¶ … Cross Cultural Education Cultural History

The information gathered was mostly from my grandparents and my parents. From the interviews conducted, I found out that my ancestors came to the United States in 1850. The main reason why they came to the United States is due to famine. According to information obtained, at the time, Ireland was facing a severe famine, owing to upsetting crop disasters. Due to lack of food for lengthy periods, my ancestors were left with no other option but to move to the United States. However, there are quite a number of challenges they faced upon arrival. To begin with, they had no expertise and no preceding experience in becoming accustomed to a new nation. In addition, they also faced the challenge of having no cash, minimal clothes and lack of education. Another distinctive challenge that they faced upon arrival to the United States was a great deal of prejudice. This was because of their religious affiliation to Catholicism. This religion was not taken serious in the U.S. as the natives considered it to be false, owing to the use of prayer beads, praying to Mary and also using oils and statues. They also faced chauvinism by being perceived by Americans as incessantly drunk and ignorant people.

Our family values regarding education is that we should perceive school and education as being a priority and always working hard to succeed in school. Our father is responsible for these family values on education. This is because he understood the significance of education in the contemporary, with regard to obtaining prospects to succeed in life. Our great grandfather experienced challenges in obtaining work opportunities because he had not obtained proper education. Therefore, the family considerably values education as a component that is significant in life. More so, in the present world, education is necessary as it helps one to conduct himself or herself in a proper manner. Families are involved in the education of children. They play a significant role in ensuring that the child grows up with moral values. The reason for this is because through the involvement of parents and families, the child's self-esteem increases, it enhances the relationship and association between the child and parent and also ensures that they cultivate a positive attitude towards school and education (Van Roekel, 2008).

My family's culture goes down to love, friendship and togetherness. A significant element of culture within the family is always being kind to people. This goes particularly with regard to how young children and the elderlies are treated. Since childhood and what I see now with my cousins is that children are shown the importance of love and friendship from a young age. This in particular is rooted in my family's past as my grandparents always insisted that the family should come first. Therefore, my parents always made sure they were there for me at all times and this is a family tradition that is bound to continue in the forthcoming periods. The family of origin is also an important custom. Within the family, this implies that even if one does not have similar beliefs and values as the parents, they still have to be given the utmost respect and looked out for on a frequent basis. In light of this, there are barely any conflicts or arguments within the family. This is rooted in the family's past as I can see the manner in which my parents and their siblings are close to each other until the present day in their adult life.

There are some languages that were lost. In particular, these included Celtic and Goidelic languages. These two languages were spoken three to four generations before. These are some of the languages that were in my family's past. The language gained was American English, subsequent to moving to the United States from Ireland. My family's values about language and language learning are to first and foremost fully grasp languages that are significant for education. However, my parents are not keen on us studying the old Irish languages as they are barely spoken by family members. However, they do insist on understanding a few words and phrases that are valuable. The value of the family encompasses encouraging us to learn new languages, such as French and Spanish, which might be used in the forthcoming periods.

The artifact that is emblematic of my family and its past and an heirloom or family treasure is a Claddagh ring. This...

In tradition, this ring is passed down from a mother down to her daughter, especially when she is getting married. I expect to be passed down this ring when I get engaged or when I get married. This indicates that my family treasures love and family values. The Claddagh ring in essence gives the meaning of love and friendship to endure forever. This shows that my family is really keen on having lasting love, friendship and loyalty, aspects that have grown to become scarce as the days have gone by. Therefore, by handing down the ring from one generation to another, it signifies togetherness and love that is purposed to last for more and more years to come (Colin and O'Dea, 2006).
This section compares and contrasts the Irish culture with the Hispanic culture of the ELLs that I serve. One of the ways in which they are complementary is the significance of family and togetherness. One of the evidences of culture integrated in current learning standards is that it takes into account the different diversities. In both of these cultures, a significant emphasis is laid on family as the main source of a person's identity and protection against any challenges that one faces in life. In addition, the cultures are keen on loyalty and togetherness at all times, and therefore showing support if and when needed. However, the major difference between the two cultures in this regard is that the Hispanic culture extends this element of family to cousins, distant cousins and even individuals that are not biologically related. This is not the case with the Irish culture as it only takes into account close relatives. Another element of similarity goes down to respect. Both of these cultures value loyalty and respect. They show and expect it to be reciprocated. However, there is a significant element of difference between the two cultures when it comes to the level of respect that is shown. In the Hispanic culture, people have a tendency of expecting dissimilarities in rank between members of a society, an aspect that is largely different in the Irish culture. For instance, Hispanic people more often than not give a great deal of respect and reverence to individuals on the basis of their position within the society, their financial status and also position of power. A good example is taking the word of a general practitioner without questioning it, as it would be deemed disrespectful. This is not the case in the Irish culture as respect is shown to the elders, but at the same time, it is a two-way channel. Another aspect of contrast between the two cultures is the informality that exists among the Irish people. This is different from the Hispanic culture as in most instances it would be regarded as disrespectful.

Community Member Interview Project

Mr. Bernie Shine is a 40-year-old Mexican man that moved to the United States about two decades ago. He speaks Spanish as a minority language. He has experience in acquiring more than one language. Mr. Shine is a member of a community in which I am interested in working. Bernie has one wife and two children, a son and a daughter, who are five and three years old, respectively. His parents live back in Mexico, where the majority of his close and distant relatives subsist. Having been brought up in Mexico, and in a Hispanic cultural background, Bernie values the role of a family and strong ties amongst the members. He points out that he always makes sure that they sit down and have dinner together as a family every single night, as that "draws them together." From where he was brought up, a significant emphasis is laid on the family as the main source of a person's identity and protection against any challenges that one might face in life. In addition, the cultures are keen on loyalty and togetherness at all times and therefore showing support if and when needed. More so, this protracts to family, cousins, distant cousins and even individuals that are not biologically related.

Bernie also pointed out his experiences with cultural adjustment. Initially, when he set foot into the United States, it was the most joyous moment. This was an exciting and pleasant opportunity, and he was going to "live the American dream." However, it was not all rosy, as he pointed out. One of the significant problems that he faced was hostility, owing to the reason that he had problems with language and communication.…