What is culture, and how does it affect the way we teach and learn? This course explores various definitions of culture, the impact of culture on everyday life, and the impacts on teaching and learning specifically. You will assume an anthropological view of culture as a phenomenon of learned practices, products and perspectives in a community, rather than isolating perceived cultural groups and analyzing each individually. You will analyze how culture is depicted in fiction and write a social, cultural, and historical analysis of a cultural group in California. By understanding culture and cultural diversity in this way, future and current teachers will expand their ideas of how language, culture, and teaching and learning matter in the classroom and beyond.

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, you should be able to

• Gain an understanding of culture
• Explore the relationship between language, culture, and teaching and learning
• Consider real-world examples of how and why complex understanding of culture matter for the classroom
• Apply learned principles to explore a community group of your choice

Topics Include

• Human Development and Culture
• Language, Thought, and Culture
• Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
• Culture in the Classroom