Cultural Exploration: Looking to a Disintegrated Past to Exist in an Integrated Future.

Eryn White

School of Education and Leadership, City University of Seattle

ECC 515: Leadership & Counseling Diverse Cultures in Education

Brian Celli

April 23, 2023

Cultural Exploration: Looking to a Disintegrated Past to Exist in an Integrated Future.

Culture is both a product of and a foundation for civilization, correlating it with why

people act in a particular manner. Underlying themes associated with this duality are respect,

cooperation, dedication, and courtesy. These ideals of societal behaviour are evident in

narratives, whether anecdotal, mythical, or philosophical in nature and they exist across time

and space. Do we live out our lives through a collective consciousness across generations and

geography? The work of Jung situated in narrative structure by Joseph Campbell points to

yes. Stories, characters, and settings around the world follow similar archetypal patterns

indicating there is more in common than we might think. Narrative structure helps us engage

with complex ideas such as human experience, collective values, individual purpose, and life

and death. Actions of different individuals and details of the events will vary, and

examination reveals similar themes overarching disparate cultures.

Differing cultures are built on their respective societal norms which are in turn,

learned behaviours. Acceptable actions are contextual, and norms differ between societies.

For example, in Western societies, eye contact during conversation is respectful and shows

confidence, whereas in other societies eye contact can be interpreted as disrespectful and

aggressive. Microcosms of societies exist within a larger culture — a spectrum of families,

social groups, and working environments exist within a city, built within a particular region,

situated in a country, and bordering a unique geographic location of the world. However,

among the individual contexts remains similar desires. Does the idea of a collective

consciousness assume people can observe societies working toward a unified cause? No, the

way individuals act within a society shapes its perception, whether from an internal or

external perspective. Within a context, norms are implicit and left unobserved by the

participants.
 We do not see what it is that we are doing, we just do it. Our brains function with

heuristics to offload cognitive complexity — not contemplating every action and interaction

is a matter of efficiency. Without a focus, we would be lost in the myriad of choices

presented to us through the vast potential that is existence. Does this mean that we act in

certain ways due to group unconsciousness? Simply stated, yes. If we have a brain, then we

have a bias. If we live in society, then we are influenced by those norms. The experiences we

face play a role in how we believe we fit into our society. Events are not controllable, but our

experiences are malleable. Through the perception of events, we shape our memories. Since

perceptions are guided by beliefs and values, it is taken for granted that these unconscious

forces mold our thinking. It is uncommon for us to examine how our experiences intersect

with overarching societal norms, which interplay with personal perspectives, looping

back to shape our memories that influence our experiences. A worldview based on

juxtaposed values complicates interactions within a homogenous society that has

unobservable diversities. Making universal connections across contexts simplifies one’s

perception and produces experiences constrained by presumptions stemming from

apparent diversity.

Cultural Influences and Experiences

The development of individual worldviews comes from the complex relationships

between culture and experience and are deepened by genetics. As seen in epigenetics and

neural plasticity, the difference between genetic diversity and learned behaviour is parallel to

the conversation about the chicken and the egg. The overlapping relationship between

genetics and learned behaviour will be assumed and the following discussion will posit

specific behavioural traits are genetic dispositions.

Being introverted has provided me with the opportunity to be self-reflective,

contemplative, and independent. I am introspective, which is interrelated with being reserved,

shy, and anxious. The strengths that are cultivated from looking into oneself also manifest

feelings of doubt and apprehension. Overlapping dispositions such as taking incremental

steps toward a goal and considering multiple perspectives come from logic. This also breeds

the compulsion to provide a solution, disregarding the emotions of others, which is

juxtaposed with the reality of becoming overwhelmed by emotions in myself. Finally, I can

exist in states of chaos with comfort. With a particular mindset open for change, navigating

ambiguity is built into my creative process and pursuit of discovery, which aligns with being

adaptive to situations, and focusing on big-picture ideas. However, chaos also feeds into

overlooking details such as dates, leaving holes in organizational habits, and justifying

procrastination with the false belief that I work best while under pressure. My existing habits

cross the notion of a dichotomy existing in layman’s nomenclature: left brain versus right

brain function. Within the discussion of whole brain processes of McGilchrist (2019), brain

function is a shared process between the hemispheres and an individual’s focus and attention

are both the results of motivation and desires and the basis for their development. Layered

over and between these genetic worldviews are experiences, the genesis being our family

units.

Family structure imprints many values. My parents are both loving and passionate:

they chose to make a life based on creativity and exploring possibilities. Relocating to a rural

area to set up a hobby farm was the embodiment of a collective idea held with their

generation – one based on sustainability, freedom, and what can conjecturally be described as

a spectrum from dislike to distrust for centralized, conservative ideals. This established my

value of curiosity, and exploration, with a desire for inquiry (bordering on skepticism).

