Class evaluation

There are many things I can say about my class room experience but I will attempt to fit it into a reflection that can be read in one sitting. I must begin with the content taught during this class. I found the content to be very appropriate and meaningful. The topics we often discussed in class were relevant and were applicable to real life situations. I found myself in many instances asking the question “How does this information relate to my profession or life in general?” I appreciate how the body of knowledge that I have obtained challenged me to grow as a pre service teacher. One the most intriguing topics discussed during this semester was culture. The many illustrations and example through your life as an educator caused me to reassess how I evaluate culture and the belief, values and attitudes of that culture. I found the work load challenging especially for a six week term. Although it was challenging it was necessary. I felt the work load I experienced will prepare me for my upper level studies and potentially a graduate degree. I am thankful that you did lower standards although the class whimpered murmured, cried and pleaded. I found the work to be very meaningful. The reflections gave me the opportunity to express my thoughts and give meaning to our studies. I believe that the reflections were a very important aspect of the class. The lesson plans were challenging also. I received good grades for my lesson plans prior to this semester. The criterion that was now being asked for the lesson plans caused me to strive towards producing better work. I enjoyed finishing the lesson plans more than doing them. The class as a whole was pretty well behaved. There were few distractions during class and the environment was conducive for learning. I found the computer accessibility in the class helpful through the duration of the semester. If I had to grade the class experience I would give it an “A”. As for the professor, I found your approach to teaching effective. You helped understand things which I was sketchy about and was willing to provide assistance outside of class. Although you set high standards it is evident that you are a professor who cares. I truly feel like for the first time in a long time that I am in college. Your vast knowledge on the topics covered during class surprised me. It is obvious you are a brilliant individual. I appreciate the compliments and the criticism given when needed. If I had to grade you I would give you an “-A” because you never told us exactly what you belief concerning God.

Transsexuality and Intersexuality

I understand an intersexual is someone who has a mixture of male and female traits. For example there are intersexual people who have an ovary and testes. The most familiar type of intersexuals are called the hermaphrodite. There are three types the true hermaphrodite, male psuedohermaphrodite and female psuedohermaphrodite. The true hermaphrodite has one teste and one ovary. The male pseudohermaphrodite is a male based on their chromosomes. They have no ovary but they have some features of female gentiles. Based on their genetics the female psuedohermaphrodite is a female although they do not have they have ovaries. They also have features of male genitalia. These intersexuals are usually a result of increases in certain hormones and or androgen insensitivity. Transexuals are individuals who are born in who believe that they were born in the wrong body. For example transsexual males believe that they were supposed to be a female. This is very startling because these individuals are not sexually ambiguous they are either biological males or biological females and yet the psychological experiences dictates to them otherwise. People make the common mistake with confusing homosexuals with transsexuals. There difference between a homosexual and a transsexual is the homosexual believes that they are who they are biologically but they are sexually attracted to the same sex, where as the transsexual believes that they were supposed to be the opposite sex. Transsexual male likes males because he believes he is a female where as a homosexual male believes he is a male and like males. These transsexuals’ beliefs of themselves are so strong that they would go to great lengths to become the sex in which they believe they are. There are many of them who undergo sex change surgery. This surgery is called Sex reassignment surgery. The sex reassignment surgery is a procedure where males are constructed a virgina, breasts and other female exclusive features. For the women this surgical procedure constructs a penis and other male exclusive features. These individuals will also take hormones to increase and reduce sexually exclusive traits like facial hair, breasts and muscle. The information that I have acquired during this study has been useful to me in the way I will deal with these individuals with sexual anomalies. This information has provided me great insight and now I will refrain from quickly judging a book by its cover.

