Running head: CULTURAL EXPLORATION PAPER 1

Cultural Exploration Paper

Shelly Treleaven

ECC 515: Leadership and Counselling Diverse Cultures in Education

M. Ed. in Leadership

City University of Seattle in Canada

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Abstract

All people are the sum of their experiences. To have an understanding of how these experiences

influence both perception of events and manner of interacting with others offers one the ability to

authentically engage meaningfully with others. This paper will explore how family of origin,

culture, and biases developed from childhood together with the values and beliefs that are based

on them impacts the world view and professional practice of the individual. This exploration

will develop an understanding of the life experiences that have significantly impacted the author

and how they are reflected in the navigation of their professional and social interactions.
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Personal Reflections

I come from parents that were first generation Canadian, and white middle class. My

mother’s family originated in Ireland while my father’s family was from Scotland. Both sets of

grandparents were active in my childhood where spending time with family was expected. Both

sets of grandparents were extremely proud to be Canadian which resulted in little being shared

about family stories and history prior to coming to Canada. As a young person I did not know

any differently, but the lack of family background made me curious about culture and history.

I was born the third girl to a father who wanted a son, and this desire for a boy child

impacted my perceived worth as a girl. It became evident very early in life that gender mattered

and being male was preferred to being female. Not only did a person’s gender matter, but

adhering to gender roles was expected and if one varied from them, they would be chastised. My

father expected blind obedience and exemplary behaviour. Any time one did not meet his

standards one could expect corporal punishment. He was a vicious man who responded to all

conflict with physical aggression, which resulted in many beatings. This authoritarian behaviour

illustrated to me that men had power because of their physical abilities. This lead me to believe

that unless a man was physically powerful, they held no authority.

My mother was raised at a time when women were generally expected to do as they were

told. Finding herself in an abusive relationship were she was demonized as the cause of the

violence rather than treated as a victim, demonstrated to me that conflict was to be avoided. She

eventually placed herself in the role of martyr as she believed that she would be unable to

provide for her children financially if she were to leave and therefore needed to remain with my

father. Leaving him only became an option when she was made aware of the sexual abuse he
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was inflicting on his daughters. These priorities modeled the need to place others needs before

my own, unless there was a moral imperative to intervene.

I had two older sisters and a younger brother. The age separation between my oldest

sister and me was 6 years and my brother was 3 years younger than me. One sister was

cognitively impaired and my brother had atypical brain connections which resulted in muscle

and motor impairments. My siblings and I were always treated the same, therefore my

perspective of inclusion was formed at a very young age.

I was born in Calgary and after grade one moved to Edmonton where I changed schools

two times in the next two years. Our family then moved to Lacombe when I started grade four.

At the time, Lacombe was a small town that was extremely different than the cities I had become

used to. In Lacombe, most students were from farms and they were different, from the clothes

they wore to the food they ate. I had to adapt quickly so as to not become the target of bullying.

I learned early that one does not have to go very far to experience significant culture shock.

Moving a number of times in early elementary, forced me to meet new people and learn to make

friends. I always considered myself shy, but I developed an ability and willingness to reach out

to new people.

In grade seven, my father attempted suicide, and at that time my life began to unravel.

His professional behaviour it turned out was no better than his at home. He had tried to commit

suicide rather than face the consequences of fraud charges, then the abuse was revealed and those

charges were also laid. A young person only knows what they live, and I thought all dads were

like mine. This experience taught me many things and not all of them were good. As Trickett,

Noll and Putnam (2001) indicated that children of this type of abuse tended to struggle with self
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esteem, self efficacy, and parenting skills, so did I. As I got older, I began to seek outside

support for personal development. These struggles have enhanced my ability to suspend

judgement and always attempt to figure out the other person’s perspective. The understanding

that you don’t know what you don’t know has provided me with a great deal of empathy for

others.

Evolution of Worldview

As a young person I had an external locus of control as I felt that very little of my

behaviour or life circumstances were within my control. I was to do as I was told and nothing

more. Severe consequences were inflicted if attitude or behaviour was ever out of line.

In early teenhood my life began to evolve as a result my father going to jail. My mother

was fragile and needed support, but I wanted to rebel against everything. My father’s side of my

family abandoned me. All the family that I received support from was now gone and resulted in

feeling lost and as though I could no longer trust my feelings. I was confused about human

nature and struggled with my faith. It was at this time that I began engaging in many risky

behaviours.

My mother remarried and I felt lucky. I was given a second chance to have a dad. This

new man was very different. He engaged me in thought provoking conversations and valued me

as a person. I still was not trusting, but I was becoming hopeful. Over the next few years the

risky behaviour stopped and I was able to see that I had a future.

I met and married my husband at age twenty. I was young, but felt that I was mature and

ready for this commitment. My role models for marriage had demonstrated terrible qualities and

behaviours and with little understanding, our early years together were tumultuous. My
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husband’s family connected with me and I learned from them how other families behaved.

While there were many challenges in this family as well, I now had another perspective. Having

had a person commit to being present while showing compassion for my struggles for over thirty

years has demonstrated a depth of character that I had never had modelled for me. It has been

the result of this relationship that I have learned to trust and have faith in humanity.

My worldview will continue to evolve as I continue to mature, but presently it is that

humanity is equal and that we all deserve love, compassion, hope and faith.

Influence of Culture on Professional Practice

Emotion, conflict, and lack of efficacy are the three areas that influence my professional

practice.

Emotional connection is both necessary and problematic in education. Emotion is

necessary as caring for students and colleagues impacts the relationships and learning in a

positive manner. It is a struggle in my professional practice as the emotional connections affect

me deeply, I can find it exhausting. Through my own experiences, I am able to empathize with

students, but there is a cost to me. There have been times when a student conversation stirs up

dormant memories that impacts my perception of a situation. I have found that my reactions

were at times not related to the issue at hand. I have had to seek counselling in order to grow my

own resilience to navigate these emotions.

Conflict is still daunting. It was always modelled that to challenge authority resulted in

physical revenge. As a result of this upbringing, I struggled when students, parents or colleagues

challenged me as there were times when I responded as if I was being personally attacked. I

knew cognitively the appropriate methods of responding in these situations, but culturally I will
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continue to develop my ability to modify and control the impulse to lash out. There are still

times when I find myself capitulating rather than engaging in conflict as the fear of revenge still

haunts me.

I became a teacher later as I did not think I was capable of achieving success as a student

or persistent enough to complete the required courses. To feel worthy of the investment and time

necessary to get my undergrad degree took many years to garner, but the impact of that success

has lead to further success academically. It was only through maturation and experience that I

was able to see my value as a learner and as a person.

Conclusion

My exposure to negative worldviews has provided me a unique perspective. I know now

that it is possible to endure and thrive with support. Actively seeking support for developing a

more global worldview will remain necessary. How my worldview positively impacts my ability

to teach is that I understand the necessity of ensuring students can see a future for themselves

and that they have value. I recognize that they need to have good role models that show them

how kindness is important and that conflict is not always scary, but that it may be necessary to

affect change. I believe all people need to be heard so they know their ideas are valued and

interesting. I see the value in diversity and have a desire for everyone to understand that being

different is okay and that everyone belongs.

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References

Trickett, P. K., Noll, J. G., & Putnam, F. W. (2011). The impact of sexual abuse on female

development: Lessons from a multigenerational, longitudinal research study.

Development and Psychopathology, 23(​ 2), 453-76.