![]() ![]() Culture it is an important consideration that we can accept differences and embrace diversity. Culture is an important consideration that we can celebrate differences and embrace diversity. This blog is to explain the cultural significance of understanding human cultural beliefs that are deeply rooted in many parts of the world. ![]() Some call it Sinhala New Year and others call it Tamil New Year. ![]() The Sri Lankan New Year begins with prosperity, wealth, and good fortune. In Sinhalese, New Year is pronounced: “Aluth Avurudu” අලුත් අවුරුද්ද and in Tamil, pronounced: “ Puthandu ” புதிய ஆண்டு. It’s that perfect opportunity to teach about accepting differences in a global society. Now, let’s explore the Cultural Iceberg Theory.Īpril is the month of Sri Lankan New Year. I love staying connected with my professional network. Today, Twitter connects me to inspirational ideas and makes the education world a bit smaller each day. How can we acknowledge what we know and do not know about other cultures?.How is culture embedded into the curriculum we teach?.“Equity and Inclusion Just Got Better” Blog Reflection Questions: Take a global perspective when teaching about cultures.What does culture mean to you and how can you address it in the classroom?.What are the visible and less visible bits of your culture? Here you will also find a summary of the iceberg model of culture. Please have a look at two other EU Commission funded projects: Please also visit the link below for examples of conscious and unconscious elements of culture. To gain an understanding of the “iceberg model” of culture (Edward T. In a cultural background where parents value the concept of pocket money for their children it is less likely that parents will advise their children about any arranged marriages and one could also presume that the structure of this society is focused more on individualism rather than collectivism (please see “cultural dimensions” for further details on these terms). This behaviour can be linked to the cultural value of “independence” when raising children. This would be situated above the waterline in the iceberg model. For example, one can observe that parents give their children pocket money. The most important part of culture is internal and hidden (Hall, 1976). The iceberg model also demonstrates the “hidden nature” of our values. And other explanations are possible for this behaviour too for example, the specific person might not like to eat meat because they are vegetarian. Some religious beliefs, for example, that some animals are unclean (below the waterline) lead to observables like the avoidance of certain food we can observe this behaviour, but without other cultural clues we may not be aware that this is linked to a person’s belief. Someone may be wearing a religious symbol, which is observable if we are familiar with this conscious religious symbol. For example, in the case of religion, rituals and symbols may be conscious while beliefs may be unconscious. Please note: The “iceberg model” is not perfect some cultural elements can be evident both above and below the waterline. When discussing behaviour, beliefs, values and norms and thought patterns, one needs to consider the iceberg/onion model. Also, like an iceberg, the conscious elements only represent a small part of culture and it is only from delving deeper and understanding the elements below the surface that a richer understanding of culture can be formed. Just as an iceberg has a visible (cultural aspects we are conscious about) section above the waterline and a larger, unseen (cultural aspects we are unconscious about) section below the waterline, so too can culture be described as having some aspects that are conscious (observable elements of culture which we are conscious about) and others that can only be suspected, imagined, or intuited (elements of culture that we are less conscious about). ![]()
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