Critical Theory Fund of Knowledge

Critical Theory Fund of Knowledge

            Human beings are social creatures that may be viewed as to exist in an interdependent manner where there is a reliance on themselves as well as other members of the society to enhance survival. Society and culture are two structures that integrate and come together to facilitate the total development of an individual and mainly affect the individual whom they turn out to be in the future.  Depending on the type of society that an individual is exposed to in their early development, it has been identified to have a direct effect on the personality traits that the individual exhibits. For instance, an individual brought up in a civilized social setting will acquire these qualities and will move on to carry them forward in other future social interactions that they may get into contact with in future developments.  According to the fund theory of knowledge, this aspect of understanding is mainly dependent on the knowledge and skills that may be attributed to the cultural setting that an individual is exposed to in their upbringing. The integration of fund knowledge in the classroom has been viewed to have a more profound effect on the learning outcomes of the given learner.

In terms of cultural diversity, Africa may get viewed as the most prosperous continent in the world. The late onset of civilization in the region resulted in the inhabitants of this continent, retaining most of their indigenous ways of life. However, with the continued emergence of modernization on a global scale, even the African communities are being forced to conform to an ever-changing world for the enhancement of survival as well as the benefits associated with the new world setting. This is expected to have a significant impact on the fund knowledge, and there is the necessity to ensure that there is the enactment of measures to help in the preservation of this fundamental aspect of knowledge.       

As a young female growing up in the suburbs of Central Africa, I was exposed to a wide array of various “isms” in my social setting as well as critical theories that largely affected my funds’ knowledge perspectives as well as other personal depositions. In the African community, the development of the various social structures is way behind, and as a result, the societies in the place have adopted to survival tactics that suit them best or put them at a better chance of surviving the various challenges that they may be exposed to on a daily life basis. Living in a society oriented in such an approach, individualism has set in the peoples’ way of life, and most of the social virtues such as communal integration and other forms of interaction that were initially observed in this society have been abandoned.

The onset of individualism in this region has, in turn, resulted in the observed decadence of moral as well as ethical values given that the necessity for survival preceded the socially perceived norms of eight and wrong. For instance, increased crime rates, theft of public resources by people in government, vandalism among other rampant vices in the central African communities may be attributed to the idea of individualism where the members of the community have been left with no other alternatives but resulting into the crudest of tactics that they may see to befit or enhance their survival. Materialism is another key “ism” that may be viewed t have taken a huge toll on the social wellbeing of the African community not only in the central African region where I grew up but also in other parts of the continent. Despite materialism being a common vice in most societies, the African setting has been identified to struggle when it comes to putting this vice under sustainable measures.

Depending on the social orientations as well as other natural factors, some individuals in society may be identified as being more privileged as compared to others.  In my African setting, for instance, it was possible to identify that not every individual lives in poverty. While some individuals may be starving to death in certain parts of the country, in the same country, there were members who had access to more than they required. This was a perfect depiction of the economic materialism instances where, living in a financially driven economy, those members of the society who did not have the capacity to meet their financial obligations are deprived of the privileges of material possession as well as their basic needs in the worst circumstances.

In my personal experiences growing up in this region, women were largely affected by the perceived notion of the western concept of idealism. While the electronic media may be the most fundamentally used form of connecting these members of the community to the west, there was room for various possibilities of misinformation.  The women depicted in some of the western media outlets may be viewed as bring objectified depending on the onlooker’s point of approach. However, most of the women in my community viewed this as a depiction of beauty, elegance, and perfection. Most of the females around me were identified to adore these women and could be viewed as to serve an idealism notion to them where they strived to attain their kind of perfection in terms of beauty and other key attributes that they may have been associated with.

At the prime of my developmental journey, I was privileged to move to Canada, which was a whole new experience for me.  Having spent my formative years in the third world continent where the delivery of services and other key necessities is quite underdeveloped, I saw Canada as a new beginning that positioned me at the best capability of attaining any dreams that I had. This was a privilege that not most of the people from where I came from were in a position to enjoy.  While most may have grown up and spent their entire lives in the same setting, I was provided with an opportunity to experience a different way of life, which was different in every way from what I was used to back in my native land.

My stay in Canada has been not only a privilege but also a direct contact with the concept of intersectionality.  While the level of social as well as communal diversity in my rural setting was relatively low, it was possible to identify that in Canada, the society exists at a much higher level where people from different backgrounds and ethnic orientations have been identified to live together. The cultural diversity in the region can also be identified to have significantly impacted the ways of life of the people in this region, thereby resulting in the intersectionality that the region can be viewed to be rich in. Experiencing this can be viewed as a major privilege as it helped in the improvement of my capability to better understand social interactions and the various roles that these interactions play in society today.

In my view of such advanced communities such as the Canadian social setting, the “ism” of rationalism could be viewed to be a major contributing factor to the social development and advancement that has been identified in this setting. Rationalism may be viewed as the basing of actions on proven concepts such as cause and effect rather than other practices such as religious belief as well as socio-cultural norms. In my view, as well as experiences in the African social setting, there was a heavy reliance on religious beliefs as well as social norms that could be viewed as the key contributing factors to the underdevelopment of these social settings as well as their governance structures.

Basing the above observations on the fund knowledge theory, it can be identified that the children brought up in less privileged communities may experience difficulties in their day to day aspects of life as well as exhibit underdeveloped understanding of the society around them. The various “isms” and the critical theories may also be viewed as key determinants of the social advancement and development depending on the various “ism” that a given society is identified to hold in higher reverence.

References

Rocco, T. S., & West, G. W. (1998). Deconstructing privilege: An examination of privilege in adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 48(3), 171-184.

Daniel, J. H., Roysircar, G., Abeles, N., & Boyd, C. (2004). Individual and cultural‐diversity competency: Focus on the therapist. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(7), 755-770.