06/10/19, W08 ‘Deep Culture in the Elementary Classroom’

I found the assigned article ‘Teaching Deep Culture in the Elementary Classroom’ by N. Ivers/J. Ivers very insightful. They began by asking a critical question, ‘Why did certain civilizations in world history seem to be more "advanced" than others?’ Then they answered the question with the emphasis that these civilizations had a heavy cross-cultural influence, or in other words, ‘many heads are better than one’ to advance a culture. So why is it important to teach deeper culture beginning in elementary school foreign language classes? The article focused on the importance of students developing a cross-cultural consciousness, and on the benefits of cultural diversity; which also include the creative genius, cognitive development and high achievement. Although we understand the need to teach deep culture, knowing how to teach it in the elementary classroom is difficult. 

To help teach deeper cultural elements in the classroom, we can use Ellis’ formula; state the event or circumstance; such as, burping at the table, then talk about our cultural beliefs; for example, it’s not good manners in America, and then we can talk about the reactions; others would be embarrassed and would expect an apology. Afterwards we could discuss the same event; burping at the table, within the framework of a different culture including their beliefs and reaction. It’s important to teach the cultural principles generally as there are many individual differences and exceptions. Ellis’ approach in teaching deep culture has many benefits. It helps ELL’s to understand that there are many interpretations of reality throughout the world because our cultural paradigms inform our thinking and influence our interpretations. It also helps teach students that cross-cultural misunderstandings are common. 

After reading this article, I feel that it’s important to begin talking about deeper cultural principles at a younger age. In this way, more people would have a clearer view of cultural differences and hopefully there would be less cultural prejudicial interpretations. 

6/6/19, W07 ‘Culture and Psychology’

As I listened to Brother Ivers https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Culture+and+Psychology/0_s4h3d6bc

speak on the topic of culture and psychology, I realized the huge impact that cultural beliefs have on psychology. In one culture, people may feel shamed for not performing well; whether as a hunter or an athlete, whereas in another culture that ability isn’t exulted. Why are some talents or natural gifts given more weight than others in cultures? For example, why is farming seen now as manly in the Western States in America? However, for the Cherokee Indians before the time of the white settlers, women farmed.

As Brother Ivers stated, the higher the correspondence between the culture’s mandated ‘ought self’ and the individual’s ‘real self’, the higher his self-esteem. There are many elements in our American culture that irrationally cause people to have low self-esteem. I remember as an elementary school child realizing that our culturally created ‘ought self’ included athletic ability. Those of us who weren’t athletic were chosen last by our peers to be on teams in school gym class. There are many other culturally created ‘ought selves’ that negatively impact our psychology in America. For example, we are taunted daily with pictures on television of what our culture deems as ‘beautiful’ women and ‘handsome’ men. And in the last 40 years our society has adopted the belief that a mother with children at home should work outside the home as well. I have been asked numerous times over the years what I do for work. These culturally created ‘ought’ selves then create cultural diseases such as anorexia and cultural depression, which causes both emotional and physical suffering.

It’s important to take a step back and look at our culture. What is it teaching us? A quote attributed to Albert Einstein is: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This quote is a good reminder that we shouldn’t compare our ‘real’ selves to our culture’s ‘ought’ selves. We need to celebrate our differences, our individual talents and abilities, and contributions to society. As Brother Ivers said, ‘When we judge ourselves against our culture’s irrational ‘ought’ self, life is miserable, and life is too short for that.’ My hope as a TESOL teacher is that I can place more emphasis on my students’ 'signature strengths' than on what society deems as their ‘ought’ self.  I feel that if I can place a greater emphasis on their signature strengths, they will feel less shame, happier and more self-confident. 

6/3/19, W07 ‘Differences in Manners’

As I listened to Brother Ivers talk about manners in various cultures, https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Difference+in+Manners/0_xc0a34gb

I realized that there are many cultural differences in what constitutes acceptable, polite, bothersome or offensive social behavior. I have spent most of my life in America and was taught what our culture’s manners are. I grew up knowing that it is polite and expected to say please, thank you, and excuse me, and to show respect for our elders and our country. Compared to when I was a child, it’s harder to tell what our culture’s manners are. Reflecting on this, I realized that children are taught, and manners are emphasized in the home. Our homes are subcultures of the greater American society. So, as we look around and see trash littering streets and sidewalks, notice an increase in road rage, noise ordinances in housing developments being ignored, and we ask why the lack of respect for others and of allegiance to our country, could possible answers be that manners aren’t being discussed in homes, or that some people simply refuse to follow etiquette? Sadly, for these reasons, I feel that other cultures can’t just ‘see how everyone else is doing it here in America and follow suite’.

