My Point of View and Opinion of The Cultural Concept

What is culture? Culture is a big concept, and it is not just an identification of a country, it is something that represents at all of us. There are many meanings about culture. Some people thing that is just “have education” or “be part of high class”, also others thing that culture is related with “dances, traditions, food, etc.” of a specific country, and exist much more interpretations about it. Sonia Nieto, a teacher of language, literacy and culture is one who says that culture is more than this. In the text “Culture and Learning” she defined culture with many concepts, but in this essay I would like to deal with just some topics. So, it is the theme of this essay, and I’m going to give points of view and opinions related with this concept.

As mentioned in the introduction, culture is different in each country and in each people. When you live in a specific country, you share the same culture with all the people that live there too, sharing traditions, religion, language, geographic location, etc. In other hand, you are different with of each of them because “People create their identities in different ways” or maybe you share common things with them. It refers that every person who lives in a specific place or country has similarities, but differences too. It will depend of preferences or tastes that characterize of each one.

Another important thing is, when some people hear the word culture, they think that it is a old concept and is something that happened in the past and not now. We tend to think, culture is what our ancestors built since a few years back, and in this way can be who we are today. We think as if we don’t continue build the culture, but it still continues exists and changing. However, there are some customs, traditions, were retained for over the years, also there are other things that changed. What sense would culture have if it didn’t change? We will have the same values, worldview, political relationships, yet. For example, things like a homosexual married, homoparental families, feminism, etc. are products of changes in our society because we are agents of change and also because culture is not static (Nieto, 2009).

The last point that I would like highlight and that Sonia Nieto mentioned in the text is “Culture is influenced for dominant social class”. The majority of tastes, values, languages, etc. are determined for them, because they have higher social prestige. It means that they have “the greatest power” over the minority group of people. In fact, if you ask at yourself; who determines what is normal or abnormal in our society? The answer is higher class, it is like all of us follow their orders. I think that it is a very important topic because it has been present all over history.

While I read the text “Culture and Learning” and I do this essay, I realized how much we are uninformed about this topic. Also, how present is the culture in us, and the manner in that culture is progressing over the years. Particularly, the concept that I had about “Culture” has changed. I would like that all people learn more about this relevant topic that is present in lives of each of us.