Personality Identity Cohorts

People with the same social identities form groups which include, but not limited to, religious groups, race, gender, and cultural groups. The groups we identify with have a very important role in determining how we relate with one another, and how we face problems, and challenges in the world. More importantly, it is these personal identity cohorts that set limits to our imaginations and thoughts and hence the way we think and act. For instance, gender may dictate what a person gets involved in, as the person’s main aim will be to increase their capacity to serve in their gender role as expected by the society. Similarly, a race will also determine the potential of a person to get involved in something and the manner in which the person is involved.

For instance, law students may be expected by the society to be vocally active. Law students are, therefore, more likely to be in favor of active class participation, equality with their lecturer, and the freedom to question what the lecturer teaches in class. The mentality of the law students would thus be as a result of the culture of the law society of America. The effect of culture on student life is big. Culture affects student lives in many ways, some of which occur at a subconscious level and hence difficult for them to comprehend. In order to create an environment for better learning and absorption of content taught in schools, the American education system has evolved to an all rounded system.

The American education system allows student-teacher and student-student interactions that allow for the best learning conditions. The resulting culture in American education favors student-teacher equality. Teachers are therefore only available to students for the sake of facilitating the learning process (Hurst, 1998). Unlike in hierarchical cultures where students are expected to show certain respect and interact with teachers in a certain restricted manner, students in the United States have the freedom to interact with their teachers for the purpose of learning. The students apply to schools of their choice where they enroll in courses of their choice. The culture thus makes American students assume control of their lives and hence be more responsible for success in their education. Since most American students end up taking a certain course out of there will, they exhibit passion in their coursework and hence participate in helping their institutions to provide them with better education (Routman, 2005).

In addition, most of the top-ranked learning institutions in America are private. Stakeholders in education have to part with a considerable part of their financial resources to fund education. In situations where the learners are expected to know calculus, however, learners will put more effort in understanding calculus. The example above shows that the need to learn is propelled by external impetus. The culture, through defining problems in the society, is, therefore, the external impetus that propels learners to want to know what they are taught. Moreover, students are more likely to put more effort their need to know something if they learn that other people in their society know about it. Since students learn for the purpose of using their knowledge with the society, an interaction of the students with the society can influence their perception they have on education.