vii. Cultural
Awareness Resources
While the
following situations are specifically directed at elementary school teachers
regarding their students from other cultures, read through some of these
scenarios and see if you gain some insights.
Although the website
is American, much of the cross-cultural information is applicable to our
situation as well.
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/crosscultural.php
by Judie Haynes
1.
You are a 4th grade teacher with a new boy in your class from Syria. He
speaks very little English. He is having a problem getting along with the other
students. He has fights on the playground every day which he seems to provoke
by constantly touching the other boys.
2.
You have a new Korean girl in your 4th grade class. The other students in
your class don’t want to sit next to her because they say she smells funny. You
have a bad allergy and can’t tell. She appears to be a clean, well-dressed
child and you don’t understand your students’ objections.
3.
You are a 3rd grade teacher who is having a parent conference with
parents of an Asian student in your class. You explain to the parents that the
child needs to spend more time working on his homework. The parents keep
nodding and saying “yes” as you explain your reasons. You are disappointed when
there doesn’t seem to be any follow-up on the parents’ part.
4.
You are a 5th grade teacher who is using a lot of cooperative learning
strategies in your classroom. In the middle of the year you get a new Syrian
boy in your class. The student doesn’t follow any of the rules you have
explained through a bilingual classmate. He is very disruptive in your class.
5.
You are a 6th grade teacher with your first student from China. She came
with an excellent report card from her school in China. She is outstanding in
math but can’t seem to learn to read.
6.
You are Ms. Smith, a 3rd grade teacher. You don’t think your new student
from Egypt is placed in the correct grade. You set up a meeting with the
parents to discuss placing the child correctly. The student’s father comes in
to see you but doesn’t seem to take your concerns seriously.
7.
You are a first grade teacher. A Korean student comes into your class in
April. During a discussion of age and birthdays, this student says that she is
8 years old. The other students in your class are turning seven. The office
tells you that she has been correctly placed.
8.
Guadeloupe is a smiling 3rd grader from Argentina. She seems
well-mannered and eager to please. However, when you speak to her she refuses
to look at you.
9.
You are a 4th grade teacher who wants to write a quick note home to an
ESL student’s family. You pick up the pen that you use to mark papers and write
the note. When you hand the note to the student, she looks upset.
10. The Japanese mother
of one of your 1st graders picks up her child every day at your door. You are
upset because this mother seems unfriendly. She never smiles at you and you
wonder if you have done something to offend her.
11. Haitian brothers
Jean-Baptiste and Jean-Pierre are often late for school. They are also each
absent about once a week but on different days.
12. Your new Kurdish
student seems to be sick all the time. He is lethargic and doesn’t seem to even
try to learn what you are teaching him.
13. A Russian student,
who has learned English and is able to do much of the work in your 4th grade
classroom, copies work from other students during tests. When you talk to him
about this, he doesn’t seem at all contrite. His parents act like you’re making
a big deal about nothing.
14. You have a Puerto
Rican student in the 3rd grade who speaks English fluently. She participates
orally in your classroom and socializes well with her peers. She even translates
for other students. However, she is doing very poorly in her content area
schoolwork.
15. Your 4th grade
Malaysian student seems to be very good at Math. He gets “100” on his spelling
tests. No one in your class knows the names of the state capitals better than
he does. However, he seems to have a hard time comprehending a simple reading
passage.
16. Some of your most
advanced ESL students do not understand many of the geometric concepts which
are taught in American classrooms from kindergarten.
17. Thi Lien is a new
student from Viet Nam. She seems bright and alert but gets no help from home.
The papers you send home are still in her backpack the next day. Important
correspondence is never acknowledged. She doesn’t do homework and forgets to
bring back library books. Her home life appears to be very disorganized.
18. Pablo is a
well-mannered boy from Colombia. He insists on calling you “Teacher” instead of
your name which you are sure he knows.
19. Hung is a bright
ESL student in your 3rd grade class. He listens to you attentively and follows
directions well. However, he is very rude when a classmate is speaking. He
either talks to his neighbor or day dreams. He never joins in any class
discussions.
20. You are a 3rd grade
teacher. Your new Syrian student speaks Arabic. He seems to hold his pencil in
a very clumsy way and has a great deal of difficulty even copying work in
English.
21. Maria is a Mexican
student whose attendance in your 6th grade class is very poor. It is affecting
her academic performance. After an absence of several days, you ask her why she
was out and she explains that her aunt was sick and her family went to help
her. Although you explain the importance of good attendance in school, the same
thing happens a few weeks later. You wonder if Maria’s family considers
education important.
22. Mei, a new student
from China, is scheduled to begin your 4th grade class in the middle of the
school year. On the day she registers, she is been introduced to your class and
shown where she will sit. She is to begin school the next morning. You arrive
in your classroom at 7:45 a.m. for a day which begins at 8:30. Mei is waiting
at her desk in the dark. The custodian tells you that she arrived at 7:00 a.m.
