Cultural Initiative and Persistence of Individual Teachers.docx

1、Cultural Initiative and Persistence of Individual TeachersCultural Initiative and Persistence of Individual Teachers Abstract Individual teachers are the entities which shape the teacher culture and the teacher cultural system. They are also subjects that transform the teacher culture， so they have

2、cultural initiative and awareness. However， they might also impede the development of the progressive teacher culture by creating the out-fashioned teacher culture. When the cultural model of individual teachers has not yet been shared the teaching group， individual teachers transform themselves fro

3、m the explicit cultural creators to an “invisible me.” The realization of cultural persistence is an important aspect for the reconstruction of the teacher culture. Key words： Individual teachers； Cultural initiative； Cultural persistence Zhang， S. Y.， & Zhu， D. Q. （2015）. Cultural Initiative and Pe

4、rsistence of Individual Teachers. Canadian Social Science， 11（4）， -0. Available from： http：/ DOI： http：/dx.doi.org/10.3968/6752 INTRODUCTION Culture is created and developed by humans. Any cultural form is first advocated by individuals. As a value system shared by the teaching group， the teacher cu

5、lture cannot be separated from the cultural abilities of individual teachers. Individual teachers are both creators and guards of the teacher culture. Thus， the evolution， reform and development of the teacher culture relies on the cultural initiative and awareness of individual teachers. The interi

6、or cultural conventionality is the prerequisite for the innovation or reconstruction of the teacher culture. Nowadays， the teacher culture reconstruction has become an issue of great concern for the current educational reform. To reconstruct the teacher culture， cultural initiative and persistence o

7、f individual teachers is inevitable. How should individual teachers achieve cultural innovation？ From the perspective of individual teachers as cultural subjects， this paper analyzes the weakening of individual teachers cultural abilities， points out the possibility of individual teachers cultural p

8、ersistence and encourages individual teachers to persist in their cultural qualities. 1. INDIVIDUAL TEACHERS： SUBJECTS OF THE TEACH CULTURE If the cultural initiative of individual teachers is the prerequisite for individual teachers cultural awareness and persistence， are individual teachers the su

9、bjects of the teacher culture？ When issues related to individuals and social structure are discussed from the perspective of social cultural anthropology， “subject” and “initiative” are regarded as two concepts closely related to the individual awareness， individual building ability and ability to a

10、chieve freedom degree from the external deciding factors. It is “subject” who acts， while “initiative” is the driving force for the action. Individual behaviors are often precisely regulated by the social structure. The moment individuals come to this world， they join the social structure and learn

11、various social and cultural regulations， thus their behaviors are a full demonstration of the social structure of the organization they are in （Rapport & Overing， 2009， p.2）. Therefore， as subjects， individuals first subjectively accept the cultural regulations of their organization. Second， as subj

12、ects， individuals subjective participate in cultural regulations. As cognitive entities with specific intention， individuals create social culture or organization culture by interacting with organizations and other individuals. Thus， individuals have the initiative to create culture. They are the su

13、bjects of cultural creation. At school， individual teachers are subjects who create the teacher culture， so they have the initiative to create the teacher culture. On the one hand， they subjectively receive the shaping of the teacher culture and express the value system of the teacher culture； on th

14、e other hand， they actively participate in the creation of the teacher culture and become subjects who create or transform the teacher culture. There are three progressive layers as to the concept of individual teachers as subjects of the teacher culture， namely “shaper” “expresser” and “actor”. 1.1

15、 Shaper As the shaper of the teacher culture， individual teachers first actively accept cultural rules. Individual teachers have a dual social role in school organizations. On the one hand， they exist as individuals in the school organization. When novel teachers join a school organization， they mus

16、t conform to the schools cultural regulations so as to hold their position. Through learning these regulations， they actively accept the school culture. Generally speaking， the more comprehensive the school regulates the individual teachers， the deeper the novel teachers can integrate themselves in

17、school， the greater their contributions to the smooth running of the school and the higher the possibility is that school can reward their contributions. School shapes individual teachers through affirming and encouraging teachers behaviors to express the school culture， and meeting their demands. T

18、he shaping process is not passively but actively accepted by individuals. On the other hand， individual teachers are an independent social individual. Their value system might not be in line with that of school. When teachers individual value system conflicts that of the teaching group， but individu

19、al teachers still have the desire to meet their individual value demands， individual teachers will actively transform the original teacher culture. In other words， the impetus caused by individual demands is the impetus for the development of the organization. While reconciling the conflicts between

20、 individual and group culture， individual teachers not only are shaped by the teacher culture， but actively transform the teacher culture. The former is more obvious， thus making teachers become the “expresser” of the teacher culture. 1.2 Expresser The teacher culture includes assumptions， standards

21、， institutions， value system and behavior system for teachers. It should be expressed by teachers language， behaviors and institutions. When individual teachers are shaped by the teacher culture， they will control their language and behaviors within the culture framework. They even decide what they

22、should talk about， which teaching method and management they should adopt， which kind of people they should interact with and even what they should wear according to the identity regulated by the teacher culture. Thus， individual teachers express the teacher culture of a school after joining it. Ind

23、ividual teachers express the teacher culture explicitly and implicitly. The explicit expression methods include teachers language and manners， such as teaching methods， interaction methods， management methods， language and dress code. The implicit expression methods include assumptions， significance

24、， value orientation and faith behind teachers implicit behaviors. Both manners and language demonstrate assumptions， value orientation and faiths implied by the teacher culture. Generally speaking， the explicit and implicit expression methods are integral. The implicit expressions are behind the exp

25、licit expressions， which can be recognized only through the analysis of the latter. These assumptions， value orientation and faiths are shared by individual teachers through the school cultures guidance of individual teachers. Teachers expression of the teacher culture is often an unconscious and au

26、tomatic process. Despite that， their preexistent experiences are not always in a passive position. These preexistent experiences help subjects reflect on and construct new experiences. In this way， individual teachers express the teacher culture and actively reflect it. Sometimes， they even run into

27、 conflicts with the culture of the teaching group. Thus， individual teachers not only express the teacher culture， but act as the subject behind the teacher culture. 1.3 Subject Individual teachers are not passively shaped by or express the teacher culture， but gradually interact with the organizati

28、on through the individual subjective choice and integrate themselves with the teacher culture through the reconciliation of conflicts and the adjustment of psychological mechanism. “Culture is shared through interaction.” School prompts individual teachers to conform to the value system of the teach

29、ing group by meeting the demands of the individual teachers. This provides the possibility for the full play of individual teachers initiative. Before entering a school， individual teachers has already developed a culture diagram. The preexistent culture diagram becomes the background for them to re

30、ceive the new school culture. After individual teachers identity themselves with the school culture， they will express the culture through their own behaviors. On the other hand， if individual teachers do not identify themselves with some assumptions， value orientation and faiths of the school cultu

31、re， individual teachers might be reserved or even resistant to the school culture， or they might submit themselves to the school culture. Under all the above situations， individual teachers inevitably become the subject of the teacher culture. “Individuals keep recreating their significance， percept

32、ion， evaluation and behaviors； they deny the essence of their creations and reshape them. They seem to be reality surrounded by the objective historical and social culture， but they can still transcend the cruelty of reality and overcome the core of things by believing in the possibility of persistent significance. The given possibility （in the structure） and the possibility which is a part of the individual life influence each other. The individual experiences cannot be simplified as objective definitiveness.” Individual humans are active participators in this worl