| Every state
has its distinctive culture, which plays an important
role in shaping its social, economical and political
system. However, there are many outside influences
that also play a significant role in shaping the
social, economical and political culture of states.
There was a time when states use to make policies
according to their own cultural trends. These
cultural trends altogether include, language,
history, race, and religion as well as social,
economical and political system of the states.
However, the present trend of international relations
have changed the traditional concepts of culture
and also influences the prevailing social, economical
and political system of various states of the
world. Nonetheless, culture also includes the
various social, economic and political trends
in any society. For instance, the culture of education
in the western societies or the developed part
of the globe is more or less same. Similarly the
various cultural trends in the developing countries
regarding educational development if not same
but vary from least developed country to developing
country according to their level of development.
However, all these cultural trends are rooted
into the global cultural trends.
Education has always been a major influence of
the cultural trends of various societies. For
instance during the Great World Wars, during the
Cold War and the era after the cold war all witnesses
different aspects of social and economical cultures
that are influenced by the political culture.
All these cultural trends play a very important
role in educating children of the American society.
At the same time these cultural trends have played
significant and influential roles in the education
sector of children. At the same time, educational
development is considered to be the pillar of
any developed society. Where the education level
of any society is also related to the skills and
potential to work hard for the development of
that specific society. Therefore, education plays
a very constructive role in all the departments
of the state. Since children are the future of
any country, therefore they need to be educated
as a priority of any society.
Role Of Culture In Education
In a country like America, education has always
been an important social policy concern in all
its states. However, the culture of education
and the various techniques to educate the American
children is in constant change and development.
Therefore, lets try to start analyze how culture
participated in educating young children with
a brief historical background.
There was a time when the culture of educating
children was limited to Churches and few institutions.
However, with the passage of time and development,
the educational trends changed. Initially the
culture of missionary schools was the basic center
of education for children as well as adults. Later
on governmental and private schools started developing
and this rose to colleges and universities. On
the other hand the culture of education started
changing to meeting centers for military and other
various political groups. Therefore, the sixties
took various colleges as the centers of debate.
People of all ages, children younger then 18 and
adults altogether use to gather and meetings were
held. This was the period of the Vietnam War.
Goodwin (1999) However, till the period of both
the great World Wars, the culture of education
was not much vast as children were mostly taught
war strategies and the educational institutions
were more used for meetings and conferences of
the military, which also involved children younger
then 18.
Though, the early Cold War period witnessed many
other changes to the culture of education but
still revolved around the immediate problems and
issues arising as a consequence of the Great World
Wars. At the same time, it the educational institutions
also focused on the relations and issues related
to both USSR and USA. Therefore, we notice the
emphasis of international politics and international
relations as the educational culture. With these
new trends, new educational aspects were initiated,
which were deep rooted into state politics of
the Nation State System like ideologies and events
of wars, strategies of various wars fought in
the history of USA as well as the repercussions
of War. Moreover, the gender role in war was also
a subject added to the curriculum of the children
from schools to high school level and then to
colleges and universities where interested students
can further do their masters in the respective
fields. Besides, ideologies were the most important
and latest educational cultural trend, which was
not only educated via schools but also the various
media programs highlighted different aspects of
the prevailing ideologies from T.V programs and
movies. There are a number of movies and T.V programs
as well as music albums that were made to motivate
children to learn about the history of wars, the
ideological clash and the clash of civilization.
Therefore, children at a very young age started
learning all these aspects with a modern culture
of education. (May, Elaine Tyler, 1988.)
However, the social and political culture of
America started changing in the period of cold
war. Now education was not only limited to history
of war but also peace was made the area of concern.
In fact subjects like conflict resolution and
conflict management and confidence-building measures
were also added to the courses of the students.
So along the ideologies of communism, totalitarianism
and capitalism, various aspects to achieve peace
was also made a part of education. Therefore,
children were educated from all sides i.e. electronic
and print media, music, educational institutions
as well as the Churches also played its role in
boosting the educational level of America. (Coontz,
1992)
However, the most important themes characterizing
the ear of post World Wars to the Cold war included,
various debates regarding Mass Culture and Youth
Culture, issues related to gender and sexuality,
the civil rights and the influx of African Americans
in America was also a subject that affected the
educational structure of America.
