10/29/19; Week 7: Response to "Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom"
Did you know that having a cultural awareness of the life and background of your students would avoid you more than any misunderstanding? While I was studying this week's class, I made several connections with some students in my classroom, and the way they behave in the classroom.
A student from China was stunned when I asked a student to put his folder away, and this student replied that he would do it later. Until now I did not understand the disapproving face of my student from China. I never asked her, and she never told me anything about this situation. She is a very respectful, obedient student, and does not speak until I ask her to do so. I've also seen some smiles on his face, that means that maybe she feels good in the classroom environment.
I like the quote from Professor Ivers "One of the cardinal rules of anthropology is that outsiders can sometimes see the real culture better than insider can. " Professor Ivers points out that Asians are different from the people of the United States in the way they treat their teachers. This is based on the cultural paradigms in which they have been educated. But also Asians have positive comments about American culture. Asians think that the way American culture treats people with disabilities is very positive, giving them opportunities for jobs, privileges and decent treatment. They also highlight the way in which they feel being able to interact in a more open way with the teachers of the university, asking questions, participating in critical thinking, and most importantly having a dialogue with them.
"There are one's paradigms that cause one to interpret reality in different ways." I think for this reason as an ESL teacher we should consider our students as individual persons with their own paradigms and learn from their culture to avoid a wrong judgment about them.
Did you know that having a cultural awareness of the life and background of your students would avoid you more than any misunderstanding? While I was studying this week's class, I made several connections with some students in my classroom, and the way they behave in the classroom.
A student from China was stunned when I asked a student to put his folder away, and this student replied that he would do it later. Until now I did not understand the disapproving face of my student from China. I never asked her, and she never told me anything about this situation. She is a very respectful, obedient student, and does not speak until I ask her to do so. I've also seen some smiles on his face, that means that maybe she feels good in the classroom environment.
I like the quote from Professor Ivers "One of the cardinal rules of anthropology is that outsiders can sometimes see the real culture better than insider can. " Professor Ivers points out that Asians are different from the people of the United States in the way they treat their teachers. This is based on the cultural paradigms in which they have been educated. But also Asians have positive comments about American culture. Asians think that the way American culture treats people with disabilities is very positive, giving them opportunities for jobs, privileges and decent treatment. They also highlight the way in which they feel being able to interact in a more open way with the teachers of the university, asking questions, participating in critical thinking, and most importantly having a dialogue with them.
"There are one's paradigms that cause one to interpret reality in different ways." I think for this reason as an ESL teacher we should consider our students as individual persons with their own paradigms and learn from their culture to avoid a wrong judgment about them.
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