sonja boyd eth305v assignment 4

Sonja Boyd: ETH305VStudent Number:47744561

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NAME: SONJA BOYD

STUDENT NUMBER: 47744561

COURSE: ETH 305V

COURSE NAME: MULTICULTURAL

EDUCATION

UNIQUE NUMBER: 739284

ASSIGMENT 4

SEMESTER 2


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SECTION A: LIFE STORY

I am Sonja Boyd; I am 31 year old white female. In my

community they consider me to belong to a White English

Culture but my father is Afrikaans and we mostly followed

the Afrikaans culture but spoke English the reason for this

is because my mum spoke English and is a British and my

dad is Afrikaans and a South African, I am of Christian

faith. Today I am going to discuss more about my culture so

that you will get to know how my culture works. My culture is

mostly run through the language culture and not run strictly

according to religion.

My family consists of my father, mother, and two sisters. My

father is the authority of the family and my mother is under my

father and we follow both parents. My father has the authority

to make any decisions regarding what happens within the

household and what happens outside. My mother is in charge of

looking after the children and making sure that the house is in

order, my mum has to make sure that we get fed, clothed and

make sure our schoolwork is done. I am the eldest of my two

sisters and I am responsible for taking care of them and making

sure that they do not do anything naughty and my other two

sisters have to obey and follow our rules. The children’s jobs in

my family are to play and to do basic chores. Our family is a

very strict and close family and any problems that may happen

are dealt with by my dad, through corporal punishment.

The roles of people in my culture are clearly defined. The

priest is the community leader in our church. After the Priest

comes the role of the Afrikaans community. In the Afrikaans

community your father is regarded as the person in charge and

men are expected to work and earn a living and the women are

expected to take care of the children. The grandparents are


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there to help you when you need help and are the one with gifts

to spoil you. In the use language this role is very important

because this defines who you are and whether you were

important or not. If we spoke English to my dad or my dad’s

grandparents we were not respected or accepted as one of them

and were treated differently. But if we spoke English to my

mum’s side we were treated properly, we never spoke

Afrikaans to them because we went to an English school and

my mum spoke English to us.

Discipline is done by my father; he has the authority over us

children. What counts as discipline in terms of my culture is

that if we disobey, or disrespect people that are older than us

we will receive a hiding in any form, we were never punished

by the way children are punished now. The forms of behaviour

that is considered socially acceptable for children of different

ages and gender are that children under the age of 18 are not

allowed to drink as well as you cannot get a driver’s license

until you are 18. Children are not allowed to leave home until

they have finished school. Between the ages of birth to 8 years

your duty as a child is to play and after the age of 8 years old

you have to help your mom with household chores if you are a

female and if you are male you have to help with the garden

and your dad.

In my home we speak both English and Afrikaans, we speak

mostly English. My mum speaks English to us and my dad

speaks Afrikaans to us. In the Afrikaans culture the way you

greet a person is kissing the person hello on the lips or on the

cheek and a hug at the same time or if it is of business nature

you will shake hands. When we greet a person by hugging it is

showing the person we care and love them, however we don’t

hug strangers we just hug people that are known to the family.

When we greet a person that is a relative or someone who is

older than you, you address them as aunty or uncle. We are


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allowed to talk to anybody anywhere, slang in our culture is

regarded as rude and therefore it is not used. In terms of eye-

contact we are expected to look at each other in the eyes

otherwise you would be regarded as being rude and not

listening, when we look a person in the eye it is showing the

person respect and that we are listening.

In terms of Religion, norms, values and meaningful

existence, what is considered sacred in my religion is the bible

and the symbol of the cross is considered holy in my religion.

Everything around us is considered secular such as our house,

schools, work and our environment we live in. My culture

recognises all other religions and their authorities, but our own

religion is our authority to us. For my culture God is the

Supreme authority and the church and its elders and we follow

as a family. We believe that the history of God’s people and

lessons from God are in the bible, which was written by men

but were guided from God. Prayer does play a role in my life,

we pray in the morning, evening, before supper and when we

are at church on Sundays. The holidays we celebrate are Easter

(when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead),

Christmas (when Jesus was born), and the Ascension Day

(when he ascended into heaven). It does conflict with the

mainstream society today because the ascension is not a public

holiday anymore but we do however celebrate Christmas and

Easter, although the true meaning of Christmas and Easter as

we see it is not recognised by everybody. The principles we

follow are mainly biblical, such as the Ten Commandments,

which emphasize love your God as you love of neighbour. Our

norms and values are based on religion. The norms and values

have not changed because the source is the Bible which has not

changed in 2000 years of its existence. Firstly the state will

reprimand the person if any laws are broken, secondly the

church leader can reprimand members of the church if the


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behaviour can be damaging to self, others or the church. An

example can be adultery, slander, violence, and theft. The state

reprimands by means of the court and prisons as well as

implementing fines. The church reprimands in terms of verbal

confrontation or reporting to the authority if needed or by

expelling the person from the church. The activities I would

regard as being useful to exist meaningfully is like going to

church, volunteering, going to work, entertainment, teaching

and learning. The educator can assist by encouraging learners

to actively engage in the activities mentioned above.

