Hometask for 9 September

1. Think what problems teachers might have in teaching culture. List them here.

In order to talk about problems teaching culture, we have to differentiate between

“Culture” (products of a society and its outstanding individuals: history, geography,
institutions, literature, art and music, scientific, economic, sports and other achievements)
and “culture” (the way people live).

Regarding “Culture”, there shouldn’t be many problems, the main ones can be related
with the time and the resources available to teach it.

On the other hand, when teaching “culture”, teachers can face many different difficulties:

In a classroom, there can be many types of culture – due to religion, socio – economic
position, etc. – and it’s part of a teacher’s job to approach everyone of them and not
prioritise one over another.
Some parents may not agree or be comfortable with the teacher approaching some
kind of cultural topics such as gender, racism, etc.
It can be difficult to make students change their point of view about a culture and
understand it and respect it.
There can appear discussions or disrespects towards other classmates’ cultures.
2. Find some definitions of culture and write them down. Don’t forget to name the
author/source.

“Culture, or civilization … is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, [etc.]
and any other capacities acquired by man as a member of society” (Tylor [1871] 1958, p. 1).

“Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviour acquired and
transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including
their embodiments in artefacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e.
historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems
may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other as conditioning
elements of further action.” (Kroeber & Kluckhohn, 1952, p. 181)

“Recurring patterns of behaviour that differ from place to lace but that within those places are
observable generation after generation…” (Brislin, 1990, p. 10)

SHHI.02.007 British Studies

3. Do exercise “Who am I” from Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters (AIE )(p.5).
Read the instructions in the booklet and write briefly about yourself.

My name is Irene, I’m 21 years old and I’m from Madrid, Spain, therefore, my mother tongue
is Spanish. I also know how to speak in English, actually, I’m currently studying to be an
English teacher, however, I think I still have lots of things to learn.

I’m not much of a religious person, my motto in life is to take advantage and appreciate all
the good things we have, following this idea, I love spending time with my family, strolling
through the countryside, strolling to look at the sunsets and the stars, playing with my cat...
Little things that we take for sure but that make life better.

SHHI.02.007 British Studies