trying to be "multicultural"? Is this consistent with how we know people want to be defined?

This is especially powerful if you know that a certain school or district is stuck in the "additive" or "heroes and holidays" stage of multicultural development. Many schools have a multicultural festival or fair and refer to that as "multicultural education."

1. Wrapping up. To wrap up this exercise, you might facilitate a discussion on how the participants can work to make the consistency of their conceptualizations more...consistent. Point out that this exercise is not meant to indict anyone, but instead to highlight how forces ranging from the media to our own educations can move us backwards when we think we are experiencing progress in self- and social development. The conversations that happen as a result of this activity can last 10 minutes or over an hour, depending on what questions you ask and what direction you take.

Facilitator Notes:

As with the rest of these activities, it is vital in both the short run and the long run to validate the views of the participants. If they prefer to define themselves at the Concrete or the Behavioral level, do not challenge them directly about that. (This may happen with some younger participant groups.) This activity can make some participants feel vulnerable, and it is important not to intensify that to the point that they no longer are participating.

This activity has been especially valuable and successful with groups of active or pre-service teachers or those who work at non-profits that do a lot of "diversity" programming because it helps to clarify multiculturalism to some extent. Remember, there are multitudes of books and conversations about multiculturalism that still present it as an additive approach or multicultural festival. This activity challenges participants to rethink such a simplification and their own "multicultural" practices.

This activity also provides an excellent opportunity to introduce the link between critical pedagogy and multicultural teaching. The process highlights the dimensions of diversity and culture within the room of folks with whom you are working. This illustrates how the most important multicultural resources are the participants themselves, and instead of trying to define what is culturally important to them through special celebrations or additive techniques, it is our responsibility to draw them into the conversation, and allow them to define themselves.