The Art of Reading People: Character, Expression, Interpretation

Rationale

When teaching geography, it is important for students to be open-minded to understanding others and their cultures, but I also understand that this is a tall task. So instead of forcing the issue, I want to understand my students' prejudices and biases and in turn, make them aware of their conscious and subconscious thoughts as well as their reactions to them. I am motivated by the need not to change my learners, but rather to make them aware of their opinions. When I was younger, I was able to be exposed to worlds outside of my neighborhood. Whether this world came in the form of a Cuban restaurant, learning a new language, visiting a foreign country, having pen pals from other countries, or reading a book about another family who practices a different religion, I could escape my reality and allow my mind to become swallowed up in things that were new and foreign to me. As a result of that exposure, I was able to be more accepting of things dissimilar to my culture.

Culture and Cultural Geography

There are many fields of geography, but the main field of geography that will be researched is cultural geography. To better understand what cultural geography is, it is helpful to make sense of the word culture. J.A. Banks purports that

Most social scientists today view culture as consisting primarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies. The essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. People within a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in the same or in similar ways. ¹

According to Banks, my students subscribe to the same culture because their values and what they deem as important are the same. To this end, when I examine the aspects of cultural geography, Dr. Kathyrn Davis, professor at San Jose State, puts forward that cultural geography is "how people understand places, regions, and spatial relationships and how distance and connectivity impact human lives and relationships." ² The culture that I encounter at my school can be described as different groups of students sectioning themselves off according to their neighborhoods because they share similar experiences and have similar values. Dr Davis' position on how people can understand places and spatial relationships is evident everyday at my school. There can be times when students sit at their desks according to their neighborhoods because they have a deep affinity for it and those from their communities. Dr. Davis also puts forward that distance and connectivity can impact how humans behave. My learners compartmentalize themselves according to their neighborhoods and appear to have developed a sense of pride and identity by doing just that. This act can also be seen as threatening to those from surrounding communities which leads to hostilities within the school building.

The hostilities within the school contribute to the school's culture. C. Wagner conceptualizes school culture as "shared experiences both in school and out of school (traditions and celebrations), a sense of community, of family and team." ³ My students' understandings of their identities are linked to their neighborhoods. The act of them bringing their outside identities into the school contributes to the school's culture. Although these acts are celebrated in some instances, it is also detrimental to conducting a safe learning environment and prevents new insights and experiences.

The aspect of cultural geography involving distance and connectivity and how they impact human lives, relationships, and interactions will be the driving force of this unit. I will choose to flesh out why my learners are satisfied with not exploring things that are foreign to them and how these viewpoints have hindered their development. The distance they choose to put between them and things that are unfamiliar to them could have evolved from how they identify themselves according to their neighborhoods. These acts have created stumbling blocks when I teach geography.

Studying cultures

The idea of my students studying both their own cultural geography and that of others will prove to be beneficial for them as they try to understand the broader concepts of geography. My learners will understand how they have defined their culture and how these definitions have worked in a larger context. I want my students to be exposed to the many cultures within their own communities and within the United States. Their ability to have barriers against other cultures is partly due to how some sections of the city of Richmond are still segregated. Once these historical implications are addressed, they can take in how cultures have similarities and not be as hostile to things that are foreign to them.