Cultural Identity and Education - Concepts of Development in Islam - Essay Example

Cultural plunge Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date Cultural plunge Introduction In the recent decades, diverse changes have occurred in every sphere of societal set-up. Robinson and Diaz (2006) noted that modern life in diverse regions of the world is confronted by the widespread impacts of globalization, technologies and communication. Amid all these transformations, the effects of these tenets on social identities for instance class, race, sexuality, social relations and genders among others have found extensive implications. Against this background, this reflective paper is a profound effort to explore my experience after a cultural plunge, which was characterized by interacting with people from a different culture as well as religious beliefs (Catholic Church). The details of these experiences, before, during and after the plunge are comprehensively analyzed in the subsequent section. Brief plunge description It is worth noting that I am a female and Muslim by religion, and has been raised in a household which highly regards and follows Muslim values, culture and religion. My plunge was volunteering in a Catholic church in my neighborhood which has a different religious context. This is an experience that was undertaken with this assessment in mind. This plunge was supposed to be interactive where I was to be actively involved in daily undertaking in the church rather than being a passive observer. In addition, I intended to record daily observations in my entire tenure at the church which will be instrumental in writing this report which will be central to my assessment. I interacted with the priest in the church where I we discussed what im currently doing, my religion in aspects like dressing code, identity development among children, the Christians perception of Muslims and vice-versa and the Christian opinions on contemporary issues among other issues. My primary undertaking in the church was selling books and other reading materials at the church which address diverse topics ranging from the role of religion in promoting global peace, compliment between Christian and Muslim faith in promoting morality in society among others. I also attended various church services where they were singing Christian hymns, praying the rosary along conducting other liturgy where I interacted with the worshippers. My culture plunge period also collided with the baptism period of the church which I also attended and had extensive interaction with the candidates who were mostly children as well as catechism. The rationale behind taking this plunge in relation to the identity category which I occupy previously mentioned was founded on the fact that Catholics, who are basically Christians have different religious beliefs, for instance, on redemption from sins through the blood of Jesus Christ and thus, encountering their religious beliefs was supposed to be a new, real experience for me apart from what I had previously studied in Christian literature. This setting of this plunge was also convenient for me since the church is a walking distance from my home. The second justification for this plunge is that Catholics have a different cultural orientation when compared with Muslims. This is in relation to gender roles, mode of dressing, educational institutions and property ownership among others. This is exemplified by Henry (2012) who noted that ownership of property among the Catholics is more often referred with the concept of stewardship and not ownership. In addition, the Catholic women are usually at liberty to choose their attire code, both during the mass and while in the public domain. Thirdly, the set of values between the Muslims and the Catholics has a wide divergence. These is exemplified by the fact that freedom from the Catholics’ perspective means that everyone has the freedom to be holy, free to be saved from everlasting divine punishment for their sins, and thus free to be children of God (Henry, 2012).This is different from the Muslim values of my upbringing can basically be divided into three; necessities (dharuriyyat), convenience (hajiat), and refinements (kamaliat) (Kroessin, 2008). Thus, based on the fact that I was the only one who recognized the latter values in the setting of my plunge made me the minority and prompted the choice of the setting for this cultural plunge. Lastly, I had a conviction that the Catholics hold a divergent opinion when compared with the Muslims on contemporary issues like terrorism, abortion, same sex marriage, effects of mass media on societal values, conflicts between states at the global level and their effects on international relations. In this regard, my plunge among the Catholics was an ideal platform for understanding how their religious beliefs and culture affects their opinions on these diverse issues which continue to shape the lives among different states in the modern world. Against this background, I projected this plunge to be an interesting platform for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the above tenets of religious beliefs, culture and values as embedded among the Catholics, and most predominantly, how the children in the from different backgrounds develop their individual identity and culture. This will be paramount in engaging in a profound reflection after the experience to assist me in writing this report which will not only help me but also future scholars in my field of study in different aspects like curriculum development. Feelings before, during and after the ‘plunge’ Before the plunge, I felt nervous and fearful while faced with the reality of being in the midst of people whose lifestyle is completely different from mine and the possibility of disapproval. This was more with the recent confrontation between the Muslims and Christians in my neighborhood as well as in the wider globe. In addition, I felt anxious based on the fact that I did not really know what to expect and what the context will be. I even felt like this was a wrong choice of a set-up to undertake my culture plunge. As I approached the front door on the church, I felt the eyes staring on me and in turn felt discomfort. I perceived the reception when I entered the church which was characterized by suspicious staring was perhaps because they felt like I was invading their space which I had no business in, and also the misguided relationship between Islam and terrorism previously mentioned. It seemed like all the booming Christian hymns stopped upon my entrance. I felt the nervousness of being the minority and out of place. However, I was pushed on by the recommendation by Houser (2008) who inferred that if a plunge is to be successful, there is need for an individual to expose him/herself in a phenomenon where his/her mannerism and perspectives are undoubtedly in the minority. After this plunge, I reflected on my changed altitudes about this religious context and