6/3/20; Week 7: Response to Culture and Psychology Video

In his lecture on culture and psychology, Brother Ivers discusses the concept of the culturally created ought self. (See his lecture here: https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Culture+and+Psychology/0_s4h3d6bc.) This term refers to the cultural expectation of what we as a person should be, what we ought to be, essentially. For me, the ought self I envision is a product of American culture and American Mormon culture. Brother Ivers explains that when our real self (who we actually are) differs from the culturally created ought self we envision, often our self-esteem suffers as a result. Although I’ve come a long way in combatting that tendency in my own mind, I’ve definitely seen that happen, both to me and people I care about. For example, as a 32-year-old American Mormon woman, sometimes I feel bad about the fact that I am not yet married and have no children, because that’s what American Mormon culture tells me the ought self is for a 32-year-old American Mormon woman. I have other single friends who feel the same way.

It's difficult, but necessary, for us to examine the ought selves our culture creates for us. We need to critically think about these ought selves, and leave behind those which don’t actually make sense. Our self-esteem shouldn’t suffer because of irrational, illogical, culturally created ought selves. We need to make peace with our real selves and realize that who we really are is good enough.

As a future TESOL teacher, being aware of this concept of ought selves and real selves will help me better understand and better help my students. Being aware of this concept, I can better understand the pressures my students face, both from their native culture and their new culture in America. This will help me more accurately interpret their behaviors and feelings. Because I understand my students better, I am better prepared to help them deal with these pressures. If their self-esteem is suffering because of differences between their ought selves and real selves, I will be better prepared to (hopefully!) help them see things more clearly, evaluate themselves more clearly, and build up their self-esteem. Self-esteem is so important in the classroom; without it, students will fail to learn because they won’t believe in themselves. But the more I am aware of the pressures they face, the better I can hopefully help them deal with those pressures, cope, and continue forward in their language learning journey.