2/18/2021 Week 7: Culture and Psychology

 When I was 20, I saw a therapist for the first time. I was struggling to feel joy and happiness in my life. At this point, I had dropped out of college and was working as a hostess at a steakhouse, and living with my sister while I "figured things out." My self-esteem was at an all time low. The therapist kept referencing the negative cultures that developed in my family of origin. 

                                        

A family of origin is the family that you grew up in. In my case this was both of my parents, a brother, and a sister. Some of the negative cultures that my therapist and I worked to identify were those of perfectionism, guilt, and avoidance. (I should note that I imagine many American families had undertones of these in their homes. Mine was not excessive, but as a sensitive person, I took many things to heart.)

My thoughts and feelings that I was not good enough because I didn't have my degree or because I didn't have a "real" job came from an unhealthy idea that there was a prescribed list of what I should accomplish and when that should happen. My life had nothing valuable enough to take up precious space in the annual Christmas letter was my way of thinking. This was because I grew up in a home culture that stressed the importance of "getting it right" and if you didn't have it together, you just kept that to yourself. I felt shame and embarrassment for my life. 

After learning that these negative feelings were from years of messaging (some verbal and some never said, but very much implied), I was able to identify a new way to see my life. I was taking time to figure out who I was and where I wanted my life to go. It was okay that I didn't know what I wanted. There was time to figure it out. I was enough whether I was a doctor or a hostess. 

Some of this home culture came from my Southern upbringing and it's focus on appearance and manners and customs. Some of it came from the good, but often misguided intentions of my mother. At age 17, she joined the LDS church when she was pregnant with my brother. Then she welcomed my sister and then myself into the family. She was only 19 when I was born. In 3 short years, her life had completely changed and with three little ones, she barely had time to adjust. She loved the gospel and was excited at the potential we all had and didn't want any of us to have to learn some of life's lessons the hard way. Because of this, we were raised very strictly. Advice often looked like criticism and it was hard to live up to perfect expectations.

While I have come to a healthy love of myself and my path, as imperfect as it may be, I see just how much our home culture can drive the choices we make. Some people I meet or eventually teach, will come from different home as well and ethnic cultures that will built the foundations of their thinking. They might make choices that I don't see as healthy or simply don't understand. When this happens, I can remember that there are a thousand little things guiding our choices. Some of these are healthy and some are harmful. Some we are aware of and others slide by unconsciously. Having this knowledge allows me to extend grace to those I interact with. Most importantly, this allows me to extend grace to myself.

2/16/2021 Week 7: Differences in Manners

 When I was 8, I moved from Utah to Louisiana. On my first day of 3rd grade, I found myself in trouble and sitting out of recess for being disrespectful. I spent that recess in tears! I was not a disrespectful kid and was hurt and confused at the idea. After talking with my mom and after she talked to the teacher, it was all cleared up. I didn't address my teacher with Ma'am and said, "huh" and "what" when asking the teacher a question. These things were not done in the southern classroom! The teacher interpreted my lack of knowledge about southern manners as being disrespectful and rude. I learned really quickly after that to NEVER use "huh" again when I didn't hear or understand something! 

That day in third grade has stuck with me. I never should have had my recess revoked or told I was being disrespectful. I should have been told how things work differently in Louisiana. This would have required my teacher to understand cultural differences in manners.

Here is another story about differences in manners from my life. When I was a senior in high school, my dad was preparing to be deployed with the Army to serve in Afghanistan. I remember one day he came home from a cultural training and I was intrigued. He was to go over and build roads and schools, what would it matter if he knew which spot the fork and knife went at the table! That was how little I understood at the time. My dad gave some examples of things they learned like never pointing at something with one finger. Always gesture with two fingers or the whole hand. And never shake hands with someone with your left hand. 

When my dad returned home from deployment, we talked about that class in manners and if it made a difference. He said that his unit worked closely with a group of local Afghani men. One day the men didn't show up to the work site. When my dad's unit finally tracked them down, they learned that something one of the soldiers did or said deeply offended the men and they refused to work together anymore. While my dad didn't go into details over what the offense was, he did say it was something that was covered in the class and that if the soldier would have taken that valuable information to heart, the whole thing would have been avoided.

Different cultures have different sets of manners. As a teacher I will work to put my pride in check and not assume the worst from my cross-cultural students. With patience and civility, I will hopefully prevent any manners mishaps like mine from 3rd grade or my dad's from his deployment.

