My Cultural Exploration Module

Week 2: Exploring My Own Culture Module

What is culture? What does Culture mean? What is MY culture?

In this module, we will tackle those questions and MORE! This section will be split into 3 steps to gradually grow on what we've learned on each step.

Ready for more? See the bottom of this page for more fun activities to do with the whole family!

Step 1: What is culture? What does Culture mean?

Culture. It runs deep and can be a hard concept to understand. In this step, we're going to do an activity to learn more about what exactly is culture and what does it mean? This activity will help us define what exactly culture is!

So...what is culture?

We define culture as being: More than traits, values, customs, artifacts, and institutions. It is also a way of being, thinking, organizing knowledge, reasoning, problem-solving, valuing the past, present, and future, and relating to others.

Culture, like identity, is not simply what we see on the outside (food, dress, music); rather these things are sometimes an indication of what we cannot see (values, beliefs, perspectives, attitudes). This activity will ask you to analyze the culture of their group, school, or country. At some point, you may think to yourself "there are many different cultures in my group, school, community, and country!" Try pointing out the differences between each group. There are no right or wrong answers in this activity, so don't hold back your ideas. This is meant to help you dive in and see the difficulty in defining culture.

The purpose of this activity to begin to define what culture means to YOU.

All right, ready to dive in?! Great, let's get started!!

You will need to following materials to complete this activity:

Magazines - to cut photos or quotes.
Paper
Glue
Tape
Scissors
Markers
Crayons
Construction Paper
Large banner-sized paper or poster board or large board to construct on

Steps

You will pretend to have met a "Space Alien" in school and you are asked to teach them about the culture of either your specific group, school, or the entire country. Whatever you feel is most familiar to you! Brainstorm some ideas of what may be most important for the space alien to know to get around. (Want to make it more fun? Give this space alien a name!) Imagine the alien is staying in your house and will be following you around each day to get to know things better. For the sake of simplicity, assume that the alien looks human. Need help with brainstorming? See below for some questions to help prompt you!
- What is likable about people from this group, school, or country?
- What is unlikeable?
- What does an appropriate appearance look and smell like?
- What behaviors are considered rude (on the street, in a restaurant, at a store, at school)?
- What behaviors are considered polite?
- What are some things you should or should not do to make friends?
- What thoughts should you keep to yourself?
From the list you make, choose some topics to begin teaching to the alien. Some examples could be rules for outward appearance/hygiene, dining etiquette, how to make friends at school, how to browse at the mall, or how to try out for a team sport, etc.
Next, create a collage or other poster that will help the alien understand the topics you chose. Feel free to save yours so that you can share your creations with others on our Cultural Exploration Zoom call!
After elaborating on your topics and ideas from previous steps, try to create your own definition of culture. Feel free to use your ideas from this activity or any background information you have. Optional: create a banner with your definition to share on our Zoom call!
Reflect on this activity.
- Do you identify the country you live in as an aspect of your own cultural identity? Why or why not?
- What was hard about describing the culture of the group, school, or country?
- What new knowledge did you gain?

Step 2: What is MY culture? Exploring the Different parts of MY culture.

So now that we understand what culture...how do we understand what OUR own culture is? Each of us has things that make our culture unique to us - our beliefs, traits, values, and identities mostly influenced by how we grew up or the experiences we have had. This is what makes up our Individual cultural Identity.

Going deeper...what does my cultural identity mean to me?

The purpose of our next activity is to write a poetic self-portrait about their individual cultural identity.

Individual cultural identity answers the question, what does my cultural identity mean to me?

All right, ready?! Great, let's get started!!

All you need for this activity is a writing utensil and paper to brainstorm and write on!

Steps

Ask yourself "What does it mean to be you in your country or nation?" Brainstorm ideas by writing a list of things about being in this country that you love or that are important to you. this could be people, places, activities, food, sports, colors, scents, words, sounds, music, symbols, specific memories, traditions, or other things. They make another list of things about being in this country that you do not like or that means nothing to you. Circle the items from booths lists that are the most important - items which, if taken away, would take away a part of you!
Next, look at your lists for generic items - like "basketball" or music." It's best to be as specific as you can when making poetry. Next to each generic item, try to write down what it is you specifically like about this time. For example, next to "basketball," you could write "jump shot." Or next to "music," you could write "hip hop," or "country."
Next, select your favorites from both lists and write them down next to the words, "I am about," "I am," "I believe," "I hope," "this is me," or similar phrases. You can also choose a similar structure to the below example, using one of the following phrases:
- If I did not live here, would I be able to...
- If I lived someplace else, maybe I would be able to...
- this is who I am in my country or nation:
Put together your poem! Below are some examples to help you construct it! Feel free to share your poem on our cultural exploration Zoom!