The foods we eat are based on the Westernised culture. Mostly

from the European module, but also including some from other

cultures, like Indian, African, Chinese, Japanese and Ethiopian

food. During meals it is good manners to eat with eating

utensils and no talking around the table. There are no

obligations apart from the obligations of looking after one

another with regards to social obligations. We thank the Lord

for the food we eat and thank him for everything. Amen. This

is just thanking the lord for providing us with the food.

In our tradition and customs, we attend Church on Sundays,

and we celebrate holidays around the Christian calendar.

During the Easter holidays we celebrate Easter by the Easter

bunny, during the Christmas holidays we celebrate the birth of

Christ by giving gifts to family members and friends. The

forms of classical paintings, classical composers and modern

paintings and modern composers who are seen as experts in

their field are seen as highly valued amongst our culture.

Traditionally the media we use today to communicate with

people are through newspapers, radio, television, books and the

internet.

The reason why we have Education is to help people learn

about the values and norms of society and to gain productive


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employment. Father-child interaction, mother-child interaction,

and Father and mother interaction, the methods of teaching and

learning at home are reading, television, radio, internet, and

other socialises. It is appropriate that student such as myself to

ask for information from a teacher as this will show the teacher

that I am learning and taking part in the learning process. What

constitutes a positive response from a teacher is when the

teacher encourages the learners when they are battling with

their work by spending more time with the learner, and that the

teacher encourages a positive environment. The pupil’s

response as in my life would be to work harder and know that if

I put a positive attitude towards my education the prospects of

my future will look better. In my opinion parents of a

particular group may have their own expectations of their own

children. Teachers have expectations of different types of

groups but I have never experienced any difference in treatment

amongst my fellow classmates. There was no reward system

that was used, only at the end of term when we received

distinctions we were awarded certificates and also if we

improved in our subjects.

In the Lifestyle of my family, it was living in authoritative and

strict living conditions. We spent most of our free time doing

work for my parents especially my father such as gardening,

painting, and cleaning. We never had free play because if we

were not working we had to study. The planned activities we

did revolved around the school holidays whereby we went and

spent the holidays at my grandparents’ house. In my teenage

life I spent most of my teenage life in sports activities and

helping my family. The hobbies I partook in were cycling,

running, swimming, reading, hockey, Drum Majorettes and

other extra school curricula. The pets we have at home are

dogs and cats.


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In my culture the dress code depends on the situation,

however we mostly dress in casual westernised clothing. In

school we had to adhere to the school’s dress code, girls had to

wear dresses and boys have to wear either shorts or long pants

with a shirt. Our dresses were not allowed to be higher than

four fingers above the knee. Our hair was not allowed to be

dyed or any hair gel is not permitted. When there were special

occasions or going out we had to dress smartly in a dress and

hair made up. For confirmation we have to wear a white dress

as well as for our weddings as this show purity. We were not

allowed to wear anything that showed our flesh above the knees

and stomach as this was considered that we were prostitutes.

In my culture we divide class into social classes, the Upper

high class people (Elite), Middle class (working class), and low

class (poor). The High class are considered those people who

have power and have lots of income from high paid jobs or

were born into wealthy families, Middle Class are regarded as

those people that earn salaries but are not rich but not poor

either, then we have the Low income class whereby these

people are low income earners and who rely on the state for

subsides and housing. In my current life we still face poverty

but we are regarded as the middle class, however there is a lot

of poverty facing people everyday due to the economic

downturn and people losing jobs everyday. Material objects are

not valued in my life, because we will not take these material

things when we die, and material objects do not define who you

are as a person or family. The most valuable object in my life is

my family.


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b) Write the life story of someone that does not belong

to your culture, in the same format

I am Sandile Ngube and I am 16 years old. In my community

they consider us to belong to the Zulu culture and I am black, in

my family our faith consists of a mixture of traditional and

Christianity. I live in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

My family consists of my Mother, Father, 4 sisters and a

brother. However we have other relatives that stay with us that

are in our blood line. In our Zulu culture it is a sign of respect,

parents and elders are not called by their names, instead their

surnames are used. In the Zulu culture, my father is seen as the

main authority in my family because a man is the head of the

family, and all decisions regarding my family are done through

my father’s approval. My father is the sole provider in my

family and is responsible for providing food on the table. My

mother is a stay at home who takes care of the family needs. If

there are problems within the household it is done with talking

with one another and my father caries out the discipline. In my

family discipline is carried out by giving us punishment and

talking.

