Neb. Everyone I grew up with looked pretty much like me, and when I started this course, I thought I had no culture to identify with,'' teacher Jennifer O'Dorisio said. That attitude, she learned, was naive - everyone has a culture. O'Dorisio gives teachers guidelines for thinking about themselves and their families in terms of birth order, power relationships, gender roles, attitudes, ceremonies. Contrasts emerge even in groups that seem to be homogenous. Saffell grew up believing that as a woman she needed to be prepared for anything.
Teachers also learn to avoid making assumptions about others.
For example, people who try to put Edyie Glapion into a racial category are usually wrong. Asked to guess what kind of music she likes, some people guess Motown. In fact, she grew up with the language and musical tastes of her mother, who spoke German and taught her children polkas and waltzes. Many assumptions made about me are wrong,'' she said. We as educators have to expand the definition of culture.