23. Korean parents
bring you a gift because you have helped their child. You open it and thank
them profusely for their generosity. The parents look uncomfortable.
24. You notice that a
Muslim child in your classroom refuses to take a sheet of paper from a
classmate. This isn’t the first time this has occurred.
25. You have applied
for a cultural trip for teachers to China. You know that you will be meeting
other teachers along the way. You buy small gifts for them and wrap them in
white tissue paper. At your first stop during the trip the recipients of your
gifts appear upset.
26. Thu is a 6th grade
girl from Thailand. She becomes hysterical when the other girls tease her by
playfully mussing up her hair. Her parents have to come to school and take her
home. While you understand her need to look tidy, you think she has over-reacted.
27. During a parent
conference you tell the parents of your Colombian ESL student that their child
is having difficulty in learning English. You suggest that they only speak
English in their home. The parents look confused. When you relay this
conversation to the ESL teacher in your school, she is very upset.
28. You are a 4th grade
teacher. You have a friendly boy in your class from the Dominican Republic. He
speaks very little English in the classroom and doesn’t seem to be making much progress.
When you give him directions, he seems to be confused. You are sure he is
putting one over on you by pretending not to understand because you have heard
him speak with the other children on the playground.
29. You are a fourth
grade math teacher. Ayumi is one of the brightest students in your class. She
has been in the country for 2 years and it is obvious her background in math is
superb. She can not seem to understand the units on fractions. You don’t know
what to think.
30. As a reward for
good work in your class you give students a packet of 4 pencils with decorative
erasers. Your Japanese students take two and leave two behind.
31. Jean Pierre is a
5th grade student from Haiti. Your class is studying long division. Jean-Pierre
hands in his completed paper in a short time. You are upset because he has not
completed the work. There is no work showing. You think the problem is written
backwards. Maybe the student has a perceptual problem.
32. A Egyptian student
in your 3rd grade class is a good math student but becomes disruptive when you
teach a math lesson using math manipulatives.
33. You have a new 3rd
grade student from Bosnia. During recess time, the child hides under and bench
and can not be persuaded to come out.
34. You have new sixth
grade student from Asia. The student appears to have an attitude from the first
day. Now he is out of his seat fooling around and you’ve just motioned to him
to come over to talk to you. He glares at you and seems even more angry. What
happened?
35. As your second
grade class lines up for a field trip, you count your students as you walk down
the line touching each of them on the head. You notice that several students
pull back from you.
36. You take
photographs of your students working in small groups for a Back to School
Night. The grandmother of one of your Chinese students is very upset when she
sees your photo of her granddaughter.
37. You signal “O.K.”
by making a “O” with your thumb and forefinger to a student who has done a good
job. Your 8th grade newcomer from Brazil looks very shocked.
Responses to Culture Quiz
by Judie Haynes
1.
American boys in grades 4-6 do not touch each other except during contact
sports or when fighting. This is the way they are socialized. In Middle Eastern
countries boys playing on a playground are constantly touching each other. When
a Middle Eastern child does this on an American playground, he is will end up
in many fights. The American boys see this as “sissy” behavior.
2.
Different diets produce different body odors. Americans smell bad to some
people in other cultures because they eat a lot of meat and drink milk. In the
case of the Korean child, a diet heavy in garlic could be the reason for the
odor.
3.
Nodding and saying “yes” does not mean the parent agrees with you in
Asian cultures. It means that they hear what you are saying. Most Asian parents
would be too polite to disagree with the teacher.
4.
This student could come from almost any culture. The organization of a cooperative
learning classroom may look chaotic and undisciplined to new students. They
can’t tell what the rules are. This student probably came from a class where
the teacher lectures and . the student’s role is more passive.
5.
Unlike Japanese or Korean, the Chinese language has no sign/symbol
correspondence. This basic reading concept is very difficult for students
learning to read in English. Students need to go back to the beginning and
learn to decode beginning phonics.
6.
Often males from Middle Eastern countries have difficulty accepting a
female teacher as a decision maker. Even if the family is not Muslim, very
traditional roles for females are prevalent.
7.
Everyone gains a year on the Lunar New Year. If a child is born in
September, they will turn one in January or February, depending on the date of
the Lunar New Year. This student has counted her birthday as of January 25th .
Many Asian children lose a year of their age when they come to the U.S. and
this needs to be explained to them.
8.
In many cultures it is considered rude to look directly at an adult or a
person considered of a higher status. This is so instilled in some students
that they find it very difficult to learn to maintain eye contact.
9.
Oops! You have used a red pen and written a note to the parents. This is
very upsetting in many cultures where red is the color of death. Pay attention
to this especially with your Korean students.
10. Japanese adults
smile at friends and other people they know well. They do not use a smile as a
way to say hello. Some Asian people seem to smile at everything. They feel it
is correct to smile a lot like Americans but they don’t really know culturally
when a smile is appropriate in American culture.