Homosexuality

I believe there can be many intrinsic factors that can lead to homosexuality. I do know that scientist cannot pin point a exact cause for homosexuality. I am also aware of the scientific research that is being conducting today where scientist looking for genes that can be a predisposition for homosexuality. One way I believe how homosexuals come to be is experiences during early childhood and adolescents. Children who display a secure attachment that greatly exceed the attachment between the child and the same sex can be a predisposition for homosexuality. This idea sounds funny to most people because of the concepts of “mama’s boy” and “Daddy’s girl”. There have been many studies which demonstrate many homosexual men having a great sense of security in their mothers as opposed to their fathers. As young boy bonding with your father is important. Through the bond of a father, sons learn how to socialize and connect with boys in school. Here is the problem when this does not occur these young boys tend to assimilate themselves with what they are familiar with. Since these young boy bonded with their mothers and not their fathers when they start school they associate themselves with the opposite sex. During early years of childhood children begin to demonstrate gender associated play. These boys who are comfortable with girls still have the desire to bond with males but if not handled properly this desire to be with other boys become sexual. For many homosexual men these experiences of sexual desire for the same sex start around ten years of age. This desire become increasingly great and drives them to becoming full blown homosexuals. There are other ways people become homosexual like traumatic life experience like rapes and molestation. After my studies my views of homosexuals have not really changed. I think because of my beliefs and values as a Christian people think I hate homosexuals or I am homophobic but, this is far from the truth. I live in Miami shores and have plenty of homosexual neighbors in which I socialize with from time to time. I do not agree with their life style but I do not consider them to be less than human. My studies help me to have a greater empathy for them. I learned as young boy to love my neighbors as myself and this principle has translated into all areas of my life. I find the general population and even some Christians to not act in love concerning individuals who hate and hold bitterness in their hearts towards homosexuals. In closing, I do not believe we can ever explain why and how every homosexual has come to be.

"Tale of Two Islands"

As a Haitian-American this article hits very close to home. I know several individuals that have risked their lives to get to America. There are even members of my distant family that crossed the sea by way of a small raft for an opportunity to give themselves and their families a life that they could not obtain in Haiti. This article provided me the opportunity to revisit these stories. When we consider policies for Cuban migrants in contrast to the policies set in place for Haitian migrants it is quite discouraging. We have a clear bias towards a particular set of people. Haitians are not allotted the same privileges as Cubans because of the stigma that is attached to being a “Boat person”. I can remember the rumors about the introduction of aids to America through Haitian migrants. I found these rumors ridiculous and extremely offensive. I have been to Haiti three times in my life and I remember the condition of many of the cities I have visited. As a young boy I saw poverty, oppression and hopelessness for the first time. It was an experience that stays with me even today. I believe it is unfair how America has dealt with Haitian Migrants. I think the article “Tale of Two Islands” does a great job in exposing the heart of America and the American agenda. I can honestly say that immigrant policies are set up at the disadvantage of Haitian migrants. It’s amazing to see how resilient the majority of Haitians are in Miami but yet they are not largely accepted. Here is another instance where the demon of racism is asserting its authority over U.S. policies. America and the U.N. have inflicted a large amount of damage to Haiti’s economy and government. One would assume based upon the great suffering of the people imposed upon them because an unstable government the U.S. would give Haitians political amnesty. As much as I love this country I strongly disagree with the way the discriminate against Haitian. What I found very ironic is how Haitians oppressed and denied the same privileges as Cubans when they assisted in the civil war to free the south. I remember the stories I heard about America exploiting America and depleting Haiti’s natural resources and found it hard to believe. After reading this article, testimonial and personal research it is true. America has taken everything from diamonds to gold. I believing charges can be made on institutional racism but it will take shift in the beliefs and the attitudes of the general public. As long as the majority does not see an issue this racism will continue.

