Past projects

Components of Culture: Symbols, Language, and Values

Prepared by Jean Smith as part of the Fulbright-Hays Seminars to New Zealand 2003.

Grade: 10-12

Executive summary

Culture is the combination of all the physical and behavioral aspects of a society. To study the people within a society, how they function, and what they value, gives the sociology student a more thorough understanding of society. While students do benefit from a close examination of their own culture, in order to broaden one's mindset to the world community, comparisons will be made between mainstream American culture and other cultures of the world.

As a sociology teacher, it is my intention to help my students appreciate the complexity of world culture and to recognize that every culture has its own valid and authentic version of society. Furthermore, my goal here is to provide my students with the opportunity to learn about many cultures from all over the world, not just one or two. Therefore while I have included examples from New Zealand and Māori culture in this unit, I have included many other cultures as well. My purpose was not to simply teach the culture of New Zealand; that is another lesson. Instead, my focus here is to use various examples from around the world, including New Zealand, to help my students begin to appreciate the enormous variety that world cultures present.

The study of society begins with basic components of culture, including symbols, language, and values. This unit will examine each of these components in turn. Each lesson includes a power point presentation for teacher use, as well as suggestions for classroom activities which will further student learning.

Table of contents

• Unit Summary
• Unit Focus Questions
• Social Science Learning Standards
• Unit Objectives
• Teaching Strategies: The Components of Culture (Lessons 1-3)
• Additional Resources
• References
• Appendixes

Components of Culture: Symbols, Language, and Values	smithj.pdf (163kB)
Components of Culture: Symbols (PowerPoint Presentation)	smithj-symbols.ppt (1.11MB)
Components of Culture: Language (PowerPoint Presentation)	smithj-language.ppt (590kB)
Components of Culture: Values (PowerPoint Presentation)	smithj-values.ppt (1.45MB)