Since developing photo board captions, there is a greater understanding on the perspective I have on those aspects of my life. Those aspects have helped me gain an understanding of who I am and what makes others who they are. Although, I underestimated how much work it involved developing captions as I have not evaluated those concepts about myself. I found it difficult to come up with a concise caption describing those areas in my life. It was disappointing to realise that I had a lack of knowledge and appreciation of the important concepts that have shaped me into the person I am today. Viewing others' and considering their perspectives had also helped me with the conceptual understanding when it came to writing my photo board. I have definitely gained a lot more knowledge than I had before on these concepts about culture, identity, history and human rights.
It all began with our history. It has shaped us into our the person we are today. Our views on things derive from our history. We each have a different history and it effects each of us differently. Corfield (2008) mentions this in her article, that history is anything that gives us roots and connections to past events. Without these roots and connections we lead rootless lives which not only effects us but others around us. In my caption I mentioned that I appreciate and value the sacrifices that the ANZACs’ made in order for us to live in a free country like NZ. It is on this day that we remember all New Zealanders killed in war and also honours returned servicemen and women. Both of my great grandfathers served in the war and survived. It is a connection I have with past events like these that have influenced the way I live today.
Depicting the Kiwi culture for me was most difficult. I had never thought about my culture as a Kiwi before. Some cultures are easily defined, for example, Chinese, who have distinctive traditions that differentiate their culture. I associated my culture growing up with my grandparents and their perceptions helped influence my own. Ryan, M. (2010) discusses how culture is made up of multiple meanings. Everyday occurrences from what we wear, eat, and how we speak is culture. We would only notice this if we were to change places/countries. If we were to stay in a country for a period of time we would start to inherit their culture and this is important because New Zealand is a diverse country. We are accepting of other cultures and other cultures seem to be open to learning the Kiwi culture which is an important aspect in bringing people/cultures together.
In conclusion, each and every one of us has their own culture and by continuing to respect others and their cultures I will learn to understand that every culture is important and needs to respected as I do with my own. This piece of work let me to value different views that have been shared in google+ community. As Lawler, S. (2008) states, everyone has their own identity. Each of us has a different identity which make us unique. It was interesting to see what other people view and why. I think its important to share our thoughts and ideas as we can expand and improve our perspectives.
References:
Lawler, S. (2008). Introduction: Identity as a question. Identity: Sociological perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press
Corfield, Penelope J. (2008). All people are living histories – which is why History matters. Making History: The changing face of the profession in Britain. Retrieved from: http://www.history.ac.uk/makinghistory/resources/articles/why_history_matters.html
Ryan, M. (2010). Preface. In Cultural studies: A practical introduction. Hoboken: Wiley, pp.viii-xii.