people in an optimistic way. A multitude of questions in regard to my experience has made me engage in deep thinking. For example, why did they stare at me like that? What were the people thinking about me? Did they feel uncomfortable in my presence? Or did the adults in the church feel threatened and fearful based on their presumed perception about the connection between Jihad and terrorism in the modern world? The latter question particularly raised a stir in me, making me feel a victim of a falsely held misconception about the possible connection between Islam and terrorism. This is based on the work by Malkawi (2001) who cited that after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike hastened to compare Jihad in Islam versus terrorism in the contemporary world. Critical analysis of the plunge I came to understand that maybe the reason why the children were staring and me so much and asking me multiple questions in regard to my background was shaped by the fact that I was really off the mark with the rituals and rules of the Catholic worship which I could not manage to follow, for instance, reciting the rosary, prayers, burning of incest, the genuflections and sign of the cross as depicted by Ramsay (n.d). This shaped my feeling of disorientation, aloofness and feeling like an intruder during the service. Based on the mixture of feelings that confronted me before, during and after this cultural plunge as detailed in the preceding section, I concurred with Houser (2008) who noted that when humans are confronted by realities, which have inconsistencies with their long-held beliefs, they experience or a sense of uncertainty. This was evident in my plunge whereby majority of the people from Christian background who I interacted with exhibited completely opposite beliefs from myself which made me feel some sought of mental discord in relation to my long held belief about the authenticity of diverse religions in the world. I also remember one woman who was mandated with the role of conducting catechism on children in the church asking me the question of where children get their identity from a Muslim perspective. I answered her that this is mostly derived from the environment where they are brought up, and the people with whom they have constant interaction with. She said that this is also the same perspective from the Christian point of view, which explained the practices of catechism for the young children, to bring them up in the ways of the church and be positively influenced by religious adults which will ultimately mold their identity. This cemented what I had read earlier and what I believed that children derive their sense of identity based on how they are socialized in the family, religious circles and societal levels. In addition, other people with whom I interacted with believed that raising the children in the Catholic culture (through catechism) is central in raising their morality capital even when they grow up, shaping their beliefs and perceptions. Most of the adults questioned about their upbringing cited being raised as Catholics since childhood which greatly influenced their perceptions on issues like child abuse which has been central in Catholic debates. This made me realize that the environment in which people are brought up in greatly influences their perceptions, beliefs among other things. This is founded on the fact that when individuals are brought up in an intensively religious environment, this is bound to influence their beliefs and opinion and this is bound to inform their career objectives and how they perceive other people in the society. In most cases, they develop a subjective opinion of the people and happenings around them based on their beliefs and perceptions. Other people asked me whether the Madrassas play any role in molding the morality of Muslim children and I answered them that it does. This made me feel like they mostly upheld their religious system as opposed to that of others. This is because majority of them believed that that children derive their sense of identity based on how they are socialized in the church, family and societal levels. This cemented what I had read earlier and what I believed that children derive their sense of identity based on how they are socialized in these institutions. Robinson and Diaz (2006) noted that in majority of cases, children do not instigate early childhood programs not knowing anything but in actual sense, they are endowed with diverse perceptions of the differences that they have acquired from different sources, for instance, their peers, families and the media among other social sources and depicted in the portrayal of their own identities. Eventually, the children between ages 2-3 years acquire some sought of cognizance of the diversity and they develop either positive or negative mindsets in regard to this diversity that they observe in a synchronized model (Glover, 1991). In light of the robust cultural orientation embedded in them, this is bound to inform the inherent set of stereotypes developed in them in relation to how they perceive the cultures of other people around them. On the other hand, the children who I interacted with during my ‘plunge’, mostly in verbal interactions exhibited some sense of identity awareness and questioned some basic aspects of my background, for instance, dressing mode and I had to be in a Hijab all the time. Thus, I realized that the cultural background influence the viewpoints of individuals and collectives in regard to the lifestyle of other people, for instance, dressing codes mostly in a subjective inclination. In addition, it dawned on me that their level of cultural resistance in future is greatly shaped by their upbringing, questioning the relevance of some cultural practices by other people and in most cases, forming a subjective perception against them. I also interacted with both indigenous and non-indigenous set of people, mostly children who exhibited inherent stereotypes in regard to the opposite group, based on the group that an individual derived a sense of belonging. I realized that historical experiences like colonialism and imperialism play a central role in defining the perceptions in different groups which individuals derive their cultural roots and identity. In their study of the understanding of non-indigenous children of the indigenous Australians, MacNaugton and Davis (2001) found out that the non-indigenous children derived a wide alley of opinions and attitudes from processes of colonial ‘othering’ as well as imperialism experiences which niched the Australians who are indigenous in different regions nationwide, for instance, the indigenous Torres Islanders as foreign, generating the categorization of ‘we’ and ‘them’. It is also worth noting that my discussion with the priest revealed a new perspective of cultural orientation, identity and sense of power among children. This is whereby I asked the priest where children gain their cultural identity from, based