reflection 4

What is culture? Many people have their own definition of culture. My definition of culture is a group of people who share the same ideas, beliefs, and views. They also share the same belief systems and have similar thought process. This is my definition because this is what I have observed and been a part of. I personally am a part of, and have been a part of many cultures. Because I am a man I am a part of the of the culture of men. Because I am black I am a part of that culture. Because I am Haitian I a apart of that culture and so on and so forth.
I do not feel that being a part of a culture is a bad thing. In fact I believe the contrary. I feel that being a part of a culture teaches you the love and gives you a sense of being and much more than that but it also has its negative features. Cultures at times teach people intolerance and hate. They sometime teach the individuals within that culture that their culture is better or that their culture is more deserving. There is an example of this in the article with the development of haute couture. The people who could afford these clothing felt as if they were better than the people who could not.
Intercultural competence is very important. What this means to me is to try to understand the point of view of someone that has different life experiences and views than your own. As the article, Transformation: Creating Context, Part 2, suggested, this process takes time to learn so you cannot expect to master something like this over night. What this in tells is that you become very opened-minded and know that the person you are having a conversation with will never fully comprehend where you are coming from. The reason for this is because the two of you have different life experiences and different ideas. This is because the two of you are from different cultures. A person that has intercultural competence will be able to identify something like this and understand that it is perfectly fine.
I have gained many insights from reading these articles. I know that I have still have a lot to learn about cultures including my own but I know that I am taking a step in the right direction. I also know that this is a lifelong process and I must work at it every day to attempt to perfect it. Intercultural competence is just as important because this will help me communicate with other cultures. This is also important because I will be in a class with students that have many different cultures and subcultures. What I have learned by reading these articles can be applied to the classroom.