All of the information in these lessons leads back to one thing; critical reflection. Being able to rationally think through and analyze the beliefs, systems, and realities that we are living in and under.
A good example is learning another language. Growing up a native English speaker, I rarely think hard about the English language or put much effort into using it. When thinking about grammar rules my motto is, “I don’t know, whatever sounds right.” With some exceptions, this usually works out because I’ve been raised in the language and been able to be educated on its complexities. Now it all comes 2nd nature. I didn’t think about the structure of sentences nor the meaning that structure conveys. I didn’t think about whether its a low or high context language. I didn’t think about how socioeconomic class impacts language use, thus impacting peoples educational trajectory. I didn’t think about how language, culture, society, and we as individuals all shape one another and grow together. Even silly things. Anyways, the point is the English language just simply was. But with a little research and personal experience learning another language, I discovered how important it is to think critically about one’s own language.
This is the oftentimes the same with culture, although a bit more complicated. We rarely give much critical thought to our culture as a whole because it simply is. Most people are born, raised, and live in the same country their whole lives. Similarly to only speaking one language, this can lead us to not think deeply and critically about the reality that we live in and what creates that reality. Without understanding a bit about the underlying values, beliefs, and systems that went into creating our culture, we may fall into the trap of believing that we have no general culture. Americans sometimes think their is no overarching American culture. This can lead to the dangerous idea that our way of life, beliefs, and behaviors are simply the “normal” and “correct” way of living, thus “othering” cultures. This process of “othering” has played out many times in history with colonizing powers using culture as a justification for their actions.
This exact phenomenon has generated stereotypes
Read more: Critical ReflectionI am currently trying to learn Bahasa Indonesian.