6/1/20 Week 7: Response to "Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom"

Connecting Culture, Identity, and Language

                                                                                                                                                image from study.com

"We judge other cultures' behavior by our own paradigm." - Professor John Ivers, BYU-Idaho.

(fictional story based on possible cross-cultural misunderstandings, and wondering what it would be like for a first time ESL teacher.)

First day of school and Rachel is beginning her first year as a high school ESL teacher. She is excited and also quite nervous. It is 2nd period, and the students are gathering for their Academic Support class.

"Good morning, class!" She makes a sarcastic joke, and only two students laughed. 

(awkward pause) After introducing herself, she segues in to the lesson material on getting to know each other. She pairs them up and hands out a 'Who Am I' worksheet. During the lesson she notices a couple students not working well together. She sits next to the Hispanic girl to assist her with her worksheet and asks her where she is from? The student seems very shy and she does not respond.  Rachel looks at the student's table partner, a student that recently came from China with her family, to America. The student would not look at her at all.  "Hmm. Another shy student." Meanwhile, in the back of the room, there are a few students chatting and being a little loud. "We will have to get this under control before I lose control of the class." 

After the bell rings and the students leave for their next class, Rachel sits at her desk and the other Language teachers join her for their department "Team Time".

The teachers are eager to hear how the first class went. Rachel replayed the awkward crickets after her joke, and then the super shy students and the loud, boisterous students. She makes a comment that she did not think the students were going to like her. Paula, the Spanish teacher, speaks up, "Rachel, your students have had 53 minutes with you on the the first day. Give it time and remember what you know about making connections with them. Each day will get better. Let me tell you something of your Hispanic student. Knowing a lot about the culture, some of our students' families are sometimes here illegally. Giving you information of where they are from is a no-no. They have been told by their parents to not talk about those things. They are afraid of being found out." 

"This all sounds a lot like a refresher in cross-cultural students material, Rachel." George, another Spanish teacher speaks up. "You have a mix of cultures — some who will not make eye contact because their culture teaches them it is considered rude. You also have some cultures who express themselves in a very energetic way. Once you refresh yourself and learn more of the cultures your students are from, you will figure out how to make those connections and it will get much better."

"I cannot believe I forgot a huge part of our learning was about culture and I have just allowed myself to judge based on our cultural paradigm. I am an idiot!"

"No, you are not an idiot!" replies Vanessa, the French teacher. "You were nervous and experiencing your very first day! You'll be fine!" 

With some re-reading and studying up on cultures, plus re-working her next few lesson plans, Rachel forges ahead with renewed confidence on her second day of teaching, and things go a lot smoother.  Over time, she has been able to break through the invisible social barrier, and by showing compassion and understanding, has since become a caring and effective ESL teacher at her school.