University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1973 The ym th of cultural deprivation, or a case for cultural pluralism. Barbara Lazarus Wilson University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Wilson, Barbara Lazarus, "The ym th of cultural deprivation, or a case for cultural pluralism." (1973). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 2751. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/2751 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MYTH OP CULTURAL DEPRIVATION OR, A CASE FOR CULTURAL PLURALISM A Dissertation Presented By BARBARA LAZARUS WILSON Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OP EDUCATION Major Subject Education (c) Barbara Lazarus Wilson 1973 All Rights Reserved THE MYTH OF CULTURAL DEPRIVATION, OR, A CASE FOR CULTURAL PLURALISM A Dissertation By BARBARA LAZARUS WILSON Approved as to style and content by: Dr, Emma CappellUzzo^ Chairman of Committee C/V . , / ft- Dr. Glenn Hawke s. Member / f /) ' ( t -• iU. iX / May, 1973 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With the hope that an "acknowledgement” is foremost an expression of gratitude, I would like to acknowledge in chronological order those people who have helped me with the ideas expressed here, and have given me the insight and confidence to write my dissertation: Thomas Wilson, J. Louis Giddings, Emma Cappelluzzo, Bryan Michener, Glenn Hawkes, Peter Wagschal, Kathy Wagschal, Ann Lieberraan, Helen Roberts, and Christopher Drumm. iv The Myth of Cultural Deprivation, Or, A Case for Cultural Pluralism ( 1973 ) Barbara L. Wilson, A.B# Brown University M.A. University of Connecticut ^^^®^"bed by: Dr# Emma Cappelluzzo "The Myth of Cultural Deprivation, Or, A Case for Cul- tural Pluralism" addresses itself to individual teachers and seeks to provide an awareness of the many valid cultures present in their classrooms# In doing so, the study both defines and presents a case for the value of cultural pluralism# In addition, by stressing the omnipresence of ruany valid cultures and by providing a realistic understanding of some of the consequences of the procedures and objectives teachers now employ in the classroom, the paper both challenges the "myth" of cultural deprivation and sheds light on some of the dilemmas teachers now face# Chapter I defines in detail the three basic concepts of " "cultural pluralism, "multi-cultural, " and "cultural depri- vation#" It defines "cultural pluralism" as an ideal state, presently existing only in theory, towards which teachers might work. Cultural pluralism begins with the demonstrable existence of a rich variety of distinct and legitimate cultural v world views which, in an ideal state, would coexist and command an equal share of respect and influence. Chapter I then proceeds to outline “multi-cultural" as a reality present in American society; distinct cultural groups possessing different systems of values and behaviors are present in society and classrooms today. "Cultural depri- vation" is defined as both a myth and a rationale. Cultural deprivation is a myth because it is based on the false belief that a person who is net nurtured in the dominant culture is a person with little or no valid culture, and it forms a rationale because it provides a justification for tracking certain minority cultural groups (racial and ethnic) into predetermined economic classes. Chapter II proceeds to describe and clarify some of the obstacles to a teacher's locating and using the multi- cultural resources now present in the classrooms* cultural barriers present both for the teacher and the cross-cultural communities. In Chapter III, some of the consequences of the interactions of these barriers and the myth of cultural deprivation are discussed and the labyrinth of the multi- cultural classroom situation is revealed. In the final use chapter, some guidelines are offered for teachers to aware of the on an individual basis in order* to become more the classrooms. specific cultural mixes which they might find in vi The guidelines are designed to be self-administered programs, and include suggestions for pre-term activities, during term activities both in and out of the classroom, and a sample multi-cultural strategy. TABLE OF CONTENTS page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Objectives 3 Definitions | | 5 Basic Assumptions 8 Limitations [ 10 Organization 11 CHAPTER II. BARRIERS 14 Culture 16 Language 21 Cultural Transmission 24 Cultural Mix in the Classroom .... 29 The Teacher as Barrier ........ 33 Curricula as Barrier 44 The Community as Barrier 45 Conclusion 50 CHAPTER III. IN THE LABYRINTH 57 Barrier Meets Barrier •••••••• 57 The Case of the Boarding School ... 