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Cultures Here, Cultures There, Cultures Everywhere



From our Internet Cultures project I learned a lot about many cultures that I did not know.  Focusing on the educational aspects, I had no idea that Russia places such high, competitive emphasis on education.  I did not know that achieving an education in Laos is very difficult due to accessibility and poor economic conditions.  I did not know (though am not completely surprised) that Pakistan culture places far more importance on males achieving an education than females.  Heck, until this project I had the misguided notion that the Filipino language is based on Spanish rather than Tagalog.     
My take-away from this project is that we must always be mindful that our culture is not the only culture.  Our own little world is just a piece of a vast network of widely varied and complex ways of living.  Educators must especially be vigilant at recognizing and embracing others of different cultures.  Students and their families must feel valued in order to actively collaborate with teachers.  Every good teacher knows that parent participation plays a huge role in a student’s success.  I guess what I learned most from this project is that when I am a teacher, I must truly strive to “know” my students.  I will seek to educate myself when I have students who hail from cultures that are unfamiliar to me.  I will work to understand and respect their customs.  I’m excited at the prospect of learning different ways of life from my students and their families! 

Internet Cultures Project

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