The roles of people in my culture are clearly defined. The

priest is regarded as the community leader and we follow him

accordingly. The man of the family is seen as the authority,

therefore the responsibilities my father are is responsible for the

protection of family members, regulating procreation,

providing love, loyalty and non-contingent emotional support,

housing, feeding and clothing of my family. My mother is the

housewife and she has to take care of us by educating us about


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our traditions, values, norms and beliefs. My mum is always

there when we need her; she provides the security and certainty

of human

Our everyday relationships and she protects us from danger and

the restfulness of tranquil existence. We as the children fall

under our parent’s authority and we are expected to abide there

rules and go to school to receive an education. The roles of the

female daughter fall under the guidance of my mother, whereby

my mum teaches the girls on how to take care of their

household roles which prepares them for their future of being a

mother. The boys are under the guidance of my father where

he teaches us the how to take responsibility and to work in the

gardens.

The discipline in my family is done by my father or my

mother; however it is mostly done by my father. In my family

discipline is carried out through either getting spoken too or by

being given a hiding. We follow very strict rules and have to

abide by them. We have to respect our elders and may not

speak unless we are spoken too; we are not allowed to look into

the eyes of our elders as it is regarded as disrespectful.

The language that is spoken in my home is mostly IsiZulu, but

we do sometimes communicate in English when we have

visitors. Addressing those who are older than me, especially

elderly and senior people, by their first names is viewed as lack

of respect. Therefore terms like baba (father) and mama

(mother) are used not only to address one's parents but also

other senior males and females of the community. Sawubona is

usually enough of a greeting for strangers, but a formal greeting

is more appropriate for those who are familiar. The formal

greeting includes a three-time handshake, while asking about

the well-being of the person and his or her relations (Ninjani?).


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Taking leave involves the standard Sala/Nisale kahle (Remain

well), and the other person responds by saying,

Uhambe/Nihambe kahle (Go well). It is customary for juniors

and the young to initiate the greetings when they meet their

seniors and their elders. When we approach our elders we have

to either kneel before and we may not look directly into the

eyes of the adult as this would be seen as disrespect to the elder

because the elder has earned their position to be there. We are

not allowed to communicate without being addressed first.

My religion is very important to my culture, we belong to the

Christian community but we also follow some traditional belief

.We believe in the Ancestral spirits are important in our

religious life. Our symbols for our belief are known as the

Cross, dove, anchor, fish, alpha and omega, chi rho we go and

worship in the church. What we consider sacred in our religion

is the Bible which is comprised of the Old Testament and New

Testament. In our church we have the following leaders in

which we follow they are the Priest; bishop; archbishop;

patriarch; pope; pastor; minister; preacher; and lastly the

deacon, and then our family comes after. We celebrate the same

calendar as the Christians; we celebrate Christmas, Easter,

Good Friday, Lent, as well as Heritage Day. We don’t go to

any Zulu church but we go to a Christian church and worship

God, we believe that Jesus died on the cross and was buried for

our sins, we believe that we were all born sinners and that Jesus

will come again alongside God and judgement day will come.

The belief we follow is to “Know, love and serve God”. We do

however follow some traditional beliefs but we no longer

practice it due to the fact we live in a more westernized culture,

however we do some rituals to mark special occasions.

Offerings and sacrifices are made to the ancestors for

protection, good health, and happiness. Ancestral spirits come

back to the world in the form of dreams, illnesses, and


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sometimes snakes. We also believe in the use of magic.

Anything beyond our understanding, such as bad luck and

illness, is considered to be sent by an angry spirit. When this

happens, the help of a diviner (soothsayer) or herbalist is

sought. He or she will communicate with the ancestors or use

natural herbs and prayers to get rid of the problem. We believe

in a creator god known as Nkulunkulu, who doesn't get

involved in day-to-day human affairs. Instead, the Zulu’s

appeal to ancestral spirits called AmaDlozi, or to divination for

assistance with sorcery and evil spirits, which we believe, are

the causes of our misfortune. There are numerous ceremonies

that relate to an individual's stage in the domestic cycle and

also are linked to ancestors. When we were babies we are

named and then introduced to the ancestors in a ceremony

called imbeleko. A girl's first menstruation is celebrated

through a ceremony called umhlonyane. Both of these

ceremonies involve slaughtering a goat. Young women are

declared adults and ready for marriage through a ceremony

called umemulo, which involves slaughtering a cow. Marriage

is celebrated through a wedding ceremony (umshado or

umgcagco). Death is a ceremonial occasion accompanied by

appropriate rites of passage. Another important ceremony is

conducted a year after a household member has died and is

supposed to link the deceased with his or her long-departed

relatives and elevate him or her to ancestorhood. We pray to

our ancestors and God, we pray in the evening. We believe our

ancestors are the mediator between God and us that if anything

happens it is because of our ancestors communicating with us.