Race and Racism

As I reflect on what I have learned about race and racism I cannot help but to remember the images that were in “The Concept of Racism” article. It is sad to see how most Caucasians viewed people of color just a few decades ago. As a matter of fact some still view colored people the same way now. One of the most interesting aspects of racial bigotry is how it can be handed down through generations. We can observe generations that handed racial bigotry down to their offspring and it see how their ideas are not even challenge by their children. This is a perfect example of accepting truth by authority. Once these children come to the stage of being able to think abstractly and analyze their beliefs, values and attitudes they are often faced with making a decision. But this was going on in the 50’s and 60’s but it was more popular to exploit, humiliate and oppress people of color and those Caucasians who advocated for the people of color often met the same fate as the oppressed minority. One of the most important things I learned about race and racism is how to discern the differences of racial bigotry and racism. Understanding this concept changed my perception of racism. The contrasting difference between racism and racial bigotry is that racism is the institutionalization of racial bigotry in government law. This means that individuals who commit murder, hate crimes, harassment, oppression and other such behaviors are justified by the law for their actions. The most powerful statement I have heard about race is that there is no race. This idea was established by man and his has been consistently used as a means to separate or distinguish people. The reality is that we all come from the same place whether we want to accept it or not, this concept is only logical. I also obtained more information on many events that occurred throughout the course of the transformation of this nation. Surely the nation was giving birth and experienced great hardship through the labor pains. There were many lives taken by the demon of racism. I found it shocking how just a simple wolf whistle became the motivation for brutally murdering a young boy, Emmitt Teal. Sometime when I think about how United States elected a black president it makes it difficult to imagine that these monstrosities were going on in this country.

The Holocaust

There is much to say about the atrocities of the Holocaust. I must begin with discussing how Hitler was able to accomplish such a crime that redefines hate. In order to slaughter millions of innocent people one must first dehumanize them. I believe it would be difficult to murder millions of people if one is constantly reminded of how these targeted individuals are human. Once one has successfully convinced the general population that the target race, ethnic group or culture is less than human then it is easy to exterminate them. In the eyes of most who participated in this repulsive hate crime the victims where nothing more than animals. Hitler was applauded by his followers because they perceived him as doing the world a great service. One often observes the worst comes of people in groups. There are behaviors that people do not exhibit unless they are in group or crowd and they find safety in the multitudes. Understanding this concept I’m sure that there were many that were participators and they performed orders that they would not have if they did not have reinforcements and encouragement by those around them. Now let’s observe the problems that have been a so far. We have a neurotic charismatic leader, a ethnic group or groups that targeted and labeled as less than human, a are a nation that adores him, institutionalization of these ideologies and his ideology and the general population reinforcing these heinous ideas. This is the recipe for a holocaust. I find it very disturbing and the worse part about this event is that it can happen anywhere and is still happening in other places in the world. The testimonies of those that survived are compelling, stomach turning and touching. The Jews and other ethnic groups suffered unimaginably at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis. I found that those who survived and have moved passed those horrors in their lives prove the resiliency of those people. As for those who do not believe it really happened, I believe they are insensitive, sadistic and foolish. When some individuals say it didn’t really happen I believe they are trying to find a way to not hold themselves accountable for what happened. It is sad that people can actually make that people have the boldness to even speak those words out loud. That is a feeble attempt to clear their conscious of wrong doing. I find it disgusting and disappointing that these events happened and even more depressing that people can say that it never occurred.