11. They may be staying
home on different days of the week to baby-sit for a younger sibling who does
not yet attend school. They may be late because they have family obligations to
help parents who are working. They may not have clean clothes for two that day.
12. Lethargy and
illness are signs of culture shock. A student coming from a totally different
culture and environment is going to be in shock. The greater the difference
between the home culture and the American culture, the more severe these
culture shock symptoms may be.
13. In many other
cultures, copying from someone’s paper does not receive the same reaction as it
does in American culture. There is a lot of pressure on students to achieve any
way they can. Many cultures in the previous “communistic block” countries see
copying as a way of putting one over on the government. It is not considered
“bad.” American standards for academic honesty must be clearly explained.
14. This student has
acquired BICS ( Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) but has not yet
acquired CALPs (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) needed to learn in
content areas. Many of our second language learners are exiting ESL programs at
the BIC level. We need to work on CALPs
before these students are exited. Good BIC skills also fool mainstream
teachers, who think that a child speaking with friends on the playground, is
just being lazy when not doing his/her work.
15. The skills this
student excels at are all “rote memory” skills. This reflects the education of
the students country where memorization and regurgitation are the way students
learn. Asian students may become excellent at decoding words. Their parents
think that they can read and they may even fool their teachers for a long time.
They may not have good reading comprehension skills.
16. Math is not taught
in a spiral manner in many other countries. American first grade math curricula
introduces terms such as “cone” and “rectangular prism.” Geometrical concepts
are taught each year. Students from other countries may not learn much geometry
before the 5th or 6th grade.
17. Many parents are
working long hours to give their children a better life in America. They may
get home very late. They may be overwhelmed with their day-to-day routine. If
your correspondence is in English, parents may not be able to read in English
even if they speak it. Some parents may not be literate in their first
language. It is important to keep this in mind.
18. In many cultures,
it is rude to use the teacher’s name. Respect is shown my addressing the teacher
as “Teacher.” When Pablo has enough English to understand, explain the American
custom of using your name without the preface “teacher.”
19. In many cultures
the teacher is the center of all learning. Other students are not seen as a
source of information. These students need to be directly taught to listen to
others, to express their own opinions, and join class discussions. One way to
do this is to ask Hung what his classmate just said. If he doesn’t know, have
the classmate repeat it. Ask him if he agrees with an opinion.
20. This student is
used to reading and writing from right to left, back to front. It will take
longer to relearn this and to hold the pencil in a way that is appropriate for
English writing.
21. Maria’s family
considers education important but family obligations have a higher priority.
Keep up a constant communication with the parents.
22. Schools in many
countries begin much earlier. Some schools in China begin at 7:00 or 7:30 in
the morning. You need to have a translator or Bilingual Parent Volunteer tell
her and her parents what time school starts.
23. Koreans consider it
rude to open a gift in front of the giver. Gift giving is very serious
business. You don’t want to show any signs of a lack of appreciation for the
gift. In order to avoid this, gifts are not opened in the presence of the
giver.
24. The student is
probably handing the paper with her left hand. In many cultures the left hand
is seen as “unclean.” You don’t hand people objects with it.
25. White is a sign of
death or a funeral. Rewrap those gifts in red paper.
26. In Thai culture the
head is where a person’s soul resides. It is very important not to touch a
child’s head.
27. It is better for
parents to speak a rich native language than a fragmented English. Remember
that any concept taught in native language will eventually translate to
English. It is never appropriate to tell parents to speak only English in their
home. If you moved to Japan, would you be able to speak only Japanese in your
home.?
28. This child has
learned some of his BICs (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills). He has not
yet mastered academic language which takes much longer.
29. Fractions are not
very important in the rest of the world where the metric system is used. A
fraction would be expressed in decimals.
30. Two is considered
very lucky and four is very unlucky. Give gifts in twos.
31. This is the way
division problems are written in Haiti and in many South American countries.
Students in other parts of the world figure the problem out mentally. They do
not write down the work
.
32. Students from many
other cultures will not be used to working with manipulatives. Students may become disruptive because they
do not take this type of lesson seriously.
33. Children from war torn
countries may be very sensitive to town whistles for ambulance or fire or even
the school bells. School staff members need to be aware of how frightening
these bells and whistles may be. Fire drill bells may cause a problem for any
new student from countries where fire drills are not practiced.
34. The student is
probably angry because he has had to move away from all that is familiar.
Culture shock plays a part in this behavior. How did you motion for the student
to come over to you? Beckoning with one finger is rude in many cultures. It can
be a gesture reserved for animals.
35. This is something
primary teacher do all of the time. To be on the safe side refrain from
touching any Asian students on the head.
36. For conservative
Chinese people, it is very bad luck to have a picture taken with an odd number
of people. Three people in a picture is considered especially unlucky,
especially for the person in the middle.
37. This typical
American sign for “O.K.” is recognized in most of the world. However, it is
very crude in a handful of countries, Brazil being one of them.
Judie Haynes, Content Editor,
February, 2002