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.