Hometask for 9 September

I Think what problems teachers might have in teaching culture. List them here.

When we talk about teaching culture we have to take into account that there are two types of
culture.

First of all, we have "Culture" with a capital C, which refers to the formal or visible culture of
a country like history, geography, literature, art, music, economy, sports, etc. This should not
be a problem for teachers when teaching it in the classroom. All that could happen would be
a lack of time. In addition, every teacher should be able to create attractive materials and
lessons to get the attention of students and facilitate the learning of this Culture and other
contents.

However, on the other hand we have “culture” with a small c, which refers to the behaviour
culture of a country or, in other words, the way people live. This part can pose problems for
teachers when it comes to treating it in the classroom since we live in a world where many
different cultures coexist together, and all of them have very different beliefs, ways of living,
traditions and customs. These differences can lead to conflicts in the classroom and to solve
them it is imperative that we educate students on the basis of the principles of respect for
diversity and tolerance, so that students are able to listen, understand and accept differences
without judging them.

What is more, I consider it very important to work both curricular and culture content, and to
seek the balance between both can also be difficult for teachers.

Another problem that teachers can encounter when teaching culture is that it could happen
that the students’ families do not have an open and tolerant mind and do not accept that the
school ideas are based on respect and diversity. In addition, for this same reason, we may also
find many students who come to school with all these prejudices acquired home by the
family.

II Find some definitions of culture and write them down. Don’t forget to name the
author/source.

Lorena Vidal Salvador 1

 - Kroeber and Parsons (1958): “Culture is a transmitted and created content and
patterns of values, ideas, and other symbolic-meaningful systems as factors in the
shaping of human behaviour”
- Kluckhohn (1951): Culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and
reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive
achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential
core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and
especially their attached values.

Source: https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/48150_ch_1.pdf

III Do exercise “Who am I” from Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters (AIE )(p.5).

Read the instructions in the booklet and write briefly about yourself

My name is Lorena Vidal Salvador, I am 21 years old and I’m from Spain. I was born in the
Basque country (in northern Spain) and at the age of 4 I moved to Madrid due to the work of
my parents. When I was 14 they got divorced and I currently live with my mum in a town on
the outskirts of Madrid, called Loeches.

I had always been an only child until when I was almost 18 years old my father had my sister
Nahia.

I don't consider myself a believer, I don't belong to any religion even though my family does.
I speak Spanish, my mother tongue, and English, which I’m trying to improve and, therefore,
among other things, I decided to live the Erasmus experience and I am currently studying in
Estonia, where I have been able to know a very different culture and great friends. I also
studied French for 6 years, but I don't remember much.

I study the career of teaching and I'm in my fourth grade, I only have one more left. It is
something I really like and what I hope to dedicate myself to in the future.

I love listening to music, going out for dinner or to the cinema and above all traveling. I also
love spending time with and family and friends and watching series.

Lorena Vidal Salvador 2