Examples:

If I did not live here, would I be able to...

Walk down the street alone?

Eat ice cream?

Feel good about myself?

Get dirty if I feel like it?

Trust strangers?

Openly question my faith?

Have giggle attacks late at night?

Wear my hair on top of my head?

Watch "American Idol" and "Dexter's Lab"?

Send a package in the mail, knowing it would get there?

Eat chocolate chip cookies under a fuzzy, warm blanket?

If I lived someplace else, maybe I would be able to...

See my parents more often because they would not have to work so hard

Get all A's without being made fun of by friends

Visit a friend's house without knocking

Talk to a stranger just to pass the time

Eat fresh mangos and pineapples

Sing out loud on the bus

Go to the market

Take more naps

This is who I am in my country or nation:

My room is covered from floor to ceiling with glow-in-the-dark stars and planets.

I have wind chimes in my window.

I daydream every now and then.

I would almost always rather be outside.

I doodle.

I strive to be nothing but me.

I love who I am, but more, who I will be.

I am strong.

I am flexible.

I am weak.

I like to do dishes.

I am humble.

I am stubborn.

I do not hide from the truth.

I do not always tell the truth, but I am honest.

Sometimes I take naps,

But I am always

Awake.

I try to succeed

This is who I am.

Step 3: How do I display MY culture?

Our last step to fully explore and understand our own culture is to learn how to display it and share it with others!

Again, feel free to share your creation with others on our Cultural Exploration Zoom!

Below you will find a 4-H Clover. Please print off the Clover and take the time to complete YOUR personal Clover Crest. If you are not able to print it off…no big deal, please just draw a clover or four quadrants and give it a go!

The idea is that you share at least four things that you are passionate about in each of the cloverleaves (values, beliefs, hobbies, interests, etc.) Let your style and creativity shine through!

Additional Activities to Further Explore Culture

Exploring your Values Activity: To understand what values are and begin to understand how culture influences their evolution. Personal values are things, ideas or ways of being that are important to us. They help define who we are and what we stand for. Each person continually develops a set of personal values based on many aspects of life, such as family, friends, education, and parts of our personality. Cultural values are sets of ideas or ways of being that most members of a particular culture share. For example, many people in the United States value democracy, many teenagers value friendships and independence, and many college students value education. understanding our own values is a natural first step to gaining an understanding of other cultures.

Materials:

Markers
Large Paper
Tape
Value Cards (Values listed below, write them out on individual cards or pieces of paper, if possible!)
- Family
- Friends
- Popularity
- Honesty
- Open-Mindedness
- Humility
- Being recognized for my accomplishments
- Physical Strength
- Emotional Strength
- Financial Stability
- Fortune
- Relationship Stability
- Standing Up for what I think is right
- Having what I want
- My parents or other family members are taken care of
- Education
- Time to pursue my hobbies and interests
- Cleanliness
- Time for Relaxation
- Peace

Steps

Using your background information, think about what values (from the list or not) are common among young teens.
- Here is a list of values that are commonly associated with young teens to compare with yours when you are done:
  - Technology (using computers, video games, internet, and cell phones)
  - Friendships (hanging out with friends and wanting peer approval)
  - Leisure (having free time to do what they want)
  - Challenge (waiting to try things that are difficult)
  - Exploration (discovering new ideas, interests, or hobbies, and finding a niche)
  - Uniqueness (finding things about themselves that are special)
What do you think of this list? Is it accurate? What are the opposite values of these?
Below is a list of values that people from other cultures have noticed in many people who have grown up in the United States.
- Informality (being casual and down-to-earth)
- Self-reliance (not looking to others to solve problems)
- Efficiency (getting things done quickly and on time)
- Social equality (treating everyone with fairness)
- Assertiveness (asking for what you want)
- Optimism (believing that good things will happen)
Do you think this is an accurate list? What are the opposites of each value on this list?
Now, using the value cards from above and creating your own values that you think are important to you, if you would like! Then, arrange the cards in order of what's most important to you.

Many of these activities have been adapted from their original format to best accommodate our online course. These activities were originally adapted from WeConnect: A Global Youth Citizenship Curriculum from the University of Minnesota Extension.

Skuza, J.A. & Russo, J.P. (2018). WeConnect: A global youth citizenship curriculum (2nd ed.) St. Paul, MN: University of Minnesota.

Skuza, Jennifer A, and Jessica Pierson Russo. WeConnect: A Global Youth Citizenship Curriculum - Second Edition. University of Minnesota, 2018.