Relevancy - Linking Policy to Student Lives

Each of us is socialized from childhood with a worldview that influences values, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. These cultural lenses shape the way events are perceived, information is processed, and the allegiances we form in adult life that attain the status of unquestioned givens in adulthood (Brookfield, 1987). Power exists in all personal relationships, social interactions, and in the production and distribution of wealth.

Using the same reflective exercise at the beginning of this module, have the students develop an autobiographical analysis of their cultural world views.
This assignment can take the form of a 5-minute paper or a 20-page research project. The point is to have the students:

1. Apply habits of critical analysis to their own lives.
2. Identify the hidden cultural assumptions that have shaped their world view invested in power relationships, individual versus societal tensions, and short-term versus long-term outcome attainment.
   • Whose voice is heard?
   • Who does it benefit?
   • Who does it harm?

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