Where the culture promoting education to mass
culture and youth culture was almost the same
with an emphasis on the various foreign as well
as domestic polities of the communist Soviet Union
and the United States of America towards each
other. All these aspects were not only taught
via schools and colleges in books by professors
but the also comic books, Hollywood as well as
various television channels were promoting their
ideas, views via different programs. From cartoons
to historical movies and documentaries as well
as talk shows, all aspects of media were educating
the children of America. As a result the public
opinion started supporting various ideological
and political parties, as they were getting aware
of the positive and negative implications of various
ideologies via media. At this era we find both
narrow minded anticommunists as well as liberal
communists that were projected via American media
in their various commercial cultural programs
with communism. (May, Elaine Tyler, 1988.)
On the other hand various students of the MTV
generation were getting influence of the contemporary
debates regarding state politics and ideologies,
which as an impact resulting into culture of violence.
So the music culture also changed to rap and high
pitch songs
At the same time, we also find the culture of
social and economic changes in the American society
that was also participating in the education system.
Various issues of teenagers and adolescents were
being addressed to capture the interest of young
children towards education. Juvenile delinquency
as well as other psychological, moral, ethical
and legal issues was given importance as major
educational subjects. (Gilbert and James, 1986)
With this the issues related to gender and sexuality
was also noted. So the culture of gender differences
and various aspects of sexuality also influenced
the education system.
Though various conflicts arose in this regard
as still gender discrimination and issues related
to sexuality is a very important issue in the
American culture. For instance, the role of women
specifically in working places were given due
importance as a separate area of study. Various
books were written in this regard as well as media
also high lighted these social aspects accordingly,
which helped the children as well as the youth
to earn the conceptual education of these subjects.
Therefore, gender was taken a serious issue on
which children were being educated. For instance
the role of mothers in various eras of the American
history was one of the subjects taught to the
children via magazines, T.V programs as well as
music and movies. Similarly, there was also a
culture of sexuality, which was also promoted
via electronic media and print media. For instance,
the sexy nature of women, their dressing styles,
like bikinis and other stuff were projecting women
as sex symbols and sexy women were popularized
as bombshells. (Norman and Rosenberg, 1994) So
women and sexuality along their sexually alluring
dresses increased tremendously as an important
element of the American culture about which children
were individually earning education from cartoon
movies to adult movies. Media has also earned
a huge amount out of this.
With the passage of time and further development
new issues were attached to the American culture,
which become another influential part in regard
to education. For instance, the discrimination
practiced over the African Americans in various
social and economical fields directed a new culture,
which also became a part of education. Therefore,
with the passage of times, the era of civil rights
gained more importance then the issues related
to the Great World Wars and the Cold War era as
well as the gender issues and sexuality issues.
Initially the black Americans were not given any
place in the social as well as economic spheres
of the American culture, however, with the passage
of time they gained a lot of recognition in the
world.
On the other hand the contemporary culture is
playing the most significant role in educating
the children of American society. Due to globalization
and the revolution of information technology,
now the various social issues like gender discrimination
specifically after the civil rights movement,
in America are not much talked about. Presently
the various social policies of the American political
system is focusing on developing professional
education over all America. This is due to the
culture of competition in this global village.
Now educational development and all the other
aspects of social and economic development is
no more an issue of one single state. Various
countries of the globe have entered into a fast
moving age known as information technology. So
currently we see two principle cultures that are
immensely influencing the educational development
of each and every children of America. At the
same time, the black Americans have also strengthen
their roots in the country and established their
separate institutions for their children.
On the other hand the American government is
sponsoring various educational programs to its
citizens as well as scholarship programs to both
the American citizens as well as the minorities.
Apart from the culture of information technology
and globalization of the world economy, which
is shaping the structure of professional education,
a new culture of promoting education in the developing
part of the globe has also gaining popularity.
Various multinational companies are sponsoring
professional education ensuring future employment
opportunities to the skilled students. At the
same time, various NGOs, are offering special
educational programs to children in the Third
World countries. So in this way the whole culture
is changing with a stronger development in the
education sector. Moreover, the traditional gender
discrimination is not practiced as before. Now
women are not only earning education side by side
as men, but also working in all the social, economical
and political spheres besides men. (Brucem, 2001)
So all these are the cultural trends influencing
education and predicting the future of child education.
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