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It is often quoted that the wider society has a large influence on the sub-cultures found within it. Even while holding their own subjective views of the world and the culture they are encompassed by, every individual is shaped to varying degrees by the pre-dominant, wider culture within which he/she abides. The interactions that take place within any environment, whether it is at a social gathering, at home or in the classroom are all shaped by the individuals taking part.

The roles partaken within the history of culture class reflect both those of the wider culture within Pakistan as well as reflecting the subjective minds of each individual person within the classroom. Even the teacher’s interactions and viewpoints show us the nature of our society and the various inhibitions which are a result of this culture. A simple example can be taken of the important value of respect for elders within our society. This value often acts as a hindrance within interactions between students and their teacher.

Through primary socialization between our parents, relatives and siblings, we are trained to adopt a singularly reverent and submissive attitude towards our elders; where one is expected to merely listen in silence to what an older person has to say, without questioning what they are teaching. This creates awkwardness for both the teacher and students in later interactions within the classrooms, which are modeled around western principles which aims to teach students by means of questioning everything that is taught and forming our own opinions and ideas. Taken out of context, the question of which value holds true is irrelevant, as either methods trains the individual in the manner in which his/her culture is based.

A second problem of lack of attendance within the History of Culture class can also be linked to a similar value taught to us through the processes of both primary and secondary socialization. Within the wider society, there is stress laid upon being late to events and gatherings. This value is so inherent within our culture that it is often frowned upon or considered a point of ridicule if a person is seen to be consistently prompt.

A simple example in the wider society can be taken of weddings. Every Pakistani family expects that if the wedding card states food will be served at nine, showing up at eleven will be appropriate. In response, the hosts will not serve food till twelve, thus entrenching the value further in our society. Similarly in the classroom, students reflect this value by showing up late to class and regularly skipping classes simply because it seems to be rational to do so. The teacher also permeates this value by rescheduling classes and often repeating lessons taught previously in order for the entire class to be up to date. Quite often, the syllabus is cut shorter or parts are skipped in order to entertain the values dominating within our society.

To fully understand the various functions of the wider culture and its influence on the classroom, we must also examine the smaller sub-set within which the students from the classroom come from. All the students within the class come from lower to upper middle class families which have their own distinct set of values ingrained in the minds of their children. The need to excel is taught within this sub-culture, as most of the parents are professionals or in business within this city. There is great conflict for the student, as values such as the examples mentioned above clash with this need to achieve which becomes a part of a middle-class child’s life nearing the formative years of his/her highschool. This results in confusion and anxiety, leading to depression within students which is often interpreted as a lack of desire to study.

The, ‘back benchers’ in class are often interpreted as being students who are not interested in their academic life, whereas in actuality, the case is more often that children in the backbench are experiencing conflict in various forms, not necessarily extending from their desire not to fail in class, which would be irrational without given cause and various factors within his/her life.

Inhibition results in the History of Culture class due to a conflict of cultures being represented within the class. The classroom essentially provides a western, post-modern form of education, which requires a student to apply himself with a certain work ethic and playing emphasis on interactivity and following a variable framework for course work. The culture permeating in Pakistan on the other hand discourages both the work ethic (as can be seen in the large amount of corruption and mismanagement within both national and private corporations) and the need for interaction (as can be seen in the lack of real communication between adults and their younger counterparts).

The currently dominating value of following a set frame of work to be achieved (as left over from our domination by the British Raj) also hinders the ability within the classroom to formulate coherent plans with which to approach education. Our overwhelming need to have someone else plan out our lives and essentially, ‘spoon feed’ us information makes it hard for the students to form their own individual thinking and analysis on material examined within the class.