The definition of 'culture' which I have adopted in this paper includes most of the incompatibilities they discuss. Whether the student is from a lower class Spanish-speaking background, from the inner city, from the 'hollers' of Appalachia, or from a Vietnamese fishing village, it is well known that he is likely to have greater difficulty in school than if he is from a middle class urban background. The complex factors which are frequently labeled merely 'low socioeconomic background' currently lack explanatory power and need to be 'unpacked' in order to identify the specific cultural variables which lead to inequality in educational achievement. Students from higher socioeconomic groups are also frequently from culturally different backgrounds, of course. Although they are less likely to have difficulty in school, recognition and understanding of these differences can only enrich the educational experience of all with whom they are in contact, and increase their level of personal fulfillment and the contribution they will ultimately make to our society.
Man is a cultural animal.
All of us in one way or another are products of our culture, and many of our behaviors, values, and goals are culturally determined. This assertion seems to be egalitarian, but it often hides a basic ethnocentric assumption, that all people are like me, and that to say otherwise would be degrading them. Just as we are now accepting multiple languages as a positive resource in education, we must learn to accept and use the wider range of cultural differences of which languages are a part. And as in teaching a second language, we must view teaching a second culture as an additive process, and not as replacing the culture of the home.