Cultural identity
[3] A person's understanding of their own and other's identities develops from birth and is shaped by the values and attitudes prevalent at home and in the surrounding community.
In recent decades, a new form of identification has emerged that breaks down the understanding of the individual as a coherent whole subject into a collection of various cultural identifiers.
These cultural identifiers may be the result of various conditions including: location, sex, race, history, nationality, language, sexuality, religious beliefs, ethnicity, aesthetics, and food.
[4][5][6] As one author writes:[7] When talking about identity, we generally define this word as the series of physical features that differentiate a person.
Identity is a function of elements that portrays one in a dynamic way, in constant evolution, throughout the stages of life identity develops based on personal experiences, tastes, and choices of a sexual and religious nature, as well as the social environment, these being some of the main parameters that influence and transform the day to day and allow us to discover a new part of ourselves.
[10] When considering practical association in international society, states may share an inherent part of their 'make up' that gives common ground and an alternative means of identifying with each other.
Cultural identities are influenced by several different factors such as ones religion, ancestry, skin color, language, class, education, profession, skill, family and political attitudes.
For instance, contemporary work completed by Stuart Hall is considered essential to understand cultural identity.
[19] Specifically, in settings of slavery and colonization, identity provides a connection to the past as well as disintegration from a shared origination.
"[20] Whatever the case may be, Gleason advocates for "sensitivity to the intrinsic complexities of the subject matter with which it deals, and careful attention to the need for precision and consistency in its application.
He writes, "The privileged lie and mislead, but the oppressed come gradually to appreciate their objective circumstances and formulate a new consciousness that will ultimately liberate them.
[28] Language allows for people in a group to communicate their values, beliefs, and customs, all of which contribute to creating a cultural identity.
This often happens when the instructor attempts to discuss cultural identity and the issues that come with it in the classroom and is met with disagreement and cannot make forward progress in the conversation.
Moreover, not talking about cultural identity can lead to issues such as prohibiting growth of education, development of a sense of self, and social competency.
This in turn increases the ability to critically think and challenge new information which benefits all students learning in a classroom setting.
The second way is by using active learning methods such as "forming small groups and analyzing case studies".
Acculturation is the phenomenon that results when groups or individuals from different cultures come into continuous contact with one another and adopt certain values and practices that were not originally their own.
However, Russian language competence for the parents did not diminish with length of residence in the country" (Birman & Trickett, 2001).
(LaFromboise Et Al. 1993) The importance of ethnic and national identity in the educational adaptation of immigrants indicates that a bicultural orientation is advantageous for school performance (Portes & Rumbaut, 1990).
Educators can assume their positions of power in beneficially impactful ways for immigrant students, by providing them with access to their native cultural support groups, language classes, after-school activities, and clubs in order to help them feel more connected to both native and national cultures.
This stage is characterized by growing awareness in social and political forums and a desire to learn more about culture.
In this stage people often allow the acceptance of their cultural identity play a role in their future choices such as how to raise children, how to deal with stereotypes and any discrimination and approach negative perceptions.
While we can speak of a duality between the virtual (online) and real sphere (face-to-face relations), for youth, this frontier is implicit and permeable.
In this naturalizing of digital life, the learning processes from that environment are frequently mentioned not just since they are explicitly asked but because the subject of the internet comes up spontaneously among those polled.
There, youth talk about their lives and concerns, design the content that they make available to others and assess others' reactions to it in the form of optimized and electronically mediated social approval.
With each post, image or video they upload, they have the possibility of asking themselves who they are and to try out profiles differing from those they assume in the 'real' world.
The connections they feel in more recent times have become much less interactive through personal means compared to past generations.
On the basis of these questions, youth make decisions which, through a long process of trial and error, shape their identity.
[41][42] On the one hand, the internet enables young people to explore and perform various roles and personifications while on the other, the virtual forums – some of them highly attractive, vivid and absorbing (e.g. video games or virtual games of personification) – could present a risk to the construction of a stable and viable personal identity.
Text taken from Youth and changing realities: rethinking secondary education in Latin America, 44-45, López, Néstor; Opertti, Renato; Vargas Tamez, Carlos, UNESCO.
