Reflection of your own experiences of culture and identity in relation to education

Being born and growing up within the northern beaches has significantly shaped and moulded my identity and cultural perspectives. Having a Korean nationality has also given me insight towards differing perspectives and ways of responding to certain issues. The northern beaches suburbs are a white-dominant community and thus I feel there is a clear boundary between what is considered the norm behaviour within and outside the household. I’ll approach this concept through the comparison between my schooling life and within the home in moulding and reshaping my sense of identity and culture.

Like others, my sense of identity consists of branches of differing thoughts, attitudes and behaviours influencing my own cultural perspectives. When reflecting upon experiences of primary school in comparison to high school, there is a significant amount of awareness of one’s own culture as you grow older. Boundaries are brought up and suddenly, rather than embracing the uniqueness of our races and its cultures, it becomes an uncomfortable, touchy subject.

This is related to Ho’s article on the concept of micropublics within society. Micropublics are places in which people have everyday culture contact through individual's willingness to join (Ho, 2011, p. 605). My experiences of primary, secondary and university life illustrate the differing forms of micropublics within society.

I would definitely consider my primary school being more expressive of multiculturalism than highschool. Days such as Multicultural day were celebrated whereas in highschool, days such as Anzac day were much more prominently emphasised. University life also distinguishes itself with its much largely diverse-culture which is more accepted by others. I become more aware and understanding of others’ morals, ethics and views and the distinct black and white viewpoints become grey. Ho explains that in order to belong to a group, in this case within schools, the concept of interdependence and habitual engagement is required (Ho, 2011, p 605). The manner in which one should express their cultural views in order to belong within society depends on the region and the community within those regions. For instance, when at university, there is a sense of regret for not holding onto my Korean cultural attitudes whilst being surrounded by those from Western regions of Sydney which are more largely dominant of Asian communities and own cultural behaviours were more accepted, whereas, when in the northern beaches, there is a thin line which indicates what cultural aspects I can express. A sense of being stuck in between contrasting lifestyles further questions my sense of self-recognition.

For example, within the household it was a Korean-dominant lifestyle. However, being brought up within a white-dominant society, I begin to bring aspects of this culture into the household which is only noticed until the changes have already been implemented. This include speaking from only Korean to speaking English amongst siblings and Korean to parents when needed. There are also clashing cultural viewpoints with parents who don’t understand my perspective, which is highly influenced by the white community, on certain issues and vice versa. However, I agree with Ho’s proposition in that we should simply accept these cultural differences rather than agreeing to all cultural perspectives (Ho, 2011, 613). If one respects others’ attitudes and cultural norms, there is no sense of rejection or isolation amongst individuals and all are free to express their cultural behaviours. I believe it would’ve significantly affected my sense of identity and culture if this were the case when growing up.

 

Reference List:

Ho, C. (2011). Respecting the presence of others: School micropublics and everyday multiculturalism. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 32(6), 603-619.