on the Christian perspective. The priest cited that apart from adult influence, children derive majority of these tenets primarily from their interactions with one another as opposed to exclusively learning from adults. My plunge thus made me realize that children have inherent perceptions of differences that they develop themselves, through constant interaction with one another. This is whereby their regular interactions amongst themselves bring forth a sense of differences recognition which gradually influences their attitude to one another, the ring of friends that they stay close to and spend most of their time with playing. This revelation made me realize the fact that the perceptions among children, how they relate and treat each other is shaped by their own experiences and what is happening in their universe, the cultural capital embedded in them rather than being influenced by what they learn and observe from older adults. This is concurrent with the influences on the poststructural which has played a key role shifting the paradigm after the deconstruction of identity and childhood. Robinson and Diaz (2006) cited recent researches which have underpinned how children play an integral and active role in composition of inequalities as viewed through their generic perceptions of the world and their interactions with each other and the adults on regular basis. This creates a fundamental necessity for those mandated with the role of taking care of the children to not only portray a positive image of cultural relativism to them, but also regulate how they relate with each other in order to foster inter-cultural interactions. This cements the assertion by Freire (1998) who determined that it is fundamental for the educators to have knowledge and comprehensively understand what happens in the children’s universe with whom they have continuous interaction. There is a necessity for the educators to have extensive knowledge and understand the language which they put into utility aimed at expertly defending themselves from the fierceness in their universe that they know autonomously from school. Implications After my plunge, this prompted a question in me; what is the position of the early childhood educators in shaping the development of positive identity and cultural perceptions among children? This is based on the fact that the educators spend a great deal of their time with these children, scrutinize and regulate their interactions as well as impact them with either positive or negative intellectual capital in connection with aspects related to identity and culture in the society. Robinson and Diaz (2006) cited that the early children educators are strategically niched to impact on the lives of the children as well as their families in a positive manner. Against this backdrop, it dawned on me that the early children educators play a primary role in informing the perceptions of the children in aspects of culture and identity which was against my previously held notion that their role basically revolves around impacting the children with intellectual capital which will shape their journey towards career development and specialization in adulthood. Correlation between my plunge experience and my future curriculum development It is prudent to note that this cultural plunge served as an eye opener to me to the discourse of the importance of positive early childhood development to the positive advancement of a child to the latter stages in life. This will definitely impact on my undertakings of curriculum development in my future career as a teacher. Firstly, some rudimentary teachings to promote culture relativism among the children will be central in the curriculum throughout the entire period of early childhood development (ECD). This will include topics on the beauty of diversity and how different cultures can complement each other in developing a cohesive and harmonious society. These will be delivered in a simplistic language easily understandable to children. In learning about themselves, the children will learn that they are chiefly integrated in the contemporary culture which ought to be liberated from of prejudices but harmonious coexistence (Hewett, 2001). Secondly, all the co-curricular activities outside the classwork will be embedded on the efforts towards enhancing the interaction of children from different cultural orientations and racial backgrounds. For instance, games will entail harnessing the inter-cultural interaction among children as opposed to isolating or dividing them based on their cultural backgrounds. In conclusion, it is an apparent fact that my cultural plunge in this Catholic Church was an ideal platform for making me understand the differences between the Christian and Muslim values, cultures as well as religious beliefs. In addition, it helped me understand the process of cultural as well as identity among children and lastly, the central role that early childhood educators can play in fostering the positive development of identities and cultural orientation among children. References Freire, P. (1998). Cultural identity and education. In Teachers as cultural workers : letters to those who dare teach (pp. 69-74). Boulder, Colo: Westview Press. Glover, A. (1991). Young Children and Race. A Report of a Study of Two and Three Year Olds. Paper Presented at the Communities Evolution and Revolution Conference, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, 11-12 October. Green R. (2001). Creating an Anti-Bias Environment. In E.Dau (ed.), The Anti-Bias Approach in Early Childhood (2nd ed., pp. 15-28). Sydney: Longman. Henry R. (2012). Catholic Christian Values versus Cultural Values. Retrieved August 22, 2012 from http://www.rciaresources.com/WrittenOutFiles/WCultural-RH.htm Houser, N.O. (2008). Cultural plunge: A critical approach for multicultural development in teacher education.Race Ethnicity and Education, 11 (4), 465-482. Hewett, K. A. (2001). Eh, no act! : The power of being on the margin. In J. A. Jipson & R. T. Johnson (Eds.), Resistance and Representation : Rethinking childhood education (pp. 117-123). New York : P. Lang. Kroessin, M.R, 2008. Concepts of Development in ‘Islam’: A review of Contemporary Literature and Practice. Religions and Development Working Paper no. 20, Birmingham, West Midlands: University of Birmingham. MacNaugton, G. & Davis, K. (2001). Beyond ‘Othering’: Rethinking Approaches to Teaching Young Anglo-Australian Children about Indigenous Australians. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2(1), 83-93. Malkawi, M. (2001). Islamic View on Terrorism. Retrieved August 10, 2012, from http://www.internetmuslim.com/Islamic_View_Terrorism.pdf Ramsay J. (n.d). Catholic belief and practice. Retrieved August 22, 2012 from, http://www.catholicassociates.com/cbpdocs/CBP%20Ch20.pdf. Robinson, K. H., & Jones Diaz, C. (2006). Diversity and difference in early childhood education: Issues for theory and practice. New York: Open University Press. Read More

