Sociocultural Interview Report

Culture is defined as the traditions, customs, norms, beliefs, values and thought patterning passed down from generation to generation (Jandt 2010). The world consists of many different cultures. In this Ethnographic Interview, I was given the opportunity to explore and learn more about a culture different from my own. Through observation I’ve have seen how people of different cultures differ from mines. For example, the type of foods a person

Leisure at the turn of the twentieth century was a new found type of freedom and entertainment, not only for the children, but for the entire family. It was a way for numerous families to spend quality time together but in a more modern and convenient way. Entertainment before the twentieth century consisted of household entertainment, such as board games, and “backyard games” like tennis, and football amongst others. When compared to leisure in the twentieth century, many of these activities were seen as “outdated”, as more and more people started to adopt the new ways of entertainment. Some examples were the openings of catalogs, sports, cinemas, amusement parks.

Amidst the chaos and disparity of the great depression, there was one man who brought hope and happiness to British Columbia in the form of recreation. Jan Eisenhardt, also known as Ian Eisenhardt, has been touted as “a national hero and treasure” (as cited in Markham-Starr & Delamere, 2005, para. 2) for his contributions to recreation in Canada and abroad. He was born in 1906 in Denmark and relocated to Vancouver, Canada in 1928. Eisenhardt began his career in recreation as a playground attendant in and was later promoted to Supervisor of Playgrounds for Vancouver (Dunae, 1992) He was known to be an avid advocate of physical activity and wellness as a means for personal and social freedom and wellbeing (Macdonald, 2013). During The Great Depression of the 1930’s, Eisenhardt, with the help of BC Minister of Education George Weir, spearheaded a revolutionary recreational movement dubbed The Provincial Recreation Program or ‘the Pro-Rec movement’. At time when Vancouver was plagued with unemployment, homelessness, and despair, the pro-rec movement was intended to bring relief and purpose to unemployed men (Schrodt, 1983).

Gary’s activities have changed during his 60’s to walking, board/card games, gardening, bird/nature viewing and travel. Gary’s white male S.E.S. throughout life allowed him to save and be able to have the money to spend during retirement for recreation and leisure. “Recreation and leisure assume a high priority in the lives of most older adults, particularly for those in their late 60’s and beyond who have retired from full time jobs… older adults are far more active, vigorous, economically secure and happier than had been assumed in the past. ”(p.117) When I asked Gary why recreation and leisure in important to him Gary said “Good health is the most important thing.

When we observe the demographics of today¡¦s society, we notice that there is quite a change in the average age, as well as life expectancy. In 1993, the average life expectancy rose to an amazing 75.5 years, with women living an average of 79 years and men living an average of 72 years (Hawkins, 1996, p. 4). With this gradual rise in age, the idea of therapeutic recreation for the aging population has taken on a significant role. Therapeutic recreation uses recreation and leisure activities to meet the needs of people in order to improve their quality of life. These needs include social, physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. The experience of engaging in recreation is perceived to have therapeutic benefits. Engaging in

According to Quindlen, “there is a culture of adult distrust” that sees leisure time as unproductive for children (83). However, children at this stage of life need flexibility from their parents. Children should be raised in an environment that encourages good habits, but at the same time, time for leisure. Quindlen says, “I don’t believe you can write poetry, or compose music, or become an actor without downtime, and plenty of it” (82). Besides, People need leisure time to discover bright ideas.

Culture is defined as the boundary between different people from different ends of the earth. For my project I had to interview another person from a different culture. This was difficult for me because I had no idea where to start because I didn’t know what made my culture specific to me. I found my interview subject relatively fast and I sat down and asked the questions. I found my subject from my boss I interviewed my bosses boyfriends sister and we went at it.

Furthermore, during the winter months, basketball was the only sport I had access too because there were indoor courts available. These environmental factors inclined me to choose basketball as my main recreation in terms of competitive sport and now it is one of my favorite sports. It was hard for me to engage in my previous recreational activities because nobody enjoyed playing soccer or cricket. This constrained my choices in terms of what kind of recreational activities I wanted to do. Another factor that separated me from playing sports such as soccer and cricket were economic factors. During the winter season, the only way I could play these sports was if I joined the indoor leagues but these leagues were quite expensive. Coming from a middle class family, these extra expenses were hard to manage and sustain. Soon it became too much and so I had to quit and find other recreational activities to do in my leisure. Due to these various sociocultural factors, my involvement in certain sports was severely hampered while other sports such as basketball were immensely facilitated.

The article Principles and Practices of Sociocultural Assessment: Foundations for Effective Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms, is written to inform the readers about different types of practices that teachers can take into action when working with ESL students. In this article, it mentions how different principals help to accommodate the ESL students. One of the principals that was mentioned was is that learning is social. In the article, it was mentioned that learning is social because it helps students to understand and use interaction with others to share meaning in a social setting (Smith, Teemant, & Pinnegar, 2004, P. 39). In the article, another principal that helps ESL students is that teaching is assisting. The meaning

The assignment was about interviewing somebody, whose culture and background differ from mine. After conducting such interview, I decided to convert that interview to a narrative and well-written form, which will certainly shed light on miscellaneous aspects of Mr. K’s culture. Knowing more about someone’s culture will enhance my awareness about the diversity that exists on this planet. Therefore, I decided to conduct the interview with my friend, Mr. K, whom I know since I came to this University. I was hoping that I will be surprised by knowing a lot of things that I thought I knew them well.

My cultural informant was a friend who I have known for about six and a half years, Lisa. Lisa’s sister, Liya, and I became close friends during my freshman year of college. Liya, two other girls, and I became roommates from sophomore year through senior year. Lisa is a year younger than me, so I met her during my sophomore year. Liya and Lisa were international students from Ethiopia, so they often spent holidays and breaks with my family and I. The three of us became close during our college years, and I had the opportunity to visit them in Ethiopia in the summer of 2015. Liya is currently living in Ethiopia; therefore, I am not able to speak with her as frequently as Lisa; however, modern technology does

fter the interview I conclude that there are many things about beliefs and cultures I don’t know

Recreation is essential to every teenager, or young child. It doesn’t matter if a person is in small town or big city; there is some type of fun to have somewhere. In the Mississippi Delta my friends and I used to ride our dirt bikes every day. Being able to ride my dirt bike all over the country was luxury for me. Unfortunately, in the city riding dirt bikes isn’t common; due to heavy flow of traffic. While living in the city I still found myself outside most of the time. My friends and I would walk to the local basketball courts every day. As we grew up we used the local bus transportation to travel through different parts of St. Louis. In the Mississippi Delta people don’t have public

When discussing leisure and society, class can further be explored. Class can be determined by your “… occupation, income and education” (Reissman, 1954, p. 79).

For young people with a disability leisure activities take on added meaning. Participating in the Melbourne Cup stay offered a chance to share in community life, develop a meaningful social role, and acquire new skills to push the boundaries of their personal limitations (Patterson & Pegg, 2009, p. 387). Socialising with peers helped the group share common interests with non-disabled youth and break down negative attitudes and social stigma towards disability (Patterson & Pegg, 2009, p. 392). This in turn nurtured a sense of normalcy and contributed to social acceptance and belonging (Lundberg, Taniguchi, McCormick, & Tibbs, 2011, pp. 207, 212, 213).