I appreciated Brother Ivers point regarding our response when we encounter differences in manners. What do we do when a foreigner is staring? He suggested that instead of responding negatively to the stares on the bus, you ‘look out the window’. I would like to apply that advice to several different situations; for example, what should you do when someone yawns and doesn’t cover his mouth? How about giving them the benefit of the doubt and looking away? Perhaps covering his mouth was not a part of his culture’s or subculture’s manners and he isn’t trying to offend or insult you.

Brother Ivers also talked about the idea of training American soldiers in cross cultural differences, but I think it would be good to expand that training to include employees in other fields of study affected by globalization, as well as immigrants and visitors, as this teaching would bring about an even greater cross-cultural understanding. In the article that discussed good and bad manners around the world, https://people.howstuffworks.com/13-examples-of-good-and-bad-manners-around-the-world.htm#page=0

the history of one of the country’s bad manners was explained. As we begin to understand the reasons behind behaviors, our tolerance for differences increases. For this reason, as we teach English and culture in the TESOL classroom, it would be appropriate to share the acceptable and bothersome behaviors in our society. 

6/3/19, W07 ‘Cross Cultural Students in the Classroom’

Brother Ivers class video

https://video.byui.edu/media/06+Cross-Cultural+Students+in+the+Classroom/0_r2lcaswt

helped me to reflect on my perceptions of the American classroom and understand the impact of other cultures’ paradigms in the American classroom. Teachers aren’t just teaching English to their students; they are helping them learn to navigate a new culture with many differences, and therein lies part of the teacher’s difficult work.

The study of this topic is a good reminder for TESOL teachers to learn about their students’ different cultural rules, as that will help them understand how their students interpret reality, which in turn affects classroom interactions. Are some students more expressive or less expressive? Is there a reason why some students aren’t as participatory in class? Could their lack of participation be due to individual anxiety or a cultural paradigm that emphasizes respect? I feel that it’s a good idea to give students the benefit of the doubt before we react negatively to a behavior that doesn’t match ours.

One of the rules of anthropology is that outsiders can sometimes see the real culture better than insiders can, however, as an American, I feel like I am also aware of the general oppression on teachers here in the States, as well as some of the positive cultural paradigms I experienced at a private university. I have been shocked at the behavior of many students beginning in public elementary school and continuing through high school. I have reflected often on what I feel is an unacceptable cultural paradigm. Although our culture may have a more informal school setting, what about the crude, offensive and sarcastic language used among peers in and out of the classroom? And the fact that it’s dismissed without consequences even on school buses? And what about arriving late and walking out of university classes early?

We can speculate as to the causes of the general disrespectful attitudes that are part of the American culture; for example, our belief that all people are created equal or we’re part of an egalitarian society, perhaps a self-absorbed mindset, or negative social media, television, movie and family influences. However, since we can’t change our cultural paradigms ourselves, what can we do? Perhaps as TESOL teachers, we can set our own classroom boundaries like we do as parents in our homes? For example, one of our home rules is a ‘no phone’ policy at the dinner table to show respect for family members when we’re talking with each other. And how about enforcing a respectful language classroom policy? Hopefully, as we learn about our students’ cultural rules, as we see our own culture clearly, and as we establish our own classroom paradigms, we will have a great experience as a teacher of English.  

6/1/19, W06 ‘Attributional Tendencies'

Brother Ivers explained well the definition of attributional tendencies in cultures and how they affect our view of ourselves and others. https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Attributional+Tendencies+in+Cultures/0_u45682wd

My experience as an American is that typically we do attribute our successes internally; ‘I did well on the test because I studied,’ and that we attribute our failures externally; ‘I didn’t do well on the test because our teacher didn’t explain the terms well enough.’ In our individualistic culture this is also called a self-serving bias. As Americans we also typically explain the personal successes of others externally; ‘He won the award because everyone likes him the best,’ and the personal failures of others internally; ‘She would have won the award if she had practiced more.’ I know that it will be important to be aware of the cultural attributional tendencies in my future classroom, as they strongly influence the way we interact with others. They can also have a powerful effect on our lives. If we live in a culture that attributes failures internally, where we blame ourselves for everything that goes wrong, our self-worth can be negatively impacted. 

It’s true that our LDS culture, embedded within our home culture, is unique and makes attributional tendencies more complex and sometimes irrational. It’s so easy as an LDS mother to let others’ judgment of our children’s poor choices affect our feelings of self-worth. For example, how often have we heard mothers say, ‘I must have done something wrong for my child to not have made good choices.’ When I hear this, I tend to bring up that one of Eve’s children is Cain, two of Sariah’s children were Laman and Lemuel, and what about our spirit brother Satan and a third of the host of heaven? I like what Brother Ivers said, ‘We all have agency, even our children, God doesn’t punish you, in fact He’s on your side.’

