Patterns and relationships that shape daily interactions often run unnoticed in the background, just the usual ways of doing things. But sometimes these well-worn practices can be detected by the language used to justify and perpetuate them. These cultural models are normative storylines that justify a particular pattern of behavior in a nexus of practice, often characterized by well-known sayings. For example, the adage “boys will be boys” is a familiar saying in a cultural model of masculine behavior that excuses and enables rule-breaking.
As you identify prominent cultural models in your site, cross-check your interpretations with educational research in your field, particularly cultural studies, discourse analysis, and qualitative research. Cultural models will circulate widely and are thus easily recognized. If a cultural model is circulating globally, it’s likely that discourse analysts have studied it somewhere.
In your site, examine your data and ask:
Which cultural models circulate in your site?
How are disparate practices justified?
How might these practices be connected to familiar and widely recognized sayings (e.g., adages, mottos, slogans, memes, hashtags, etc.) circulating in the media?
What language functions as verbal abbreviations that uphold the usual ways of doing things in the nexus of practice operating here?
Next, check these impressions against cultural studies research and ask:
Which cultural models align or resonate with particular global discourses, identified by scholars in literacy studies, gender studies, or cultural studies?
What activity is enabled through this cultural model?