Education is a major part of culture. Depending on where we come from and what our culture tells us we learn in different ways, and are educated in different ways. I find it particularly interesting to look at how there are so many ways in which children learn, and how certain ways of learning are preferred to others depending on the culture. For example, I have noticed that in Panama, people are very aware of religious beliefs when deciding how to educate their children, what extracurricular classes to sign them up for, and where to enroll them into school. Also, in my experience, and to my knowledge, parents in the US are not are concerned with religion as parents in Panama. Parents in the US are more concerned with giving their kids a good education, at a public school near their home.
Another aspect in learning that I think is important are the things that are emphasized in schools. For example I find it interesting how in certain cultures sexual education is not a normal school subject, neither is it appropriate to talk about it in the home. In other countries, art and history are valued and highly regarded as topics that should be taught to children, and in other places the most important thing to learn is math and physics. It is intriguing how from culture to culture, important subject matters to teach children vary so much.
I think it is incredibly important to respect other cultures, especially when it comes to education, because it is the basis of their beliefs. If a culture believes that teaching their children about art and history is what is supposed to be done, we should respect this and try to understand their point of view. Even if we don’t agree with certain cultural beliefs regarding education, such as sexual education, it is not our job to judge, we should just respect, and learn to accept that their beliefs are as valid as ours, even if we don’t agree with them.
JoeyLoreto 