Thirdly, the set of values between the Muslims and the Catholics has a wide divergence. These is exemplified by the fact that freedom from the Catholics’ perspective means that everyone has the freedom to be holy, free to be saved from everlasting divine punishment for their sins, and thus free to be children of God (Henry, 2012).This is different from the Muslim values of my upbringing can basically be divided into three; necessities (dharuriyyat), convenience (hajiat), and refinements (kamaliat) (Kroessin, 2008).

Thus, based on the fact that I was the only one who recognized the latter values in the setting of my plunge made me the minority and prompted the choice of the setting for this cultural plunge. Lastly, I had a conviction that the Catholics hold a divergent opinion when compared with the Muslims on contemporary issues like terrorism, abortion, same sex marriage, effects of mass media on societal values, conflicts between states at the global level and their effects on international relations.

In this regard, my plunge among the Catholics was an ideal platform for understanding how their religious beliefs and culture affects their opinions on these diverse issues which continue to shape the lives among different states in the modern world. Against this background, I projected this plunge to be an interesting platform for gaining a comprehensive understanding of the above tenets of religious beliefs, culture and values as embedded among the Catholics, and most predominantly, how the children in the from different backgrounds develop their individual identity and culture.

This will be paramount in engaging in a profound reflection after the experience to assist me in writing this report which will not only help me but also future scholars in my field of study in different aspects like curriculum development. Feelings before, during and after the ‘plunge’ Before the plunge, I felt nervous and fearful while faced with the reality of being in the midst of people whose lifestyle is completely different from mine and the possibility of disapproval. This was more with the recent confrontation between the Muslims and Christians in my neighborhood as well as in the wider globe.

In addition, I felt anxious based on the fact that I did not really know what to expect and what the context will be. I even felt like this was a wrong choice of a set-up to undertake my culture plunge. As I approached the front door on the church, I felt the eyes staring on me and in turn felt discomfort. I perceived the reception when I entered the church which was characterized by suspicious staring was perhaps because they felt like I was invading their space which I had no business in, and also the misguided relationship between Islam and terrorism previously mentioned.

It seemed like all the booming Christian hymns stopped upon my entrance. I felt the nervousness of being the minority and out of place. However, I was pushed on by the recommendation by Houser (2008) who inferred that if a plunge is to be successful, there is need for an individual to expose him/herself in a phenomenon where his/her mannerism and perspectives are undoubtedly in the minority. After this plunge, I reflected on my changed altitudes about this religious context and people in an optimistic way.

A multitude of questions in regard to my experience has made me engage in deep thinking. For example, why did they stare at me like that? What were the people thinking about me? Did they feel uncomfortable in my presence? Or did the adults in the church feel threatened and fearful based on their presumed perception about the connection between Jihad and terrorism in the modern world? The latter question particularly raised a stir in me, making me feel a victim of a falsely held misconception about the possible connection between Islam and terrorism.

This is based on the work by Malkawi (2001) who cited that after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike hastened to compare Jihad in Islam versus terrorism in the contemporary world.

Read More