There have been some interesting questions about "acculturation" and I
thought I would share some ideas on this. I have taken the term to mean the
process(es) of acquiring knowledge and skills to survive in the new
culture.
I would like to think of the "ideal" immigrant experience as one of
"adaptation"; a two-way process. Drawing from general systems theory,
adaptation refers to a process where both the new entity (in this case, the
immigrant) as well as the general system (the community) modify their
standard operating procedures to adjust to the change (increased diversity
in community) that has just taken place. Grant and Ladson-Billings (1997)
incorporate this two-way adjustment process into their definition of
acculturation. However, they also note that acculturation has been referred
to as "cultural assimilation" which, to me, does not have the same
connotations.
Gibson (1998) refers to the term "additive acculturation" indicating the
idea that while immigrants pick up facets of the US culture, they do so not
at the expense of their home culture. In that sense they are adding to
their cultural repertoire.
To me, when the immigrant is fully integrated into the new community, s/he
would have this rich cultural repertoire, AND this would have been possible
because of the openness of the community to adapt to their newcomers. This
underscores the reason for educators to be responsive to immigrants.
Educators making appropriate accommodations exemplify the system's
contribution to the two-way adaptation that is necessary for immigrants to
be successful in their new home.
Hope this helps!
Dr. Dilys Schoorman
Dept. of Teacher Education
College of Education, Room 485 Phone: 561 297 3003
Florida Atlantic University Fax: 561 297 3335
777 Glades Road e-mail:
dschoorm@fau.edu
Boca Raton, FL 33431-0991
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