59 Other Case 8 71 CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION 80 Pre-Terra Activities 81 During Term 85 The Classroom 87 Strategies for Individual Students . A Sample Strategy ••••• 98 BIBLIOGRAPHY 102 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. TEST SCORES OF MINORITY GROUP CHILDREN viii 3 of culture and cultural change that comingle in our class- room, In other words, as formal educational institutions (schools) increasingly take over from the family the function of transmitting information to new generations, it is becoming ever more important for teachers to know v/hat it is that we are transmitting and what we are witholding, those students we are serving, and those we are not. Objective This paper addresses itself to individual teachers and seeks to provide an awareness of the many valid cultures present in our classrooms. In so doing, this author hopes both to define and present a case for the value of "cultural pluralism. " In addition, by stressing the omnipresence of many "valid" cultures and by providing a realistic under- standing of some of the consequences of the procedures and objectives we now employ in our classrooms, this study both challenges the "myth of cultural deprivation" and hopes to shed light on some of the dilemmas teachers now face. These objectives need to be met for a variety of reasons: little in teacher awareness of multi-cultures is often so deprivation may be evidence, employing the myth of cultural and both situations harmful to many students and teachers, 4 in turn make learning difficult, create tension between the home-culture of the peer group and the culture of the school, and perpetuate a school system which produces dis- tinctly first and second class citizens. This author feels qualified to present the case for cultural pluralism because background work in educational anthropology, other academic studies, field work, and experience in general have converged to assist in this task. Degree work in anthropology exposed the author to various cultures and their equal validity. Several years of teaching experience have shown the potential impact we teachers may have upon our students. Field work, for this author, has meant research on an American Indian reservation in North Dakota and a study of the effects of curricular change in schools k-12 in a middle class white suburban community in Connecticut. This author has also co-founded an educational experiment which has given first hand experience in those problems involved both in setting up a school and trying the to meet the various, and often contradictory, needs of the larger institutional structure, the teachers, and collaborated students. And, in addition, this author has which have offered in several experimental curriculums student/teacher relation- further insight into the nature of ships • s 5 definitions In this thesis, several key terms are used in a sense peculiar to the substance of this study. They are described as follows Culture is a symbolic system, "one of many possible "^ ways of relating the self to the universe. One of the most difficult jobs we have is "to realize that what we know about human nature, about motivation, about emotions, about satisfactions, is not necessarily true of all human beings but may be true only of the human beings who have been brought up within our own cultural framework ." 4 Cultural pluralism is a concept, or more exactly an ideal, towards which we teachers might work. The theory of cultural pluralism begins with the demonstrable exis- tence of a rich variety of distinct and legitimate cultural world views at work in our society in general and our class- rooms in particular. But these world views, at present, do not command an equal share of respect and influence in our society. Cultural pluralism, as defined here, main- tains that in order to first create and then coexist in an ideal state, all cultures need to actively employ tolerance, or better, respect, for all ways people have 6 devised to be human culture), and that any value of any given culture which conflicts or threatens this value of cultural pluralism should first atrophy and then become obsolete. guj.ti-cultural, cross-cultural — These terms are used to describe existing distinct cultural groups possessing systems of values and behaviors which are present in our society and in our schools today. Multi-cultural and cross-cultural classrooms are a reality. Cross- cultural is also used to refer to the act of experiencing a multi-cultural situation, e.g. a cross-cultural child confronting a multi- (or cross-) cultural classroom. Cultural deprivation can be described as both a myth and a rationale. It is a myth instead of a truth because it is based on the false belief that a person who is not nurtured in the dominant culture is a person with little or noi valid culture. The myth is perpetuated in part because it is used as a rationale to reinforce the present socio-economic system dominated by the values of the white middle class.