Project Toolkit
Steps in Doing a Class CultureQuest Project

 Implementing Your CultureQuest Project
 Step 5  SELECTING ASPECTS OF CULTURE AND FORMING GROUPS
Steps
1 Preparation
2 Planning and Pedagogy
3 Develop a Country Profile
4 Introducing the Study of Culture
5 Forming Groups
6 Researching Aspects of Culture
7 Writing up the Research
8 Completing the Project
9 Presenting and Publishing Projects


Class brainstorms "aspects of culture"

Share with students the definition of culture and the meaning of "aspects of culture" that they will be studying. Students may then brainstorm aspects of culture they might be interested in exploring. The chart below identifies some aspects of culture students might come up with (repeated from Key Concepts listed in Step 1).

Aspects of Culture
Values, attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors
Religion(s), religious beliefs, and rituals
Ceremonies, holidays, and Taboos
Modes of dress
Foods, food sources, and food Preparation Music, art, crafts, dance and theatre
Literature, myths, and folktales Everyday life
Education and schooling
Work and earning a living

Form small groups and develop initial ideas.
Help students develop their topics using "Inspiration" software, other graphic organizer, or using chalk and the blackboard

Teacher as coach and expert learner
In project-based classrooms we see teachers and students operating as cointentional learners. Both are seeking to learn about the culture in question. Both are developing questions and ideas and seeing how initial questions and ideas lead to subsequent questions and ideas. Teachers may have little knowledge of the particular culture being studied but they do have and need to share their knowledge and experience since teachers are the more expert learners. This will enable students to learn how to learn about culture. We hope teachers will also share their sense of curiosity, their enthusiasm for finding out, and the joy of doing a wonderful project. We also believe that the role of the teacher in a CultureQuest project is more that of a coach or facilitator rather than a provider of information. While you will divide your students into small groups for their particular focus on an aspect of culture, you should feel that you are at the same time a coach and a learner and that you need to guide students in the process of inquiry. After students do some initial exploration, you may need to help them focus and clarify their projects, to either expand or narrow the scope of their work. To help small groups better conceptualize their projects and organize their work, you might teach your students to use a graphic organizer like "Inspiration" or "Kidspiration", and our CultureQuest Teachers' Guide provides a link to graphic organizer software and tutorials.