Although both my parents came from traditional families, there were unorthodox

influences on their worldviews. My father was adopted into a second-generation immigrant

family, protestant Catholic from rural Fraser Valley upbringing, and my mother was from a

first-generation immigrant family, agnostic in faith from an urban English and Welsh
heritage. Both families faced hardships associated with world events and coming from

respective transitory backgrounds no doubt challenged the foundations of what might be

considered a traditional, Western family structure. Although not directly observed in my

immediate family unit, these aspects had implicit connections to my experiences: from a

distanced relationship with religion inferring a lack of importance in faith to transferring the

value of utility to a desire for material possessions.

At an early age, I experienced disintegration in my family structure. My parents split

when I was in kindergarten. Experiencing my family being broken shaped an immature view

that institutions: marriage and family were futile. I clearly remember when I was about seven,

saying to my mother that I was not interested in having a family, because it was inevitably

going to fall apart. This must have been a terrible blow to her, as I can only imagine that my

naivety was interpreted as her failure. Like me, my mother is introspective, and I can imagine

her blaming herself for my nihilistic declaration. I have grown to see the absolute power that

is held in relationships, especially marital and filial. I have a loving wife and three children,

all of which help me grow. I have a responsibility to support them, and their connections

provide me with great purpose. I cannot help but wonder if this is from perceiving the

relationships around me as being in shambles in my childhood and aspiring to a contrasting

lifestyle.

Moving through a variety of homes in a hand full of towns in a few different parts of a

province gave me a view of the home as a place that is not only transitory but

compartmentalized. At first living with my mother and sister while my brother lived with my

father, exposed me to the selfless dedication my mother applied to her children — working to

support us while finding the right place to live. As a young child, these choices were not

apparent to me, however the feeling of support and love permeated the trailers and mobile

homes in Salmon Arm, B.C. over a span of about a year. Soon after, my mother found

companionship with my step-father, who also went through a separation. Although he has
two children of his own, they remained with their mother, while my sister, mother, and he

moved as a family to several other rentals, condos, a townhouse and eventually a house of our

own, slowly migrating West to land in Nanaimo B.C. I have clear correlations between places

and developmental periods of my life, establishing an emotional need for nostalgia and a

logical desire for change. The logical aspects of my personality have often been attributed to

my grandfather: as an electrical engineer and professor at UBC, he used his faculties for

rational thought to carve out a successful life.

I have always found intellectual challenges, mind experiments, logic puzzles, and the

pursuit of knowledge not only entertaining but very accessible to me. School was never much

of a challenge, and I would sometimes gravitate to the extremes of apathy, believing that my

natural abilities would get me through whatever was presented. I did not excel in my studies,

receiving above-average and occasionally high marks, but that was a trade-off for the fact

that I did not have to dedicate much effort to them. While in post-secondary school, during a

portfolio interview, I was asked what I deserved for a mark. I replied with a top-tier grade: an

A. He responded, “Yes, you’re good. But an A would look like doing this practice 500 times,

not just 50.” Of course, he was right. So, I received a B+. This was a predictable pattern for

me.

While pursuing my second bachelor’s degree, I received a C on my first paper in

educational philosophy. Indignantly, I argued my stance on the topic was due to the

semantics of the prompt, rather than the assessment that I missed the point. I had approached

the assignment with arrogance and disdain. Rather than taking a position, I argued there was

neither position to take: evidence proved and disproved both sides of the argument. The mark

was adjusted to an A-, and again I was satisfied with the easy route.

Further on I received another C on a paper, however this time the assessment was not

debatable, and I knew it. This was one of many points that led me to a realization: do not
default to an easy route. Instead of finding the path of least resistance, lean into challenges

and work through the uncomfortable experiences of not knowing. I find that I am still

working on this piece, balancing my workload and striving for excellence means making

choices to burn the candle a little further than I had in the past while still honouring the

strength in letting things go.

Worldview

The results from the Institute for Cultural Evolution (ICE) Worldview Questionnaire (2023)

indicated I am highly aligned with an Integrative worldview and least disposed to a

Modernist worldview. An Integrative worldview is identified as a holistic approach “to bring

together and synthesize elements of other worldviews, or of domains that in other worldviews

tend to be viewed as mutually exclusive” (Institute for Cultural Evolution, 2023, para 3). This

resonates with me particularly because of my understanding of how there are complex

relationships falsely identified dichotomies, such as the previous discussion on right and left-

brain thinking processes. Knowing this corresponds with my sensitivity to reducing

multifaceted contexts into platitudes and how such simplifications disregard intricacies

relative to contexts.

