Assignment #1 Cultural Autobiography
Below are the nine microcultures that make up our cultural identity – class, race, ethnicity, gender, language, religion, exceptionality, age, and geography. All of us belong to a subgroup within each microculture, but our composite identity is based on 1) the relation between us and the dominant subgroup in each microculture, and 2) on the interaction among microcultures.
In your cultural autobiography, you must address all nine microcultures. It is not enough merely to state, for example, that you are a White, Irish American, English-speaking male etc. or a second-generation Chinese American, multilingual female who was raised in a middle class family etc. You must take each microculture one at a time and explain how your membership in a particular subgroup has helped to create the kind of person you are and is likely to influence the kind of educator you will become. Begin with the microculture that currently has the most impact on you as a cultural person and work down to the least influential microculture. This should take some careful thinking.
If you are part of any dominant subgroups, you must address the concept of privilege, particularly White, (upper) middle class, and language privilege.
The cultural autobiography should be an honest expression of who you perceive yourself to be along a cultural continuum.
Think carefully about each category and provide enough details to create a vivid portrait of your unique cultural identity.
