Influence of the Experience of Being an International Student on Worldview - Essay Example

International Worldview Worldview can be defined as the "basic assumptions and images that provide a more or less coherent, though not necessarily accurate, way of thinking about the world (Futrell, 2006)." Personal insights that comprise an individual's worldview include the existence of the supernatural, the origins of the universe, the source of values, and the meaning of life and death among others. A person's worldview will be implicit in almost all his actions because his cognitive understanding of reality is based on it. Being an international student in Australia, understanding the concept of worldview and how it develops is essential. It will help me understand how I am influenced during my educational stay and how it will affect the way I perceive and process information after my exposure to another environment. In any experience, I believe that each of us gains a valuable lesson. These lessons can either affect us positively or negatively but what is undeniable is that each of these experiences will contribute to our growth a development as a human being. In this paper, I will discuss how worldview is developed and influenced in the different stages of a person's life and how exposure to different environments can change his worldview. Toddlers have no worldview because each person will develop his understanding of life as he starts to have the mental capacity to absorb experiences and interpret them. As a person interacts with others, learn from his surroundings, see images, and hear different types of sounds, he derives answers to his questions about life (Geisler & Watkins, 1999, pp. 189-201). A person's worldview is internal and unique from each other. The major factors that influence a person's value are mostly derived from his upbringing. It varies across cultural, religious, linguistic, and many other factors that make up a child's environment (Futrell, 2006). In Australia, the early worldview formation of an individual is influenced greatly by the parents, close family friends, schools, and the neighborhood of the child. During their worldview formation, young individuals hold on to their early formative values with varying degrees of mental maturity and firmness. Influences from society (ie. television, print, internet) will arise and it will contribute to the process and outcome of the resulting worldview. When a child grows up to become an adult, his worldview may or may not be consistent with his childhood upbringing. There are experiences that require a person to radically change the way he views the world. For example, exposure to a new environment (new school, immigration) can alter a person's perspective. In addition, vivid encounters and dramatic persuasions can likewise revamp the understanding of life and its meaning (Futrell, 2006). Purposeful effort to change another's person view is usually not successful. This is because internal conflict will occur within a person and he will hold on fast to his beliefs. The extent to which the modification confronts his beliefs, the person may oppose the said undertaking. As you can see, altering an individual's worldview would be difficult once he has the mental maturity to resist any effort at modification. The fact is that worldview is largely dependent on childhood upbringing because forms the "skeleton" of what customary or normal behavior should be. It is said that religion is the recognition of the supernatural; that is, there is a controlling power that is entitled to man's obedience. In some religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism, there is no god or gods present. On the other hand, Christianity and Islam put its central focus on one person. It is important to understand the dynamics of religion because it forms what is known as the "cultural onion" (Eternal Purpose Website, n.d). Some religious factors include doctrinal, mythological, ethical, ritual, experiential, social, and symbolic aspects. Doctrinal factors encompasses the core beliefs of the person; mythological factors is related to his religious allegiance; ethical factors forms his values; ritual includes his personal behavior when no one is watching; experiential factors encompasses his thoughts and feelings; the social factor is his relational behavior with others, while the symbolic factors is the artifacts and religious items that has some meaning for him (Heslam, 1998). To the extent that correlation between mythological and worldview is reference because it exercises the controlling influence over a person's belief and myths (Garber, 1996, pp. 67-82). To the extent that the belief system becomes disconnected from the original context, they become supported by cultural as well as social acceptance. Coming from an upbringing that puts focus on a central religious idea, my exposure to an Australian educational institution allowed me to interact with other students from dissimilar backgrounds. But more than that, I came to the realization that most of all individuals have different interpretations of the same religious idea. For example, when the "Prophet Muhammad" is mentioned, it brings together totally different feelings and thoughts for different people (Colson & Nancy, 1999, pp. 52-59). But not all these thoughts and feelings might be supported by the original context; they were accepted as truth because of cultural and social acceptance. I came to appreciate the value of their belief system even as I hold on fast to my own beliefs. In order to understand how culture affects a person's worldview, it is important to look back on religion. As was mentioned earlier, religion forms the "skeleton" of a person's belief system, behavior, thoughts, and worldview (Eternal Purpose Website, nd.). There is a complex interaction wherein religions results to worldview, this worldview will then form the culture, and the culture will reinforce the worldview. The relationship can be seen through this image: (Eternal Purpose Website, n.d) Culture offers human being a direction, their worldview influences them to do what they are required to do and avoid the things they are not allowed to do. It also provides them with their ethical and moral codes, hope for the future, and an interpretation of life (Weaver, 2003). But through it all, religion is at its foundation and it is really what defines the worldview of individuals and influences entire the perspective of all people throughout time. There are a lot of misunderstandings about culture. Sometimes, culture is thought to be a person's demographic background such as age, gender, and social status. It is essential to understand that while each of these factors will influence a person's worldview, it is unique from one another (Weaver, 2003). The Australian culture is a mesh of different world ideologies. In my opinion, it is more open to other cultures compared to more conservative countries because of its large number of immigrants and ethnic population. I believe that this makes Australia a more interesting place to stay at because they have a genuine international worldview. Language is the "primary shared significant experience". It allows people to interact with one another because it is the common "basis of identity" that affects expectations. Thought formation results to language and our internal thoughts can manifest itself through the use of language. It is important to note that language itself is not information; rather, it is the formal of information processing. When cognitive culture is integrated into language, this forms the worldview (Hill & Mannheim, 1992). I speak the English language and I know that it is considered the "international language" of the world together with the Chinese language. I will not look into the economic reasons why it came to be as such but I will look into its implications on Australia's socio-economic environment. Australia is a country that speaks English so its culture is intertwined with the Western world (US, UK, etc.) because they share different mediums including television, radio, and the internet using the same language. When I look into the English language, I realize that even though two individuals might be speaking in the "same" language, its connotations and implications might not be the same. There are slangs, cultural differences, and other linguistic uniqueness that make one culture different from another (Hill & Mannheim, 1992). I was able to know that these types of nuances do exist through my exposure as an international student. The experience of being an international student is definitely a rewarding one for me. Being immersed on a different set of culture, traditions, language, and belief system has enabled me to develop a deep appreciation for my own upbringing while helping me understand the worldview of others. As an international student in Australia, it is really a privilege to develop personal relationships with my block mates and other people in the country. These interactions not only helped me gain a deeper insight on the personal worldview of each individual person within the country, I was also able to experience what it is like to be one of them. The lessons I learned from being an international student will definitely remain with me throughout my life. It has drastically altered my worldview for the better. I am now more open to new events, new challenges, and new experiences with a deeper appreciation of it beneath the surface. Being an international student enabled me to understand culture, things, places, and people I otherwise would not have known about. My Australian experience will not only help me deal with people with Australian background but with other people from various cultures as well. This is because having learned about the importance of worldview; I can put myself in the other person's shoes and manage to look at the world through his eyes. Having an international worldview is an essential characteristic to have in today's modern environment. Through cultural experiences in a new environment, a person can learn to expand his worldview and understand that there is wider world outside his own. 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