Page 25 - Cultures and Organizations

10 THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE

FIGURE 1.3 The Learning of Values and Practices

Age
0 Family

Values

10 School

Practices

20 Work

values. At the end of this period, we gradually switch to a different, con-
scious way of learning, focusing primarily on new practices.

Culture Reproduces Itself

Remember being a small child? How did you acquire your values? The

first years are likely gone from your memory, but they are infl uential. Did
you move about on your mother’s hip or on her back all day? Did you sleep
with her, or with your siblings, or were you kept in your own cot or pram?
Did both your parents handle you, or only your mother, or other persons?
Was there noise or silence around you? Did you see tacit people, laughing

ones, playing ones, working ones, tender or violent ones? What happened
when you cried?
Then, memories begin. Who were your models, and what was your
aim in life? Quite probably, your parents or elder siblings were your heroes,
and you tried to imitate them. You learned which things were dirty and bad
and how to be clean and good. For instance, you learned rules about what is
clean and dirty in regard to bodily functions such as spitting, eating with
your left hand, blowing your nose, defecating, or belching in public, along
with gestures such as touching various parts of your body or exposing
them while sitting or standing. You learned how bad it was to break rules.