An individual’s culture refers to the context in which they learn, grow, thrive, and develop. Therefore, cultural values play a critical role in shaping individuals’ mindsets, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. In other words, culture reconciles peoples’ physical and social worlds and unifies their thoughts with their actions. On that account, culture and individuals’ experiences have significant implications on their learning abilities because it influences their belief systems, their practices, and attitudes towards achieving particular goals. Hence, the following essay discusses the influence of culture on learning in terms of parental practices, institutional constructs, and peer influence.
Students engage in active lifestyles at home and school, allowing them to perceive various concepts as they develop. However, parental beliefs often push students towards a particular path, allowing them to follow its course, since parents play a major role in guiding their children and establishing a particular mindset to encourage adherence (Mitchall & Jaeger, 2018). For example, parents who grew up in traditional settings and diverse communities believe that education is the ultimate solution to a happy and fruitful life as it reveals numerous opportunities (Akosah-Twumasi, 2021). As a result, these parents may adopt parenting approaches that are strict and geared towards academic excellence. Consequently, a child will grow up with the idea that education is the key to life’s problems, thus encouraging them to put more effort into achieving education milestones.
Similarly, institutional constructs and teacher perceptions play a critical role in designing institutional culture, thus influencing how children participate in their education. For example, some schools adopt individualist approaches to learning, where the teacher addresses each student’s issues and offers solution. On the other hand, some educational institutions apply a collectivist approach to learning, allowing students to brainstorm, discuss theoretical concepts, and integrate knowledge in their learning development to realize improvements (Dos Santos, 2018). Nonetheless, teachers still have an upper hand in educational outcomes because their practices and perceptions directly influence learners and their learning ability. For instance, a teacher who is culturally intelligent and acknowledges that students come from diverse cultural backgrounds can position themselves to address issues effectively (Coombs et al., 2018). Hence, education professionals should familiarize themselves with the tenets of cultural psychology to aid decision-making and appropriate practice.
Additionally, students’ behaviors and actions are largely influenced by their peers. Thus, it is vital to ensure that students, especially in the adolescent stage are not exposed to destructive habits that can come in the way of their education. For example, students these days perceive schools as entertainment hubs because they never like engaging in boring activities (Wang et al., 2018). Sadly, students associate learning instruction and curricula with entertainment activities, encouraging them to rate the effectiveness of their teachers based on their ability to keep them interested in coming to class. As a result, peer influence has gained momentum and overshadowed several other issues as they cloud the principal role of education and encourage students to neglect educational obligations.
Globalization has contributed to several social complexities as individuals can communicate efficiently, move, and settle in any part of the globe. As a result, modern teachers interact with students from diverse cultural spheres and all walks of life. However, the success of education initiatives largely depends on acknowledging that all students have different experiences and come from different backgrounds. For example, a student’s parental practices and beliefs can influence their thoughts and life goals. Moreover, a teacher’s perceptions and approaches to learning can also yield positive or negative results according to their practicability. Finally, students’ social circle and environment influence the way they think, thus their learning abilities. From that viewpoint, it is easier to discern issues and deal with them accordingly.
References
Akosah-Twumasi, P. (2021). The influence of African migrant parents on their children’s career choices in a new culture (Doctoral dissertation, James Cook University).
Coombs, A., DeLuca, C., LaPointe-McEwan, D., & Chalas, A. (2018). Changing approaches to classroom assessment: An empirical study across teacher career stages. Teaching and Teacher Education, 71, 134-144.
Dos Santos, L. M. (2018). The cultural cognitive development of personal beliefs and classroom behaviours of adult language instructors: A qualitative inquiry. Brain Sciences, 8(12), 220.
Mitchall, A. M., & Jaeger, A. J. (2018). Parental influences on low-income, first-generation students’ motivation on the path to college. The Journal of Higher Education, 89(4), 582-609.
Wang, M. T., Kiuru, N., Degol, J. L., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2018). Friends, academic achievement, and school engagement during adolescence: A social network approach to peer influence and selection effects. Learning and Instruction, 58, 148-160.