Consider the social constructionist perspective. How do we “build worlds” through communication? Think of some ideas we talk about in our culture that may not exist in other cultures. How do these concepts contribute to our happiness or success (of the lack of these) in our culture?
Considering the Social Constructionist Model, we as people use what we have learned and use what is in our environment to build our worlds. We learn, get accustomed to worlds that were already there and take oral traditions from our family and culture.
Apart from being brought up in the American culture I follow and practice a lot of the Filipino culture through out my everyday life. For example, when I see a grandma or grandpa or anyone in my family that is older than me, I would bless them. Blessing them would be me taking their hand and putting it against my head. It is a sign of respect and salutation in the Filipino culture. Some people would think that the gesture is weird and wouldn’t understand the reasons for me doing it. In America people would just say hi or hello and hug. We hug too but “blessing” before hugging and saying hello is the best and the most respectful thing you can do to an elder. Different cultures build different world’s thorough communication.
These things that I have learned through the two very different cultures I live in have really helped me in many different ways. I have learned to assimilate to both the American and Filipino culture when it comes to being courteous to others.
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Great response! I felt that there was so much more that I needed to explain when responding to this question, but I couldn't quite make sense of my thoughts. Your example clearly draws what I was thinking when I read this discussion. Worlds are built through influence. Your Filipino culture and American background influence your family structure and you. Influences from different cultures carry on to possibly develop other cultures. In addition, communication is what allows us to feel connected to different backgrounds. It is what allows us to embrace other tradition, and understand diverse environments.
ReplyDeleteHello Therza,
ReplyDeleteI agree! I really enjoyed reading your post this week. I thout your response was clear and understanding. I thought you example of how you say "hello" to your elders in the filipino culture was perfect. I I hadn't read anything about what the social constructionist model was, I would definitely grasp what the core meaning of the term. I also enjoyed how you stated that " communication is what allows us to feel connected through different cultural backgrounds." I agree! Your post was great, I enjoyed reading it.