Megan Conley

September 17, 2012

EDUC 215

Culture Influences on My Teaching

The world has countless different cultures that spread across its land. Even within the
area of a school district, teachers and classrooms are exposed to a variety of these cultures. As a
teacher, I must understand what culture is, how I am influenced by my own culture, and how to
be non-biased towards the cultures in my classroom.
Todays school systems have many students from many different cultures. In the book
Diversity Matters, author Lynn Kell Spradlin defines culture as values, beliefs, notions about
acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and other socially constructed ideas that members of the
culture are taught as true (Spradlin). These ideas and behaviors are generally common among
those living in the same area. People that live near one another tend to have similar possessions,
beliefs, and ideas. Therefore they live similar lifestyles. This is true to the extent that areas on the
globe are known for particular lifestyles and individuals of that area can be better understood by
knowing the culture in which they live under.
To fully understand culture and to be able to teach and embrace culture, I must determine
what my own culture is. I come from a middle-class, nuclear, Christian family in rural Virginia. I
value my Christian beliefs, get food off of the land, and have conservative view points. This
generally reflects my community as well. Rockingham County is known to be rural with many
farmers, gardeners, and hunters. My family has a large garden in which we grow our own green
beans, corn, squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers. We eat off the produce all summer and can as

much as possible to provide wonderful meals in the winter and spring months. Also, my dad,
brother, and I enjoy to hunt and fish. We go in the forest near our house and also travel to
neighboring counties in search of deer and trout. We also store this meat to eat year round. These
activities have taught me to live off the land. This is an acceptable behavior to my community
and to my culture. Working to grow produce and to hunt an animal is not looked down upon or
discouraged. Another acceptable belief I share with many individuals around me is my faith. I
grew up in and regularly attend a small Mennonite church near where I live. Many of my
neighbors and family members are Christian as well. Freedom of religion is a right given to the
United States by the Constitution and the right to freely practice is valued in my culture. Lastly,
the Shenandoah Valley, which Rockingham County lies in, is known to have conservative view
points on many political issues. I feel this has much to do with the areas value of Christianity.
Topics such as abortion, same-sex-marriage, and health care are not highly supported. This being
the case even though the Valley is a part of the United States which has shown more tolerance to
these issues. I feel many of my own lifestyles and ideas on acceptable behavior have been greatly
impacted by the culture I was raised in. I wish to use this understanding of my own culture to
understand how others are affected by their culture.
A teacher is responsible for providing his or her students with a non-biased atmosphere in
which they can best learn. To do this, a teacher must be accepting of classroom diversity and use
it as a positive learning experience. As an elementary teacher, I plan to do this by first finding out
what cultures are represented by my pupils. This information will be provided by using an
interactive worksheet. The worksheet will give questions and a space to draw a response.
Questions such as, favorite hobby, food, restaurant, and television show will be given. These
answers will allow me to see the types of lifestyles each student has and what they value.

Students will be asked to share the any answers they wish to. Then afterwards, as a class, we will
determine commonality and differences in the drawings. Next, I will lead discussion on why
there are common and different answers. This will lead up to the topic of different cultures.
Depending on the diversity, I will ask if any students would like to share the culture or lifestyle
they are a part of. After discussing and exploring the different lifestyles and ideas I would ask
students to prepare for a show and tell day. This will give each student an opportunity to identify
what their own culture is and be able to share it with the class. Students will be expected to ask
questions and be supportive of others. These questions and show-and-tell times will help me to
better understand how my students think and live. As their teacher, I will not have biased
opinions towards any one culture. I plan to do this by understanding where my students came
from, the culture that impacted them, and do activities to show that diversity is to be treasured
and no culture is better than another.
Culture can greatly affect the learning experience of many students. As a teacher, one
must use the diversity in his or her classroom to enhance the pupils knowledge of the world and
show how different and how similar the human race is.

Works Cited
Spradlin, Lynn Kell. Diversity Matters: Understanding Diversity in Schools. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth, 2012. Print.