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In our Christian beliefs concerning God we believe the

following:

• There is only one God

• God is a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit

• God is perfect

• God is omnipotent

• God is everywhere

• God knows everything

• God created the universe

• God keeps the universe going

• God intervenes in the universe

• God loves everyone unconditionally (though people

have to comply with various conditions in order to achieve

salvation)

• Human beings can get to know God through prayer,

worship, love, and mystical experiences

• Human beings can get to know God through God's

grace - that is through his love and his power God the Son

• God lived on earth as Jesus

• Jesus was both wholly God and wholly human

• Jesus was born to a human woman, Mary, but

conceived of the Holy Spirit

• Because Jesus was wholly human he was subject to

pain, suffering, and sorrow like other human beings

• Jesus was executed by crucifixion but rose from the

dead at the Resurrection

• Jesus's life provides a perfect example of how God

wants people to live


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• Jesus died on the Cross so that those who believe in him

will be forgiven all their sins

God the Holy Spirit

• After the Resurrection, Jesus remained on earth for only

a few days before going up into Heaven

• Jesus promised that he would stay with his followers, so

after he went to Heaven he sent his Spirit to guide them

• The Holy Spirit continues to guide, comfort, and

encourages Christians

A person in our community is reprimanded by the government

and the law, if it has something to do with the community the

punishment will be carried out by the elders and often the

community will approach the pastor for help.

The food we eat is the normal Westernized culture food, except

we don’t eat pork or drink milk, but we love to eat our meilie

meal, amasi (curdled milk), meat from the cow, beans,

vegetables, and chicken. . The Zulu traditional beer is not only

a staple food but a considerable source of nutrition. It is also

socially and ritually important and is drunk on all significant

occasions. We eat with a spoon or with our hands, and we don’t

sit at a table we sit in front of the television and eat, and we

don’t talk to one another when we do sit together whilst we eat.

When we have family gatherings all the elders being the wives

and grandmothers, aunts and daughters help with the

preparation of the food and the men sit and talk. We celebrate

special occasions such as a graduation where we slaughter a

cow and have a big party. We also celebrate weddings and

birthdays. When it comes to giving food out to the men we are

not allowed to eat first as the men have to eat until they are full

and then the women and children are only then allowed starting


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eating their meal. At meal times usually the men will be

together and eat and the ladies will eat together.

In our tradition the holidays and celebrations are run

according to the South African calendar, we celebrate New

Year’s Day on the 1st January, Human Rights Day, Good

Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday, Family Day (Monday

after Easter), Freedom Day, Workers Day, Youth Day, National

Woman’s Day, Heritage Day, Day of Reconciliation,

Christmas Day (the birth of Jesus), Day of Goodwill the day

after Christmas. In our tradition the most valued art is

expressed through many different art forms, such as music,

dance, art, sculpture and beadwork and basketry. These

traditions are deeply ingrained into our whole African culture.

Listening is an equally important skill, which has been

perfected by the traditional oral practices. Numerous songs and

dances have been transmitted by word of mouth. Music is a

form of communication and it plays a functional role in our

culture. Songs accompany marriage, birth, rites of passage,

hunting and even political activities. Music is often used in our

culture to ward off evil spirits and to pay respects to good

spirits, the dead and ancestors. The most significant instrument

in African music is the African drum. It expresses the mood of

the people and evokes emotion. The beat of the African drum is

the “heartbeat of the community” and its rhythm is what holds

the dancers together. Dance is an integral part of the culture; it

utilizes symbolic gestures, masks, costumes, body painting and

props to communicate. The dance movements can be simple or

complex with intricate actions including fast rotation, ripples of

the body and contraction and release. Dance is used to express

emotion, whether joyful or sorrowful and it is not limited to just

the dancers. Often spectators will be encouraged to join in. The

masks that are used in dances have religious, ceremonial and

functional origins. The artist who carves the mask will


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ceremonially purify himself and offer prayers to his ancestors

for guidance before he begins the actual carving of the mask.