Cultural Chauvinism, Cultural Degradation, Cultural Pride

Cultural chauvinism, Cultural pride and cultural degradation are all aspects of ethnocentrism. In order to compare and define these aspects of ethnocentrism we must first have a clear definition of ethnocentrism itself. Ethnocentrism is the simple belief of the superiority of an individual’s culture. Ethnocentric individuals often believe that their culture is superior to others in every aspect. Chauvinism is an unreasoning devotion to race, sex, country, region and ect. When we add culture to chauvinism we now have an unreasoning devotion to one’s culture. This cultural chauvinism is the beliefs that one’s culture is superior and one can infer from the article that cultural chauvinism is accompanied with acts. In order for this to be an ism it had to be implicated through government practices. One example of this is the oppression of men who were not European men throughout the history of America. Men who belonged to minority groups were oppressed and had their rights as American men and citizens alienated. The law during those periods allowed cultural chauvinist to be justified in their oppressive, prejudice and degrading behaviors. Cultural degradation is the feeling of one’s culture being inadequate. Cultural degradation is normally followed after the oppressive acts implicated by cultural chauvinist. Those who are victims of cultural degradation often have a sense of low self esteem, self hatred and low self worth. They give into to the beliefs of chauvinistic people after continual discrimination and oppression. Last Cultural Pride is a healthy esteem in one’s culture. This differs from cultural chauvinism because it does not condone discrimination, oppression and overall superiority of one’s culture. These people also engage in healthy political action that affects their culture in many ways. They also raise awareness of microcultural thoughts. It’s like having school pride in school. One thing we should be mindful is that most cultures adopts beliefs, values and attitudes from other cultures. Many cultures have interconnecting beliefs, values and attitudes which prohibit them from being completely exclusive and unique because of similarities. Is there such thing anymore as a complete unique culture or a “Pure Culture” (meaning untainted from its original state)?

Prejudice

Prejudices is a very touchy topic especially in America where there are many cultures, races, ethnic groups and socioeconomic statuses residing in the same regions. There are many things that I began to reevaluate own beliefs. I looked within myself to see if I held prejudices in my heart. This article explains how easy it is to fall into having prejudices. We often acquire prejudices through what is taught to us by our parents and our society at a very young age. Although we may not be aware of it this prejudices are embed in our minds and we act them out autonomously. Now there are also other prejudices we develop at a later and more develop stage in our lives where we have the ability to reason and think for ourselves. One of the most startling things that I read in these series of articles were the impacts of prejudices. We are often reminded of these things and also might have experienced recently but I still find it disturbing when I observe the facts. These discriminations directly affect the quality of life of citizens which belong to certain groups. There is still discrimination in the work place, school healthcare and housing. I love America but there are many problems which interfere with the freedoms of its own people. What I find to be quite interesting is that I had many prejudices myself. Although these prejudices were not destructive they still qualified me as a prejudice person. I had views on certain types of music and had perceptions of those who listened to it. I think all prejudices begin with separations. If everyone was the same we would not have any reasons to separate people into groups and subgroups. As individuals we belong to many different kind of groups whether it be gender, sexual orientation, occupational, spiritual and so on. Once there is separation then the ideas of superiority is introduced. Those who believe they are superior they begin to view other groups as lesser. These same beliefs are then taught to their children which also belong to these groups. Once these ideas have been successfully transmitted through authority the children who received these prejudice beliefs begin to act them out automatically. Once that child grows to the stage of analyzing data and making rational decisions based on evidence there is a struggle between the taught behaviors and what the know. They act out prejudice behaviors but do not intend on being prejudice and destructive. This is how racial bigotry survived in our country by instilling behaviors into the next generation.

Beliefs, Values and Attitudes

As a teacher understanding beliefs, values and attitudes is very important. I grew up understanding that “I believe therefore I am”. The person that has the beliefs holds great power. These beliefs can cause one to excel or hinder on success in life. One of the most important concepts in the article is how the statement in western culture the statement “I believe” usually constitutes as I know. Beliefs are not always based on factual evidence but can be more of ideas or generalization of what is true when giving meaning to phenomena. As a teacher one of our greatest desires is to get our students to belief that they are capable human beings with the capacity to become whatever their heart’s desire. In my experiences with people it is very difficult to change attitudes of themselves that perhaps have been transmitted to them through authority. One example of this transmission is how abuse parents profess that their children will never be anything, they are good for nothing, stupid, dumb and will never amount to any success in life. Now the child in this situation receives these words as true because they were dictated to them by an authority in their lives. Once they receive this poisonous profession they adopt these ideas as beliefs and attitudes of their selves. After discussing how “I believe” has the same or even more power than “I know” we can infer that when we belief certain statements about ourselves we are simply saying “I know”. I know I will never make it , I know I’m nothing. We give these statements power to mold our very being. Now if we take this example and use it in a positive way with our words and beliefs we can create people with power beyond measure. Beliefs are hard to change the only one who has the power to change beliefs is the believer. We often ignore evidence that does not support our beliefs and we embrace ideas that confirm our beliefs. The most important thing I learned was the definition of an attitude. Attitudes are also beliefs but they tend to have three observable components. These three components are Ideas, feelings and predisposition to action. Attitudes compared to values are action orientated. Understanding attitudes has given me much insight on how people view others and themselves. I couldn’t help but to think about how often do our behaviors and feelings reveal to other our attitudes. In closing this article contains viable information that can be beneficial as an educator and one who is seeking to increase their knowledge on beliefs, values and attitudes.

