Culture

1a

a learned value system of norms, beliefs, and attitudes that shape our behaviors. Cultural values are passed from generation to generation.

1b

Race

2a

a socially constructed concept that categorizes individuals based upon physical features.

2b

Ethnicity

3a

also known as ancestral origin, ethnicity describes the connection we feel to others based on a shared ancestry and cultural heritage.

3b

Minority

4a

a fluid and relative social marker. At least some family scholars refuse to use the term in order to avoid confusion and negative stereotypes.

4b

Ethnocentrism

5a

holding one’s own culture as superior to that of others and failing to recognize or honor different cultural standards and experiences.

5b

Ethnorelativism

6a

interpreting and judging behaviors and attitudes within their own cultural context.

6b

Covert isms

7a

a phrase that refers to the hidden institutional advantages and disadvantages that individuals receive based upon their membership in some group, like belonging to a dominant or nondominant culture, a majority or minority race, or a particular gender.

7b

Persona Dolls and Puppets

8a

these take on personalities and have personal background stories, just like a real people. They are used to facilitate children’s discussion about and analysis of unfair acts, the feelings that resulted, and changes that can be made to create more respectful relationships.

8b

Culturally Responsive Teacher

9a

a teacher who is able to appreciate, understand, and work with children and families from different cultures. Becoming a culturally responsive teacher involves more than learning “facts.” It also involves time and an examination of our attitudes toward different cultural beliefs and behaviors.

9b

Anti-Bias Education Model

10a

operates upon the belief that every child deserves to develop to his or her full potential. Objectives of this model include promoting children’s respect for themselves and human differences, recognition of different types of bias, and correcting biased behaviors and statements.

10b

Intervention Approach to Multicultural Education

11a

teachers provide lessons on cultural respect only after observing children engaging in discriminatory behaviors.

11b

Multicultural Festival Approach (Tour and Detour) to Multicultural Education

12a

teachers make use of isolated cultural celebrations to teach values and customs. For example, African-American cultures are addressed only during Black History month.

12b

Transformative Approach to Multicultural Education

13a

teachers incorporate cultural diversity into children’s daily learning experiences, activities are introduced that help children personalize the cultural experiences of others, and the similarities between cultures are explored.

13b

Code-Switching

14a

children code-switch when speaking by going back and forth between their native language and a new language they are attempting to master.

14b

Stereotypes

15a

these occur when descriptions of a cultural, racial, or other group are applied to everyone in that group and individual differences are ignored.

15b

Trivializing a Culture

16a

characteristic of a multicultural festival approach to multicultural education, a culture is trivialized when its complex heritage is reduced down to one event.

16b

Tokenism

17a

characteristic of a multicultural festival approach to multicultural education, tokenism occurs when one token item is used to represent an entire culture.

17b

Misrepresentation

18a

characteristic of a multicultural festival approach to multicultural education, misrepresentation occurs when teachers use materials and information that misinform or fail to fully inform children about a particular culture.

18b

Deconstruction

19a

generally, the critical examination of ideas. The deconstruction of cultural stereotypes can be accomplished by remaining alert to stereotypes, avoiding ethnocentric definitions of achievement, and personalizing our experiences with cultural diversity.

19b