and visits from native speakers of target cultures in many
classes. In fact, we are always looking to connect what the
boys are learning to who can help them see it in a new way.
These are some of the tangible ways in which culture is
explicitly taught at Saint David’s.
The Modern Language department also bases its classes in
products, practices, and perspectives (also known as 3P’s).
The main idea behind the 3P’s is to help students acquire the
target culture through the language. Products come with
a pattern of behavior accepted by society, which are the
practices. Those practices have a reason why, a set of values
and beliefs that justify the product and the practice within
the culture. The idea is that students experience these as a
part of their regular studies.
The 3 P's
This is why you may find fourth or fifth graders looking
at schedules from actual schools all around Latin America
(Products), finding out that school days there typically end
at 1:00 p.m., to allow families to go home for lunch because
lunch time is the most important meal of the day (Practice),
and family time is highly valuable (Perspective).
A quick walk through any of the Modern Language classes
in our school and you will discover first graders learning
about clothing by examining uniforms across Latin America,
second graders learning about the musical instrument called
“cuatro” that is the basis of their Christmas Carol offering,
fifth graders experimenting with the stress relief of having a
Guatemalan “worry doll” to talk to, sixth graders tasting the
delights of Peruvian Asian fusion food such as “Chaufa” rice,
seventh graders getting in touch with their own American
culture and learning more about Spain, as they prepare for
the Salamanca trip. You will notice that eighth graders are
able to understand legends from various Spanish speaking
countries, and find Madame Rappaport sharing traditional
Crêpes in her French classes.
All of this is accomplished through the lens of respect,
which means seeing the other culture not as “better” or
“worse” than one’s own, but rather, as different. Showing
respect for the new culture means boys ask curious questions
about it, they are willing to try on new and different
perspectives, and they use appropriate expressions to
communicate their impressions of what they are learning.
Furthermore, when examining another’s culture, one comes
to understand one’s self at a deeper level. What takes place
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