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Pandora_Box
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11 Feb 2011, 6:08 am

I am currently in an Anthropology class and I am writing an essay on enculturation in the education system. Basically how the schoolyard can be taken as a kind of microsociety mimicking a "child's" version of what the real world society is like.
And all I really need are some people who are from either different cultures other than the USA to express their experiences and their beliefs on enculurtaion in their education system. And those from the USA to write down their experiences.

This is a kind of requirement in my essay to share my experiences, compare another culture to another, and use other people's experiences and beliefs of enculuration in the schoolyard.

If people do not believe me, about this essay...here is what I have written so far:

Quote:
Within the schoolyard an important cultural life lesson is being taught by the students themselves. We're all aware of the labels that come through when it comes to adolscents middle school and high school "geek", "popular", "outcast", etc. These labels reflect an aspect of real world society, though in high school and middle school the requirements to get into any number of these groups has no real world experience, where people are separated through class and "cliques".
Its funny how none of us consider why adolescents bully one another and create groups. Anywhere you will find a group, a clique of individuals who meet the requirements of hanging with one another. May it be in college where the middle age mothers hang out with one another because they have something in common, to being at work in a business setting where maybe all the managers hang out with one another. All though the childish and petty attitude may disappear. We will always by societies law be seperated into a class.

Very early in their lives, children are taught by their peers who belongs where and why. There are requirements each child must meet in order to be part of that group. There in each group they are taught skills by their peers, that mimic a real world society. Girls are taught the importance of secrets and learn how to interpret secrets. In the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography an article written by Don E. Merten explains "Girls were also learning fundamental, but largely tacit, aspects of mainstream American culture as they learned to use and interpret the meaning of secrets." Boys are taught aspects of "masculinity" and typical stereotypical behavior for a man simply by the word of their peers.

This kind of societal enculturation is a human system, in which I believe works like white blood cells in the immune system. Weeding out defects and creating a standard model of behavior. If I was to speak of my own experiences when it came to the schoolyard, it would be ladened with isolation and being outcasted by my peers. This kind of enculturation is meant for peers to learn the socially appropriate and inappropriate models of behavior accept and unaccepted by society. The schoolyard became a microsociety within in a larger society. Mimicking a real world society.


This is all kind of from the first page. I need to expand on my experiences in the essay, as well as I need to expand by comparing and contrasting with another's culture and also placing information of different views of enculturation.

Please and really thank you.



Dantac
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11 Feb 2011, 11:56 am

Pandora_Box wrote:

And all I really need are some people who are from either different cultures other than the USA to express their experiences and their beliefs on enculurtaion in their education system. And those from the USA to write down their experiences.


Sent you a PM.



Pandora_Box
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11 Feb 2011, 4:20 pm

Thanks Dantac. I got the message and will read it.



AnotherOne
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11 Feb 2011, 4:38 pm

I would like to see other people experiences here so it would be great if people can share.

I find huge differences between US and Europe (I grew up in a ex-socialist country). I would say that schoolyard mimics the socitey, i.e. we had a mixed professions and income levels in the same area so diversity in the school and in the neighborhood was normal. Clicques were normal, some bulling was normal too but no extremes and no violence at all. Also there was no lunch in school so un-structured time was minimal thus less opportunity.



Pandora_Box
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11 Feb 2011, 9:34 pm

Thanks Another.