2/16/2021 Week 7: Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom

As my future classrooms fill with students in the coming years, I must be aware of the cross-cultural students that are present. It doesn't matter if there is one or if there are many. Things will be different for them. 

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to make a whole hearted effort to make the process of learning easier and more accessible. WhenI am teaching students from the same or similar cultures, this will be easier to navigate. We will view the world with a similar paradigm.  When teaching students from different cultures, they will have different paradigms and figuring out how to navigate that will be something that I will need to do. 

I believe it is important when teaching cross-cultural students to understand who they are and where they come from. Then I can begin to understand things from their perspective. Once I can see things from their point of view, I can make adjustments to help facilitate learning. 

This afternoon, I was discussing cultural differences with my sister and she told me about a class that she took when studying for her Masters in Education Administration. The class was about biases in curriculum.  She gave examples of math word problems that used city blocks to figure out a distance. Having city blocks in a word problem makes the assumption that the student knows what a city block is. Someone from rural Kansas would be far less familiar with this than someone from Manhattan, New York. Another example she shared was doing probability for how many times you would draw a king out of a deck of cards. Again, this places assumptions about the student. If the student doesn't know that there are 52 cards in a deck with 4 kings, this would be a near impossible problem to solve. 

This example makes me think about my future classroom and what assumptions I might make about the students that walk thru the doors. I hope that I can remember these ideas and take with me the things I am learning. I hope that I take my assumptions and question them. I want to understand the perspectives of my students and do what I can to help them succeed in the way that benefits them.

2/11/2021 Week 6: Attributional Tendencies

 When we make judgements about the cause of an event, this is known and making an attribution. Attributions can be dispositional or situational in nature. Dispositional, or internal, attribution is making a judgement based on the disposition or the individual that the event happened to. Situational, or external, attribution is when it is not the individual that is the cause, but the situation outside of their control or another person. The same event can be seen differently between two people based on the observer's attributional tendency. 

It is interesting to note that things like self-serving bias and defensive attribution can make inferences about their own behaviors that can be incorrect. Both of these serve as a way to preserve the view of oneself or the world around them. There is an example of defensive attribution of blaming a burglary victim for being careless with their house as a way to maintain the belief that the world is just. Self-serving bias does exactly that - it makes the individual feel better. They are the reason for their successes and others are responsible for their failures. 

With these attributions based on inferences and not fact, it can lead to plenty of misunderstandings. There is an old adage about walking a mile in someone's shoes before judging their actions. I think this applies to the idea of attributions. If nothing else, it is a good reminder to pause and fully look at the different factors in a situation. Realize there might be things that you cannot see. 

There is another bias in these attribution tendencies called actor-observer bias. To explain, I will use an event that just happened in my own life. 

My daughter has sensory processing challenges. They are not super severe, but she can have explosive outbursts if she is under stress and has too much sensory input going on. This happened at the park recently. She had a doctor's appointment earlier in the day and then had to complete a difficult math assignment. Either one of those things on their own would be enough to put her in a stressful place. So after she was done with her school work, I took her and her brother to the park. Swings and slides in the sunshine usually does the trick to calm her mind. We go to a small neighborhood park to avoid crowds, but this day there were three families there and they all had large dogs. The dogs were barking and playing. To anyone else, this would seem like a picture perfect park time, but for me it was one more red flag that my daughter was taking in a lot of outside stressors. Then, my son cut his finger. It wasn't an emergency, but it was bad enough that it required more than just a bandaid and we needed to leave the park less than 10 minutes after we arrived. When I told my daughter we had to leave, she began screaming "No," and throwing sand toys. A parent at the park had the response, "Wow. You need to teach her to listen. She's too old to be throwing fits like that." 

This park parent plays the role of of observer in the actor-observer bias. The park parent only saw a limited view of the situation. They placed the judgment as internal that my daughter had poor manners and didn't listen. My daughter, the actor in this situation, saw that she was trying to calm herself and all of the external factors we causing an emotional breakdown. Her issue was not about leaving the park, it was about not feeling in control of her internal world. 

While I am used to these types of judgments, they serve as a reminder to me that I need to think when I place attributions on things and remember that my limited view or my biases might make my view incorrect. BYUI professor, John Ivers, gave a lecture discussing these attributional tendencies. I will leave his challenge and statement last.

 "And so always, kind of, question your attributions and think, "Are these cultural attributions reasonable, rational? Reasonable? Logical? Or should I judge things by circumstances?" Sometimes life will just mess you up, sometimes other people will mess you up. Sometimes it's not your fault, sometimes it is your fault. But each circumstance is different. Life is not black and white, it's very, very complex. "

2/11/2021 Week 6: Personal Space

 If you would have walked into my teenage bedroom that I shared with my sister, you would have seen a line of duct tape splitting everything right down the middle. 

