In order to have a balance between group development of human knowledge and the interaction with the individual, one must be able to distinguish the difference between personal knowledge and shared knowledge. The interaction between these invites me to reflect on the meaning of a specific shared knowledge claim in relation to the individual. In assessing how ways of knowing operate differently in shared and personal knowledge, the knowledge question arises: In considering an individual’s cultural capital, to what extent does shared knowledge affect one’s personal knowledge? Through different ways of knowing, I can demonstrate that shared knowledge operates differently to personal knowledge, although there may be overlaps. Personal knowledge is specific and subjective to the individual, and is acquired through individualised perspectives and experiences. Shared knowledge, on the other, hand is dictated by a group and is widely accepted amongst its members. It is acknowledging that membership of a particular group is likely to provide a certain perspective on the world, which could in turn be very different from other groups. Studying biology, for example, within the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme demonstrates how shared knowledge operates – biology is a discipline that, over the centuries, a significant number of people have contributed knowledge to. Collaboration is at the heart of this shared knowledge since the standards of biology are set by scientists who
Instead, as stated by Native American philosophy, knowledge is founded upon one's experiences with the world and the places around them
In Communications Between Cultures individualism and collectivism are described by researchers as “self-orientation versus collective orientation as one of the basic pattern variables that determine human action.” These differences can be found in family life, school, and workplace
Vygotsky proposed that children’s development is affected by their culture and social interaction. He also suggested that children are not born with knowledge but they gain it through their social interactions with peers and adults; he does not rule out the importance of biological processes but proposes an interdependent relationship between biological development alongside social activity and cultural interaction.
No individual can arrive at the threshold of his potentialities without a culture in which he participates. Conversely, no civilization has in it any element that the last analysis is not the contribution of an individual. Where else could any trait come from except from the behaviour of a man or a woman or a child? (253)
A second strength of the sociocultural perspective is the emphasis on the role of adults in childhood cognitive development through guided participation. Vygotsky introduced the idea that children learn in a zone of proximal development. Meaning the distance between what an individual can do alone and what they can do with guidance and assistance from a capable member of society (Mcleod, 2010). Any skills outside the zone would be already mastered or still too difficult to attempt alone. “To Vygotsky, learning in collaboration with more knowledgeable companions drives cognitive development (Sigelman).” This is true throughout the world. Children in many cultures learn from a teacher, from family members, and many others. In other cultures, children learn skills from relatives, members of their village or tribe, or from other skilled members in their group. This perspective satisfies the need to recognize the role of adults in
The foundation of human development, responds to the breakdown of its commitment to the development of attitudes and skills, which facilitate authentic personal, spiritual, and social development and the transformation throughout an individual’s life span. During an individual’s life span, the foundations of human development begin to change, as the direct result of the social environment. Contact within the social environment, such as various relationships with others, causes growth and change in human development. The understanding of culture and the importance of cultural competency are
Therefore, the need to be culturally competent is paramount to fostering understanding. Cultural competency is about understanding another’s artifacts, beliefs, values and basic assumptions (Schein, 2010). Schein describes artifacts as the observable elements of a culture, such as ceremonies, non verbal cues, and language. He further describes, belief structures serve as guide posts and are useful in understanding a reason for a behavior. Finally, he states, assumptions are based on previous experience of what was and was not successful in the past for the individual or group. Recognizing and identifying these elements improves an outsider’s cultural
Bourdieu defines cultural capital as "the general background, knowledge, disposition, and skill that are passed from one generation to the next" (13), and he affirms that children from different classes inherit different cultural capital. Bourdieu suggests that the cultural capital that upper class children
According to the sociocultural theory, knowledge does not exist inside the head of a human being. Meanings are negotiated where individuals, culture and activity intersect. The theory tries to explain how social mediation plays a role in the construction, reconstruction and transformation of culturally and historically situated
Triandis ( 1972 in Pedersen 1994) focused on the culture ‘in our heads’ , which is composed of the shared experiences and knowledge of a self-perpetuating and continuous human group, which is part and parcel of the personal reality. Triandis, Bontemplo, Leung & Hui (1990 cited in Pedersen 1994) distinguished between demographic, cultural and personal constructs. Cultural constructs they identified as being shared by group of people, who live in the same geographical location at the same time, speak the same dialect and shared the same norms, roles, values and ways to describe experience. Demographic constructs deal with the same topics, but when shared by a particular demographic group within a culture, such as men and women, young and old. Personal constructs belong to another category of individual differences and cannot be meaningfully interpreted with references to the cultural and demographic membership. Each of the three constructs are closely related with the others, but they should be examined independently. Counselling in this case should take into account cultural and demographic differences, but work on a personal level. Contrary to this view stands Hofstede( 1986, 1992 cited in Pedersen 1996) who described three factors or dimensions that constitute and influence culture. The first concept is individualism-collectivism- a person experiences himself as a self-contained unique entity, striving to attain his or her own goals and to realize his or her
Several factors affect the formation of one’s culture, Palispis, E. (2007) quoted Sir Edward Tylor, “Culture… refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.” (Palispis, E., 2007) In this context culture is something we acquire from the people we have lived with since we were born, it is not something a person can learn overnight nor can be disposed effortlessly.
Purnell’s Model for Cultural Competencies is represented by a circle. The perimeter of the circle is made up of three different layers, each representing something different. The outer layer represents the global society; the middle layer represents the individual’s family and the inner layer of the perimeter represents the individual. The center of the circle is divided up into twelve different categories, which look like slices of a pie. Each of these categories represents part of one of the 12 different cultural domains. The very center of the circle, inside the pie slices is a small black circle, this represents all the unknown information about the individual (Dayer-Berenson, 2014).
This essay will also discuss the authors own culture, knowledge, experience and behaviour that were previously discussed in assessment 1. According to Quappe and Cantatore (2005), in order for one to be culturally self-aware, the ability to understand one’s own belief, perceptions and cultural values are necessary for understanding and the development of other’s cultural dynamics. Moreover, according to Brislin, Worthley and Macnab
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development suggested that to develop cognitively, children must have social interaction. He also “believed that this lifelong process of development was dependent of social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development” (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky believed that children 's social learning must come before social development. Vygotsky also believed that "human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings" (Woolfolk, 2004). Therefore, our culture helps shape our cognition.
However, Community of Practice Theory explains the development of knowledge and membership through a social practice. On the same ground, the theory is based on four premises. First, humans are social beings. Second, knowledge is situated competence in valued undertakings or their importance to the assigned task. Third, knowing involves active engagement or their participation and last, learning ultimately produces meanings or their interpretation in every term (Lave and Wenger, 1998).