Week 9:1 Social Constructionist Perspective

As I consider the social constructionist perspective I realize how we build worlds through how we communicate, who we communicate with and the tools we may use for communication. Now that we have gone through this course learning about interpersonal, group, and cultural communication, it is evident that our social environment makes a big impact on us as individuals. Though the social constructionist perspective focuses more on the social self and not the individual self; we identify with social groups and standards, which also form our personal beliefs and traditions. Each culture has its own codes, customs, shared roles and rules, and cultural traditions. These cultural influences are inevitably going to make communication unique in each culture.
The American culture emphasizes the importance of education. School is unavoidable as a child. We are required by law to attend school and parents can get punished for violating the education rules of attendence for children. Once we become adults we have the choice to continue our education in order to create more opportunties in our lives. The educational system in the United States is an excellent example of the social constructionist perspective, as we build worlds through communication in school. Our teachers expose us to the world through text books, lectures, and images. We learn about history, geography, and geology. Many of the things we learn and know to be true through our education are often things we will never experience in person. We not only learn about the world in school, we also learn what is acceptable social behavior and communication. We know that it is not okay to speak out of turn in a class room setting, if you have not been called on by the teacher. Good communication is socially acceptable communication, according to the social constructionist perspective (Trenholm, 31). Many behaviors, proper roles, and traditions which are socially acceptable may not lead to happiness or success. Though someone can take all the "right" classes, be part of all the "right" social groups or clubs, and get into the "right" career, they may never be happy because they work too hard and are always doing what others expect of them. Restrictions on how an individual can express themselves can ultimately cause major mood swings or mental stress. Sometimes breaking the rules can bring much more happiness and success to an individual because they follow their heart and not social guidelines.