Addressing Cultures in Online Teaching

Representative Cultures And Subcultures

Cultures are well-defined, sustained groups of people with common norms, expectations and values, which can be distinguished from other culture groups. Subcultures are more specialized groups that still belong to the larger group and its norm, but have more specific characteristics. For example, Latinos can be considered a culture, but Puerto Ricans differ significantly from Peruvians, and homeland Puerto Ricans differ from New York born Puerto Ricans (subculture within a subculture). Such differentiations are important to note because too often generalizations are made about a culture (or even mega-culture such as Asians), which have little validity on a subcultural level or case-by-case basis. One might use the analogy of food, such as “All Asian food uses soy sauce,” to demonstrate the feebleness of such generalizations. Particularly when a course has just one student of a certain culture, that student might be called upon to represent that entire culture, which can be a very frustrating – and sometimes condescending – experience for that individual.