Making sense out of sensations

Essay 5 is an essay that describes sensation in great detail. It lists the structures of the eyeball and describes the processes of sight. It also describes the same things concerning the nose, ears, tongue and skin (touch). Essay 6 contrast Essay 5 in the way it deals with who information acquired in senses is then interpreted. It also deals with different phenomena that occur during interpretation of senses and the process of sensation like monocular and binocular cues, shape constancy and perceptual constancy. Essay 5 established the grounds in understanding the definition of sensation and essay 6 expound on the many concepts within the perception of sensation. The first of the four most important things I learned through the readings lied in essay 5. There was an interesting story at the end about a man that lost his ability to sense his own body movements. We are not usually aware that we have this sense although we use it every day. This sense is called proprioception and it is also known as the “sixth sense”. It was interesting to read how this disability affected his life. Although the process of sensation was quite fascinating I really valued to the explanation of perception. Perception is the process of taking stimulation whether it be chemical or mechanical and giving it meaning. Perception can even vary between individuals although both individuals experience the same stimulus. I also found that selection is very important. Selection is the process in which certain stimuli fire off sensory receptors. There are three ways in which these stimuli get selected. Stimuli that grab the most attention are most likely chosen. One of the most compelling illustrations made in Essay 6 was selection based on needs. The illustration involved how when a person is hungry the stimuli that will be more than likely chosen was food. I found that to be very true after examining my personal experiences when I was hungry. Finally, I learned how binocular and monocular cues are essential to our perception of our world. We need both of our eyes to give us both of these important depth perceptions. There are many things that fall under the operation of binocular and monocular cues. Relative size, interposition, shadow are all essential in how we see our world. Each eye on our faces views the world from a position. Being that both our eyes have their own position things tend to appear as if they move when you utilize each eye individually and this is called binocular disparity.

Transformation: Awareness and Consciousness

The article “Transformation: Awareness and Consciousness” presented some very interesting theories. I haven’t given much thought to the ideas and theories of consciousness and awareness up until this point. I believe the article has a much deeper significance than trying to explain awareness with quantum mechanics and quantum field theories. I understand when undergoing the process of transformation there should be a continual awareness one of one’s self and environment. Transformation cannot take place unless we are conscious of our need to transform. For example your front tire has a leak and air is slowly escaping each day, because you are not aware of this issue you continue to drive your car as if there weren’t anything wrong. By the end of that week your tire is completely flat. Initially you saw no reason what so ever to change the tire but once the tire was flat it was made plain to you that you need a new tire. When you changed the tire it was transformative for your car. It transformed you car from being inoperable to fully functional. This is the same concept in which awareness ushers the process of transformation. Through my readings I learned that consciousness is just a part of awareness and that there are three aspects consciousness according to some theorist. The article also discusses eight levels of consciousness which I found to be very fascinating. I found the contents of this article quite extensive or detail. I guess I can say that awareness and consciousness is a complex and immersive process as it relates to transformation. One illustration I found to be true and also interesting is the awareness of the human body even during sleep. While the human body is sleep it is keeping track of its surroundings. Certain noises and or words can trigger the human body during sleep like someone yelling “fire” or the sound of a baby crying. But what I found interesting also is how the human body does not react to other sounds during sleep like sirens, thunder, rain and etc. This article stimulated my mind and brought some things to the light that is not often thought about. We are all aware and conscious but sometimes we are not conscious of our own consciousness and awareness. This may sound weird but it is true. I do not spend time thinking about my consciousness sometimes I just go through life ripping and running, but when I do slow down for a second I realize that I am alive, conscious and aware.

