What is culture? Why is it significant?

This is a photo of the street. The traffic lines that zig-zagged mean that a car cannot pass, similar to the American double yellow line. The street signs are also different in how they give direction.

Recycling seems to be much more prominent here in England. Sometimes it is difficult to find a garbage can for awhile because they aren't everywhere like they are on every street corner in the U.S.


We had a class discussion for the last two days on this topic. The ideas are very interesting on how they can correlate and differ. In my own definition, I believe that culture can be found everywhere. In fashion, education, technology, entertainment, food, language, and the list goes on. Culture also varies upon the perspective of the person. In many cases, there are aspects of your own culture that you do not even notice until you experience that same action/concept somewhere else and it is different. For example, in the U.S. we drive on the right side of the road. It has become instinctive for me to look left first before crossing a road, but this can be dangerous in the U.K. where traffic is coming from the opposite direction, so you become very aware of this cultural aspect. Another example, is that in the U.K. most people eat their french fries, which are called "chips" with a fork. In the U.S. we eat french fries with our fingers. I wonder if this would seem barbaric and impolite to do in the U.K. There is also this notion of the relationship between policy and culture. For example, in the States waiters are extremely dependent on their tips. It is considered rude if a customer tips less that 15-20% at a restaurant. If you go to an American bar, you probably won't get served drinks unless you are tipping the bartender. This is because waiters, etc. in the United States get paid low hourly rates and depend highly on the tips. In England, we were not expected to tip the bartender or waiter. It is assumed that they make a higher hourly wage in the U.K. which is why they are not dependent on those tips.

It is important to consider culture for my own personal growth and expansion, but also it can help us as teachers in more ways than one. It can define how a person learns, and can help you to define yourself. In other words, culture SHAPES knowledge and influences how and what you learn. This means it will also shape what you teach. It is very interesting to me how much I have noticed about American culture just in comparison to British culture. Some may find this shocking because they view England as a more "Americanized" country but there are great and vast differences, that are worth exploring and learning.