Stereotypes

The way in which Kubota presented “Unfinished Knowledge: The Story of Barbara” was a creative way to talk about culture and how it should be taught in the classroom. The main idea of the article is to not abandon one’s culture, just to adopt new ways. This can be applied to more than one setting. It the article it was meant in regards to writing, but it can also be used in regards to language. In the beginning of the story, Barbara was not culturally diverse when it came to her students. It affected her work and her interactions with students. After eating out with her colleague, she decided it would be best to teach many different cultures to the students and tell them what it is like in those cultures. However, she did not realize that she was basically feeding them stereotypes, which was not her intention. She reevaluated her teaching methods and came to the conclusion that it is acceptable for her to teach her students about what cultures do but to let them know that it is different in every household and that one characteristic does not define a culture. Is there a clear way as to how to approach it in the classroom? How should we go about teaching about cultures? I hope that when I am in the classroom, I reach the same conclusion that Barbara does. I want to educate my students about cultures but not tell them how to think. How do I balance that?

According to Kubota’s 1999 article, people define cultures with labels, whether or not they know them to be true. However, because the labels are distinctive, the labels are perceived as correct. This knowledge is not true, scientific, or neutral. It just allows groups to have power over each other. When people continue to use the labels, it enforces the different levels of stereotypes and power. For example, many people say “no homo” as if there is something wrong with being homosexual. The more that people use this phrase, the more it is reinforced as a norm and as an accepted stereotype. Kubota states, "It is in discourse that power and knowledge are joined together," which means that through discourse, power is spread. Labels create difference instead of aiding the togetherness of cultures. Concepts of certain groups are constructed by others; it does not define the group because the labels are not self-reflective. When it comes to knowledge, I advocate extending knowledge because it is constantly changing, improving, and replacing outdated knowledge. It is about creating new knowledge and is always a step ahead of the others. Conserving knowledge is an idea that keeps old knowledge and is not as accepting of change. It does not evolve as extending knowledge does. The way that Japanese schools operate contrasts from the way most people see them. Recent educational research shows that the Japanese preschool and elementary school curriculum does promote creativity, original thinking, and self-expression in its cultural contexts. This is how American schools are thought to operate. It is refreshing to see that some of the stereotypes are no longer in existence.

            Contrastive rhetoric is undergoing changes in its goals, methods, and how culturally sensitive it is. Cultures have different ways of writing. Some are direct, while others are not. Until reading this article, I had never thought of that. I always assumed that it is the same type of writing between cultures, just in different languages. But now I realize that people have different ways of conveying messages in other cultures and that not only is the language different, but the writing style is, as well. All cultural groups engage in a variety of types of writing, with their own conventions and tendencies that suit each culture. Contrastive rhetoric is slowly becoming sensitive to minority concerns, such as African American writers. Differences in race make a difference in the text and contrastive rhetoric is realizing that. When it comes to teaching how to write, it is usually preferred to teach the content rather than form. However, teaching the form of how to write an essay in English has proved to be beneficial to Japanese students. They have taken the knowledge and transferred it to other types of writing.