Mental Representations and Schema

Mental representations and schema or schemas have great significance as we deal with culture. When our minds abstract we create what is recognized as a mental representation. There are three aspects of mental representation: Propositional representations, mental images and mental models. When dealing with culture we can safely say that there are mental images that stand out in one’s mind when recognize or hear the names of different ethnic groups. We also have propositional representations and mental models in our minds about certain groups. For example, you are speaking with a classmate and she was informing you about how her Chinese boyfriend is exceptional in mathematics. The moment you heard Chinese you thought of a short yellow person with squinty eyes. This is an example of a mental image used to represent your perception of what Chinese people look like. We make abstractions like this one all the time and is often how indentify ideas, objects and concepts. These mental representations go hand in hand with schema. Schemas are made up of mental representations such as mental models and mental images. Mental representations and schemas are given meaning or interpreted by one’s culture. How you raised and the ideas that were instilled in us teaches us the meanings of certain symbols, words ideas and concepts. Understanding how schema and mental representation connect to culture is beneficial for a pre service educator. Throughout our training as pre teachers we are constantly faced with the issues that cultural differences may present such ethnicity, religion, ideas and beliefs. Understanding how these schemas and mental representation construct reality for most will give us insight on how a culture operates and why specific cultural groups operate in the manner in which they do. We can also learn how other cultural groups solve problems this can increase our cultural competency. If you take a man who comes from a rural tribe where electronics are sparse he would have a very hard time using an ipod. The schemas that he has already acquired do not prepare him to operate electronics. He would more likely try to adapt the schema of operating a radio to this new situation. When we begin to observe his struggle with modifying this schema we can infer that his culture is not familiar with these technologies like the ipod.

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage are merely ceremonial rituals that represent one’s crossing through different periods of human life or social status. Rites of Passage are important because they help to maintain social infrastructures within a cultural group. Their ritual practices often provide individuals with social and emotion support through transitions in life. Without them individuals would have to assert their new social statuses which can become problematic. A culture would then have boys asserting their manhood which can cause conflict with other older men with in that culture. It would be very difficult to differentiate social statuses without rituals and ceremonies. The stories “Sitting Quietly”, “Facing Mt. Kenya” and “The Sambia” are very interesting articles and in most cases Americans will find the stories/articles strange. These stories depict strange rituals which are rites of passages into adult hood for males and females. I found them quite disturbing but that would be the natural response of individuals who are not from these cultures. Rite of Passage easily relates to formal education. The process of completing a formal education causes individuals to go through a segregated stage, liminal stage and stage of aggregation. Here are some examples of what I am trying convey: Many students who attend universities leave home and spend countless days and nights of study which causes them to be disconnected with their families and friends. During the liminal stage students social statuses are ambiguous. Their experiences in school are transformative and are molding social identities. Once the have completed their education they are reintroduced to society. They are now recognized as scholars and individuals that stand amongst the crop. These individuals often go onto being successful and functional members of society. There degrees and accomplishments represent a certain status. Society recognizes these individuals as intellectuals. Sadly our society operates in that manner but in our country we have countless of individuals that have degrees but can not really demonstrate that they have really learned anything. Or we have individuals with degrees that still behave immaturely and lack the social skills to be effective members of society. Despite these issues formal education in itself is a rite of passage at least for many individuals in developed nations.

