Deep Culture in the Elementary Classroom

 I want you to think about people who you find are highly creative in your personal life. Maybe, it's an aunt or an uncle, a close friend, whoever it maybe, just someone who you think is highly creative. If you know their background think about that and maybe the commonality of their background to other highly creative individuals. Based on Dean Simonton,a professor at the University of California-Davis, researched the following question, "What elements in a person's developmental environment (when they are kids) might contribute to the likelihood he or she will be a person of high achievement?". What he found is extraordinary, of course many factors positively influenced achievement, but one of the most significant was exposure to cultural diversity!!!!

That is absolutely amazing! Living in a circumstance where different cultures collide and mix (a melting pot) helps develop someone into a more rounded and creative individual! Who would have thought that? He continues to say that, "We believe that exposure to cultural diversity may force children (or even adults) to form new neural connections in the brain to be able to sufficiently interpret meaning in things to which they are not accustomed." We develop ways to understand what is around us. These neural connections, once developed, will always be at our disposal to assist in a myriad of ways, problem solving, language processing and more.

So, as a teacher in TESOL how can I introduce this concept to students, especially elementary-aged? Most people think, well what about holidays, food, music, dances, etc. Well these are all good and they do matter but cultural instruction is much more than that, so let's dig a bit deeper. This is a big challenge that all teachers face, there isn't just one answer. Knowing that Ireland celebrates Saint Patrick's day is important but that doesn't help foster deeper knowledge and thinking. It is also hard since age-appropriate deep culture is limited, many cultural elements are too complex for elementary-aged children.

These next few examples, are things that aren't as complex, but they can help with teaching deep culture to elementary children. They are actually the subjects I have previously talked about, Gestures, Manners, Expressiveness, and Stories from local experiences. These are some of the basics that anyone can see at a glance. These are the things that can intrigue anyone. Teaching culture in school is so important in helping everyone to become the beings they are meant to be, because I believe everyone is worth a lot more than we give ourselves or anyone credit for.