In
Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and
Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools, Prudence Carter evaluates the
ways in which students develop a sense of “cultural flexibility,” which she
defines as a “social and psychological process” (116) that describes a
student’s tendency to navigate across peer groups belonging to different
cultural or social settings. Carter
contends that schools play a principal role in this development because they
provide a site for the creation of social organizations, or peer relations, and
mixing of cultures. After collecting
data from four schools, Carter states that schools effectively encourage a
student’s cultural flexibility through individual, social, and outside factors.
Similarly,
James Coleman’s outside-in approach, with which the context of the situation
and social organizations are first examined, showed that peer cliques in
schools provide students with social support through a subculture (a collection
of practices and beliefs that differ from the mainstream adult culture). Coleman concludes that the achievement gap,
which refers to the discrepancy of standardized test scores between different
classes and races, cannot be explained only by a school’s resources, but must
be understood by taking into account differences in culture, such as a student’s
parents’ academic backgrounds. In fact,
“even if a segregated school provides a solid education, studies suggest,
students are at a disadvantage” (New York Times). This is partially due to a lack of diversity that
would allow for cultural diffusion, the spreading of practices from one social
group to another. Furthermore, Carter finds
that “1) the context of feeling personally and collectively secure, 2) social
relationships influenced by academic course placement… and 3) societal norms
and enduring practices regarding intergroup contact, specifically racial and
ethnic interactions” (105) are the most important factors that must be
considered. Therefore, if schools are
the settings in which students become comfortable with their identity, create
friendships, and interact with students of different backgrounds, then they prove
to be an essential component to the extent in which its student are culturally
flexible, regardless of resource or economical differences.
After
dividing the four schools into either majority-white or majority-minority, Carter
finds that the Black students who were most prone to cultural flexibility were
those in the majority-minority schools, in which these students had a higher
self-esteem and confidence due to their exposure to the cultures of other
minority groups when forming social relationships. As a result, a student with a high
self-esteem and who is socially confident in a diverse school will be most
likely to be culturally flexible. Carter’s
concept of cultural flexibility is reminiscent of “multicultural navigation,” another
term she helped to conceptualize, which implies that youth are more likely to
be successful if they are able to navigate across both youth-centered and
adult-centered cultures as well as across different cultures.
Resources
Carter,
Prudence L. "Cultural Flexibility: The (Un)Making of Multicultural
Navigators."
Stubborn
Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools. New
York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
"How
Often Do You Interact With People of Another Race or Ethnicity?" The New
York Times.
18 May 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2014. <http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/
america-is-more-diverse-than-ever-but-is-your-life-integrated/>.
. When it comes to the essay, "Cultural Flexibility". I think that Marlow Breeze does a good job at pointing out the similarities between Prudence Carter's research and James Coleman’s work. Marlow’s essay seems to be centered around the idea that there are many factors that influence whether or not youth can achieve “cultural flexibility”- the ability to navigate across peer groups of different backgrounds- this ties into Coleman’s idea of why we have an “achievement gap”. Overall, I want to agree with the idea that if schools were to adopt a way in which “cultural flexibility” in school settings could be a priority, this can help in reduce the achievement gap. This is because, by having more “cultural flexibility”, youth will have more exposure to different/ diverse vocabulary, political views, ideals, etc. this allows a person to be more critical about things that affect them simply because they have more options. The only issue then lays in how to try certain approach to see if it works and what drawbacks it may have.
ReplyDelete-Karen Ruiz
The concept of “cultural flexibility” is interesting in understanding students of different races interacting with each other. Carter outlines in the research how settings of “majority-minority” and “majority-white”, although located in proximity, differ greatly in terms of the students’ self-esteem, academic achievement, and attitude towards students of different races. I like how this essay makes a connection to the outside-in approach because it is crucial that we understand that the environment is impacting students’ level of eagerness to connect with other races. I believe that if schools and educators emphasized the importance of cultural flexibility, more students can develop into conscious citizens who are exposed to a myriad of cultural opinions. Culturally flexible students are also the ones who are confident in their work and strive for academic success. Yet the challenge still remains as to figure out how to eradicate existing apathy towards certain cultures and ethnicities, and how to promote a more culturally flexible school environment.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading Carter's article, Coleman immediately popped up in my mind. I was very excited to see that Marlow connected and compared the two articles. While the author's comparisons are valid and strong, I would like to suggest a difference in the word "culture" used by Carter and Coleman. Maybe I misunderstood, but it seems like Carter is talking about culture as a tradition passed on by parents and family, which defines the person's identity in relation to his/her roots and his family's past. Whereas, Coleman speaks about culture as ways in society-- the beliefs people hold not necessarily connected to where they came from or what background they have. The word "culture" can be defined in many different ways and it seems like Coleman and Carter are using it to project different characteristics. However, it is very difficult to differentiate between these two approaches, as often they overlap. In a way Carter's youth culture which seems to be passed on by the elder generations creates the cultures and sub-cultures, which are discussed in Coleman's article.
ReplyDelete