High and Low Context Culture

The concepts of High and Low context culture are very intriguing. In High context culture the messages or symbols used require an in depth understanding of that specific culture. Messages and symbols are normally relatively simply but they have deep meaning. One example of this concept of high context culture is the “thumbs up”. The gesture “thumbs up” in Iran is an extremely obscene jester which is equivalent to the middle finger or “F you” in American culture. If an American was not aware of the meaning of this gesture they would give their Iranian cab driver a “thumbs up” after being driven from a Iranian airport to their hotel. Low context culture is much simpler. Gestures, symbols and messages are direct and to the point. American culture is a great example of low context culture. Americans say what they mean and mean what they say for the most part. Most gestures do not contain a complex code or message. A head nod is a simply yes and a head shake in a no there are no more messages behind that. Proxemics is the understanding or study of how a person perceives space. There are three general aspects of proxemics which are distance, space and territory. Understanding proxemics from a cultural perspective is an important attribute for a pre service educator and or beginning teachers. Different cultures have different boundaries when it comes to privacy (closeness). For an example in Latin culture families usually live in one area or neighborhood, but in American culture families live in many areas and this distance is a indication of desiring privacy. So how does this apply to teachers? Certain people are offended when some one is to close to them (invasion of personal space) or to far from them (disrespect). As teachers we will have to learn how to accommodate each culture when we come across them so that we may not cause offense. This is the same for high and low context culture. Being Interculturally competent means that we would avoid messages, gestures and symbols that can cause harm,, conflict and or confusion in high context cultures. Unfortunately being interculturally competent does not mean we will not also learn by experiences where we put our foot in our mouths.

Cultural Relativism and Historical Particularism

There was so much information in both of the articles it was pretty overwhelming. I realized that I would not be able to conceive in detail all the information presented in just one sitting. There are so many theorist and theories that have shaped our definition of culture and anthropology as a whole. These articles are rich with insight but one of the most important thing I learned through reading these articles is the theory of cultural relativism and what it means to be Intercultural competent. What I admire about the theory of cultural relativism is that it leads people in judging a culture based on the standards the culture has established within them selves and not our standards which are quite bias. When one understands this theory it is realized that there is no culture more superior to any other. Another theory that is important and goes hand in hand with cultural relativism is Historical particularism. This theory basically states that the best way to study any culture is to study that culture in detail. One would have to study those cultures’ idioms, nonverbal cues, verbal and nonverbal symbols and etc. Not only does this theory apply to cultural relativism but it goes also applies to intercultural competency. Intercultural competence simply means to be able to operate in any culture as if you were a native to that specific culture. How can one accomplish this difficult task without detailed study of that culture? One thing I do find very interesting about intercultural competence is that studying alone can not make one competent. It requires a great amount of experiential learning. This process of becoming interculturally competent is not a short process and may be birthed through adversity and failure in certain instances. The articles taught me that there a great deal of things in culture that are occurring beyond what we can observe from an exterior level. There are things that are happening internally that produces certain behaviors, beliefs and ideas. These predictable behaviors demonstrate the idea of culture as a template. I found this idea is very true and it put things in a perspective that I had not been aware of previously. Culture has to be a template because the very way we define culture illustrates that we identify certain groups (cultural groups) by a set of beliefs, behaviors, ideas and the way they view their world.