As we try to understand our life’s experiences, we can’t always use our cultural attributions to decide our reality. For example, if our culture says that all negative events in our life are attributed internally as in ‘I did something to deserve it,’ or that all negative events are attributed externally; ‘It’s someone else’s fault that I’m going through this,’ we would be discounting the fact that ‘junk happens’ in life, as my former OB/GYN often said. Life is not black and white or always fair. Good people get sick and some bad people live a long mortal life. I’m grateful that we as LDS have the eternal perspective that our mortal lives are a very short time in eternity, and that one day everyone will receive their just and due rewards for their personal work and choices and for where their heart is.

6/1/19, W06 'Personal Space Differences'

After viewing the video by Brother Ivers on Personal Space https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Personal+Space+Differences/0_yz4lk5f0 and the video on Japanese subways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FQsg12hoY as well as completing the reading on personal space ownership, I realized how much our culture dictates the way we communicate through action with all those we come in contact with.

I learned that even the amount of personal space we allow when conversing with or initially meeting someone, speaks volumes on how we feel about that person. It’s the fact that the distance can vary from one culture to another that can cause misunderstandings between people. For example, what are our cultural paradigms for the intimate, personal, social or public zone and who do we allow in, compared to someone we speak with at work who’s from another culture?

How do we remedy the misinterpretations that are bound to happen as the world becomes more globalized? For example, what about a simple miscommunication regarding personal space that can happen when Americans are talking loud enough to be overheard, and the English view that communication as bad manners? What about Americans’ strong feelings regarding ownership of material possessions, compared with other cultures that don’t view their belongings as extensions of themselves, or an invasion of their personal space? From just these two examples, I realized that TESOL teachers have a lot more to teach and take into consideration than just teaching the English language to their students.

As I read the article about personal space ownership and the section on territory and ownership, I gained insight on the universality and application of ownership even as it relates to students. I realized that learning how to help provide my future students with a sense of security and consistency is important. Perhaps assigning them a seat and a place they can put their belongings in class would help fulfill this need? I feel that as we continue to learn and share cultural understanding with each other, we can learn to decipher better the real meanings of other cultures’ communication.

5/30/19, W06 'Individualism vs. Collectivism'

The video by Brother Ivers https://video.byui.edu/media/05+Individualism+vs+Collectivism/0_ojon0rjc

and the two readings; Part III – Continuum of Individualistic and Collectivistic Values and The Myth of Chinese Super Schools; which was very enlightening, were packed with information on how cultures view the way individuals fit into society. I understand the terms individualism and collectivism a little better as well as cultures’ varied behaviors due to their orientations. 

As an American I agree that our culture is individual oriented. Although there are many positives and negatives in all cultural orientations, I feel that a balance would be most beneficial. However, it’s difficult to change patterns, behaviors and values after many generations. For example, the youth in America are encouraged from the time they’re in middle school to advocate for themselves and to work towards their individual goals. As a parent I feel that a child is still young and dependent and needs guidance, but teachers and doctors push parents away and want the child to work through the issue or talk about the problem without the parents’ involvement. It’s handled that way in the name of ‘helping the child to become an independent adult.’ And then on the other hand, there are many Native American Tribes in the States whose cultures are group oriented. My husband is employed as a counselor for one of the Tribes, and their culture bands together as families, and are very interdependent. The youth are also expected to be respectful to their elders, although the American society at large is very disrespectful. This is especially apparent in the public-school system. So how do TESOL teachers in America help their students who are from a collectivistic culture learn to navigate in an individualistic culture?

It is true than in our individualistic culture in America there is always competition to be the best, to stand out, and to climb the ladder, I just didn’t realize that in many parts of the world, that isn’t the case. That pattern of competition begins with parents when their children are quite young. “My daughter learned to walk or talk before she was one. My little boy was born to play baseball, he has been playing on teams since he was four.” And the expectation is that she will continue ahead of her class through school, and that they will both earn scholarships to college. We fall somewhere along the continuum depending on how closely we identify with our culture due to our values. For example, for those Americans who don’t want to stand out or aren’t so competitive, perhaps they gravitate toward groups of people who think about issues or topics the way they do, or perhaps they become involved in clubs so that they’re part of a group and don’t stand alone.

As I assess the behavior and needs of my future students, I need to take into consideration acculturation. What culture did they immigrate from? Where are they on the continuum of individualistic and collectivistic values? I believe this will help me be more understanding of various behaviors and values that are different from my own.