Further, my negative correlation to the Modern worldview, characterized as an

“attempt to achieve liberation from imposed, oppressive ... understandings of the past” fits

this belief as well (Institute for Cultural Evolution, 2023, para 4). At the surface, this seems to

oppose the idea that I am drawn to complex understandings, as it can be inferred that the

rejection of historical perspectives imbued in the Modern worldview would predicate a focus

on more robust and complex ideas representative of present-day ideologies. However, I have

come to understand the richness in repeated narratives illustrative of the idea that irrespective

of culture and regardless of time, there are fundamental truths existing among humanity.
 The alignment with the Integrative worldview resonated with a process of awareness

that was illustrated in the Four Stages of Competence (De Phillips et al., 1960). The process

moves through four levels of understanding. Initially, individuals are blind to the existence of

their ignorance and finally end up embodying an understanding so fully that it no longer

requires thought. This harkens to Joseph Campbell’s (1949) work describing the monomyth,

an archetypal pattern I value. Putting emphasis on the ability to harness challenging situations

through accepting responsibility is a cycle validating our struggles and giving us the

opportunity to embody a growth mindset.

Bias, Barriers, and Benefits

As my perspective has developed over a lifetime, there are identifiable biases present at

distinct stages. In my early adulthood, my focus on making a credible reputation for myself

created blind spots in my approach. With a deep need for validation, there were instances in

which learners felt alienated and even insulted. Coming into my profession in an environment

that outwardly was without much diversity had me teaching with a one size fits all attitude.

The relative similarities between the students and my past made me infer what would have

been beneficial for me, would be beneficial for them.

Expecting high standards and espousing content knowledge was also a mask to cover

my inexperience and self-doubt. This relates to a deep level of instincts that have developed

over millions of years of evolution. The fear instinct has us producing adrenaline and cortisol,

preparing us to fight, flee, or freeze. Interestingly, these are the same chemical compounds

produced in an engaged learning process: how we frame this biological experience

establishes our memory around the event. What I developed as a tactic to engage students

was also a reaction to my laisse-faire attitude as a student. Again, it can be assumed I was

reacting to a circumstance I lived through in my past and my overcompensation had me

missing the obvious fact that learners need different starting points. I had made a room with

high ceilings, but unfortunately, I had created high floors for entry as well.

My ability to make things happen for me created a bias toward self-motivated workers. This

has an inverse correlation to the negativity instinct. Being opposed to the predilection for

dissenting opinions, I developed a blind spot which was perceived by my students as a lack of

empathy. I even felt so bold to declare students who were not ready to learn were not going to

do the work, rather than focusing on small wins to help everyone progress on their own

personal Hero’s Journey.

However, these same biases provided points of success as well. Valuing creativity and having

high standards gave students the opportunity to rise to the occasion. Having a willful

blindness to differences in taste and preference gave me the ability to press learning with a

creative tour de force. Exposing a learning community to different avenues of thought and

experience is one of the foundations of public education.

Having doubt in my abilities made opportunities for me to question my process, leading to

personal growth. This opened my empathy for learners and helped me understand the work

we were pursuing in class was not the most important aspect of their development. In fact,

making room for students to learn through their errors was far more powerful than convincing

them the work we did was valid. This realization had me work through the straight-line

instinct, seeing in action that progress is not a simple, unbending, diagonally inclined line, but

a messy progress trending upward, wrought with spikes and dips along the way.

Conclusion

As I work my way out of defaulting to certain Arbinger boxes, primarily the better-than-box

and secondly the must-be-seen-as box, I can continue to examine how I can lean into

challenges. To wonder what pieces I am still missing is not beneficial but understanding that I

am a work in progress is. The rub comes from walking the line between understanding there
is work to do and accepting there is work to do. Merely understanding this puts me in a

position where I must continue to navigate my emotional responses mindfully. Although this

is what fosters mastery, fitting into the conscious competence stage, it still is not an embodied

practice.

To truly become the most curious person in the room, I need to genuinely value where others

are coming from. While I am working on my personal feelings of crawling out of a fractured

past and into interwoven possibility and potential, I must continue to listen with the intention

of learning. Due to a worldview developed from contrasting values, parts of my career were

complicated. I had difficulty engaging with students who presented as if they were similar to

me. I worked with them on the premise that they needed what I had lacked in myself, at times

pushing students away rather than connecting with them. I had assumed that overarching

ideals gave me a simplified clarity on how to act, which was complicated by my struggle with

deep feelings of insecurity and a need to validate myself. What I failed to see is that everyone

deserves the opportunity to embark on their own quest, and we are all at various stages and

different magnitudes of that adventure. By listening and being empathetic, an educator can

coax a student to take the next steps, without feeling that they need to be named as the mentor

or guide in their journey.

 References
De Phillips, F., Berliner, W., Cribbin, J. (1960). "Meaning of learning and knowledge".

Management of training programs. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin. p. 69. OCLC

604759.

Campbell, J. (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

McGilchrist, I. (2019). The master and his emissary: the divided brain and the making of the

Western world. New expanded edition. New Haven, Yale University Press.

Institute for Cultural Evolution. (2023). Worldview Questionnaire,

https://www.culturalevolution.org/worldview-questionnaire/.