The mask represents a spirit and it is believed that the spirit

possesses the dancer as they wear the mask. The chosen dancer

goes into a trance-like state in order to receive guidance and

wisdom from the ancestors. The dancer will utter and moan the

messages received and a wise man, who accompanies the

dancer, will translate the message. What is well known

amongst our culture is the beadwork we do. The colour of each

bead carries a specific meaning. The beads have been used to

carry messages known as “ucu,” a Zulu term loosely translated

as “love letters”. It is an African tradition for young girls to

send a boy a beaded bracelet of different colours. The boy will

court her for a while and at the appropriate time; he will ask her

the meaning of the beads. Art and sculpture are prevalent in

African culture. and the most common themes depict a couple,

a woman and child, a male with a weapon or animal, or a

“stranger.” Couples are usually freestanding figures of the same

size, representing the importance of “two as one.” A male and

female couple in African art usually depicts strength and

honour rather than love and intimacy, as it is uncommon for

African men and women to publicly display their affection. A

mother and child couple can represent “mother earth” and her

people or the strong bond between mother and child. The male

figure with a weapon or animal, represent honour to departed

ancestors. African men are often honoured in warfare and there

is a great emphasis on weaponry in African art, as it depicts

survival and power. When the stranger is represented in African

art, it usually depicts someone from a foreign country or tribe

that is not welcomed. In our modern society that we live in we

would use the television as a source of media and newspapers,

as well as listening to contemporary music, we enjoy listening

to the Hip Hop music, traditional Zulu songs and pop music.


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The purpose Education in the Zulu culture, my mother is

responsible for teaching us our customs, attitudes and other

details of culture. In turn, we as the children will take care of

our parents when we start working. If we break this cycle we

will be viewed as a community outcast, one who has forgotten

about his or her roots. However it is very important for us to be

educated in our family because it is our future that we look

forward to and without education we will be in the same

position as our fellow illiterate people so it is crucial that we

obtain a decent education to conform to our society today. In

our culture when it comes to questions posed in the classroom

we are not allowed to volunteer information because the

teacher knows best and know more than me, and if I question

her ability it would be regarded as disrespect to the elder.

Therefore it is a difficult obstacle if the teacher asks for my

opinion, but now we have textbooks to back up my answer

which makes it easier to participate in classroom discussions. I

find in my classroom that the teacher has expectations for each

one of us individually but I do find that she is biased towards us

but that is because she does not understand my culture and if

she did understand then she would understand why we don’t

behave the same way as her culture. I however attend a public

system and our reward system is that if you get distinctions you

get recognised by certificates.

The Lifestyle adhered to in my family is an authoritative

lifestyle, my parents will use corporal punishment if it is

required, otherwise my parents will punish me in terms of

taking away privileges and talking to me. In my home we do

have planned activities such as going to church on Sundays and

celebrations but over the holidays and weekends we go out

when we feel like gathering together at the mall to go shopping.

If I’m not out over the weekends playing with my friends then I


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will be working in someone’s garden for pocket money. I am a

teenager and we go and watch movies, and go shopping with

friends at the mall. However most of my time is spent on

studying to get a better education to be a doctor. I enjoy

athletics and netball as well as reading, this is my hobbies I

love doing in my free time. At my home we don’t have any

pets.

In my culture we dress according to the westernised culture

mostly, however we only wear our traditional clothes on special

occasions, such as Shaka's Day and cultural gatherings.

Traditional clothing, however, is very colourful. Men, women,

and children wear beads as accessories. Men wear amabheshu,

made of goat or cattle skin, which looks like a waist apron,

worn at the back. They decorate their heads with feathers and

fur. Men also wear frilly goatskin bands on their arms and legs.

Women wear isidwaba, a traditional Zulu black skirt made of

goat or cattle skin. If a woman is not married, she may wear

only strings of beads to cover the top part of the body. If she is

married, she will wear a T-shirt.

In the Zulu culture class is distinguished by social class, we

have the Upper class of the immensely wealthy and/or powerful

people, middle class which consists managers and highly paid

professionals and the Lower class of people paid average or

low wages or receiving "welfare". Some are homeless. My

family follows this social status as this is the norm of the

urbanised culture we follow today. I believe that social status of

people will never be done away with because people prefer to

measure themselves against something and feel they have

accomplished something in life. Poverty does impact on

everybody’s lives, especially for some of my family members

who live in the rural areas, because they are illiterate and are

unable to get a job they have less money to buy food and they

don’t have electricity, or running water. However we are


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regarded as middle class because we live in the urban areas and

my father has a wonderful job of being a manager in a shop, so

he is able to provide for all our essential needs and help my

other family members that don’t live with us.


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sonja boyd eth305v assignment 4

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