Frameworks, Paradigms, Paradigm shifts

A paradigm contains a set of beliefs which constructs one’s reality. These beliefs do not necessarily have to be true, but in according to the individual the beliefs are truths. Paradigms also dictate one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors. One can live a lifetime and not shift particular paradigms even if they are challenged by scientific evidence, another individual opinion or perception, or even defining moments in one’s life. For example when we can that certain cultures assimilate or make connection that good fortune comes from pleasing a certain deity. No matter the circumstance it directly related to the mood of the deity that they appeal to. If the nation was ravaged by an epidemic it was because they the nation has fail to walk upright in the eyes of God and this is their reality (paradigm). A paradigm shift happens when one can no longer explain problems, situation and phenomenon with the paradigm that they have previously learned. The foundations of the first paradigm is weakened one would have to change their perception and replace the old paradigm with a new one. I myself have experienced paradigm shifts throughout my life. Being raised in a traditional Baptist home a lot of beliefs were imposed on me from a young age. I was taught that wearing dress clothes to church was a from of reverence and God considered that to be righteous. I was also taught that women should not wear pants to church and other really trivial beliefs concerning scripture. But through my long observation in other’s behaviors at church and at home I did not see a direct correlation between dress and holiness. Also I found in my studies of scripture that man looks on the outside but God looks at the heart. Once I was faced with these observations I had to change my thinking or shift paradigms. As a pre service educator the paradigm shift experience is going to happened as long a I continue to learn. Ideas and assumptions will constantly be challenged and even torn down. New Ideas will replace the old and paradigm will shift to ultimately equip me to be an effective educator. Paradigm shift another part of transformation and is necessary for growth.

Transformation: Creating Context part 1

I have developed many thought concerning transformation reading these articles have changed some of the views I previously I had concerning the matter. There are many aspects of transformation from renovation to revolution it can seem almost impossible to reconstruct our behaviors. A lot of our concepts of how we perceive ourselves and others come from thing we were taught by media, life experiences and our parents. And often the behaviors we pick up are not necessarily good. Understanding this we can all admit we need some transformation. These articles have been nothing short of inspirational. I gained insight on some of the many internal factors concerning ones personal struggles. Your openness in your previous addiction and road to redemption painted a pretty plain picture of the many psychological factors and behaviors that makes some one an addict. I also learned our fear of others and hate towards some one that does not fit into our social, religious or cultural box comes from our own perceptions of our selves. We often criticize people that are different to give our selves a sense of power. Or have phobias about homosexuals because we fear that if they find us attractive that challenges our own manhood. I also learned how stereotypes can be so dangerous. Being raised in a society where I am constantly stereotyped I understand how these things can affect one’s emotional well being. One thing I can say is that once we believed stereotypes we begin to demonstrate what we believe about ourselves through our actions. We understand that these beliefs about ourselves are self concepts and our self concept dictates our self esteem. These articles left me to reexamine my behaviors. I put in a position where the knowledge and insight have now received causes me to transform. After seeing many illustrations of the struggle of other individuals to transform I see that it is not always easy. In most cases transformation requires to sacrifice thing you really love for the betterment of self and the individuals around you. Nonetheless transformation is necessary when we live in a country of so many different cultures, races and ethnicities.

Use of fire and the invention of the wheel

I gained a lot of insight concerning how prehistoric man utilized fire and also the processes leading to the invention of the wheel. I must say that being one who believes in creation by intelligent design I was not aware of the scientific view of the uses of fire by prehistoric man. It is evident that scientist have spent a lot of time coming up with theories when the first uses of fire began and how it was used. Although scientist have not come to a complete consensus on how everything happened by observing the data presented I can see it’s correlations to personal transformation. The advent of one invention can revolutionize one’s life. According to the article it is demonstrated how the control of fire can lead the transformation in the life of a prehistoric man. This transformation is believed to be one of the events that ushered prehistoric man into evolving into what we recognize now as the homo sapien. Also the invention of the wheel has revolutionized trade, travel, and other aspects of our life. It is evident in both articles that these events have shaped mankind but what is interesting is that these changes were not over night but came through a process. Although I do not believe in evolution I believe in the process of evolution. What I mean is as individual through experience and learning we continue to evolve as individual and we recognize this as personal growth. I believe as a pre teaching intern I’m being asked to read this kind of material because it as relates to transformation. Transformation is essential when we are learning as future educator how to deal with different cultures, religions, people and environments. My process of change has already begun but one thing I can observe through this process of change we will constantly reminded that as long as we live it will not end. Finally through these articles one can observe that with an open mind for innovation and change any thing can be possible. Now understanding this we can use it as a tool to motivate learners to reach greater heights in learning and help them realize their fullest potential.