The Introduction

I just wrote a pretty nice introduction.  I don't know if I'll use it because I wrote it before I wrote any of the body of the essay, and it might read too much like a narrative.  However, at the moment it makes a lot of sense to me and I'm glad because not much of anything else was making any sense.  I like it enough to put it here just in case it doesn't make the final cut.

When considering this essay choice, it was hard to clarify what ‘cultural background’ meant.  I kept emphasising the word ‘cultural’ to myself, considering what culture might mean.  I don’t believe people are ever a single culture.  In my own life I have always identified as a Pakeha/European, it seemed essential to who I am.  Yet I moved to the USA to find that I am not that here.  Here, I use my country descriptor, New Zealander or Kiwi.  Neither ‘Pakeha’ nor ‘European’ would make sense to an American. 

It made me think: Well, what is a Pakeha?  Why are we European?  I have heritage but I know the move from rural to urban in my early life affected me in tangible ways while I'm unlikely to consider who my great-great-grandparents were.   After some research, a definition was found which satisfied my unease: “For each individual student the intersection of social class, ethnicity, and gender can markedly influence cultural practices, preferences, and prior experiences.”  (Alton-Lee, 2003).  I came to realise that the word ‘background’ needed more emphasis.  It alludes to what has been, and what is but is not necessarily seen, to influences on a life.  etc. etc.

Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES). Wellington, N.Z.: Medium Term Strategy Policy Division, Ministry of Education.