Volume XXXV, No. 23 | October 18, 2013

Cultural Attitudes Toward Education

A commentary on the effect of our culture on education

Education, from a general perspective, is any learning that we obtain from different media. Education does not start on our first day of kindergarten, nor is it limited to the four walls of the room where an educator imparts his/her knowledge. It starts from the first interactions with our fellow human beings. It continues even as we leave the classrooms. That is, we gain knowledge from our surroundings. With this in mind, the cultural attitudes of the society toward education greatly affect the education of its citizens. What a society upholds or devalues will be reflected in the way the people interact with others. This is what is called non-formal education. So if education is portrayed in a negative manner throughout the media and this then becomes a cultural norm, by extension, the citizens of that society will tend to view education in a negative manner.

One of my favorite shows on television is The Big Bang Theory, but I am always troubled with pangs of guilt whenever I watch it. For all its popularity, the show, for me, just reinforces the negative cultural attitude toward education that exists in American society. If you have not seen the show, it is centered on five characters. Penny, who dropped out of community college, now works as a waitress while waiting for her big break as an actress. The other four characters are brilliant and work at a local university. Even though the other four are highly educated, Penny is portrayed as being consistently smarter, saner, along with possessing more common sense than all of them put together, and is often called upon to rescue these guys from whatever predicament in which they have found themselves.

There are plenty of examples in other forms of media that contribute to this negative attitude of our culture surrounding education. For example, in 1980 Billy Joel had a hit song with “It’s Still Rock & Roll to Me.” The lyrics of the song contain the words “Should I try to be a straight ‘A’ student?/If you are then you think too much.” Again, what subtle (or not so subtle) message does this implant in a young person’s mind? Bruno Mars had a hit song in 2012 called The Lazy Song. It was (and still is) a very popular song. The lyrics, “Yeah, I might mess around and get my college degree. / I bet my old man will be so proud of me. / But sorry pops, you’ll just have to wait,” conveys the message that an education is easy to obtain and, by extension, nothing of value.

In comparison, other countries hold education in much higher regard. For instance, the Japanese hold large celebrations and expensive presents are given when a child enters kindergarten. According to a U.S. Department of Education report: “Much of a mother’s sense of personal accomplishment is tied to the educational achievements of her children, and she expends great effort helping them. In addition there is considerable peer pressure on the Japanese mother. The community’s perception of a woman’s success as a mother depends in large part on how well her children do in school.” Although Finland and South Korea are at the top of international comparisons of test scores, they differ greatly in methods of teaching and learning. They hold the top spots because of a shared cultural belief in the importance of education and its “underlying moral purpose.” Their cultural attitudes toward education are such that education is highly prized. In Finland, it is a tremendous honor to be a teacher, and teachers are afforded a high level of respect and admiration. In Singapore, becoming a teacher is competitive and highly selective and is viewed as a great honor.

The family culture can also greatly influence attitudes toward education. A clear relationship exists between the culture of the home and that of the school. Children from middle- and upper-class families will share a common mode of speech, style of social interaction, and social background with their teachers. The content of what they are taught and the manner in which they are taught are likely to appear familiar to them. In contrast, for children from other class backgrounds, and especially for those of low-income families, the school will represent a cultural and social world set apart from that of their families and communities, and one in which they are likely to feel out of place. A child from a home where a positive attitude towards education exists will benefit from a positive interaction between the influences of home and school. A child from a home where education is viewed as something negative, or at best, something to be tolerated, is less likely to reach the higher levels of the educational system. If the culture of the home is such that the child is expected to go to college, then in all likelihood that child will go to college. If the culture of the home is that education is viewed negatively, then a child from that environment will struggle to go beyond the legal age requirement to stay in school.

Society shapes our education, and society is greatly influenced by the media. If the media portrays education in a negative manner, then society will have this negative view of education and the educated. In this global economy where education appears to be key to a successful economy, we need to have a positive attitude toward education if we are to move forward.

So what can we do? The cultural attitudes and values surrounding an educational system do more to support or undermine it than the system can do on its own. Using the positive elements of this culture and, where necessary, seeking to change the negative ones, are important to promoting successful outcomes in the U.S. We need to foster a culture of respect for teachers. Good teachers are essential to high-quality education. Finding and retaining them is not necessarily a question of high pay. Instead, teachers need to be treated as the valuable professionals they are, not as technicians in a huge, educational machine. If education is held up as something positive, something to strive for, something that is highly valued and prized in our society, then I am confident that we will see this reflected in better outcomes for our students, our communities, and our nation.

John M. McHugh, Dean, Lincoln Campus

For further information, contact the author at Gaston College, 511 South Aspen Street, Lincolnton, NC 28092. Email: mchugh.john@gaston.edu