Even though we were less than a year apart, we were polar opposites. Her side was painted pink and covered in posters of pop stars and popular actors. My side was painted a dark purple and had quotes from books I read hanging everywhere or posters from Indie or foreign films I watched. One day I hung up a vision board collage I made and the next time I walked in the room a big chunk of it had been cut off. My sister felt like she was completely justified in doing this because it clearly crossed over into HER SPACE! 

I've grown out of my angsty teen phase, and my sister has grown out of destroying my things. However, that memory is a reminder that personal space is something that is valuable and should not be invaded. 

The above image comes from an article about personal space ownership. This is a great visual reminder of how much "bubble" to allow others. I am from the southern United States and these zones can get a little blurry for us here. We tend to hug strangers and it is not uncommon to put a hand on someone's arm when we are speaking to them, even if we just met. There is even a saying:

For me, I need the reminder that many people do not like it when I invade the friend/personal zone and if I move all the way into the intimate zone, that really puts them off. While having a more fluid set of zones might be the norm in the south, it is not the standard in most parts of the western world. 

This idea brings me back once again to a common idea that I have had while thinking about culture and the misunderstandings that can come from cultural differences. That is to expect the best and communicate! If I don't know how someone feels about something or if I feel like I might be sensing something off, I should ask. And when it comes to personal space, asking before moving into a closer zone is always a good option. 

2/11/2021 Week 6: Individualism vs. Collectivism

In his lecture on individualism vs. collectivism, Professor Ivers of BYUI, poses the idea that American Mormons (or Latter-Day Saints) are mostly individualistic, but also a little bit group oriented. I agree with this statement. Looking at the two different orientations, you see one that is focused on the individual and one that focuses on the group as a whole. 

The individualism certainly comes from American culture where we are taught that our own ideas and freedoms are what is important. However, it is not just American culture that gives this individualist orientation to Latter-Day Saints. In the gospel, we are sent to Earth to make our own choices. No one is in charge of our salvation except for us. The choices another person makes will not have a direct consequences on my life. In the lecture, a Japanese baseball team is discussed. One member of the team was in a fender bender when drunk driving and the entire team lost their driver's licenses. This is not how our Earthly actions will be judged.

This makes me think of the parable of the 10 virgins.

There were 5 who were not prepared to meet the bridegroom. They did not have enough oil in their lamps. This resulted in their inability to attend the wedding. It did not result in the other 5 sharing their oil or prevent the 5 wise virgins from going. 

The group orientation, or collectivism, is there within LDS gospel as well. We are taught that the family in central to our Creator's plan. Our purpose here on Earth is not only for ourselves to reach salvation, but to arrive at that point with our families. We participate in saving ordinances for our fellow man that has passed away. We know that we can play a role in the lives of others and we want to be with our families forever. We focus that we all get there together.

 What does this have to do with the classroom? I think beyond just acknowledging the different philosophies and ways of thought between our students of other cultures, I think this applies to how we look at, treat, and teach our students. 

Much like the example of American Latter-Day Saints, I think that a teacher should have a balance in their orientation. There are strengths to be had from individualistic as well as collectivist orientations. Every student is different and they should be responsible for their own efforts. They have different needs and as a teacher embracing the idea that not every student will learn in the same way is important. At the same time, the group as a whole can strengthen and support each other. When they work together and have the idea that it is not a competition then they can help one another succeed.

2/9/2021 Week 6: Differences in Emotional Expressiveness

     I am fascinated by the study of cultural misunderstandings and the idea of emotional expressivity adds to that. Emotional expressivity does not stop at the individual feeling an emotion. They express the emotion and those around them interpret the emotion. Emotions and especially the interpretation of those emotions are not universal. This can lead a person to interact with someone else in the wrong way. The previous video does a great job at explaining this idea as well as giving some examples.

     Coming from the United States, it is natural for me to see someone smile and think they are happy. However, like the video shows, if that person is from Thailand, they very well might be uncomfortable. They express the same emotion in a different way than I do and I would typically not stop to think anything about it. So, I would not check on their comfort level and would continue the behavior that was making them uncomfortable in the first place. This would have me come across rude and impolite. Now we are both caught in a cycle of misunderstanding each other and lead to a lack of connection.

     I think one of the things about cultural misunderstandings that fascinates me so much is that I see these in so many facets of my life. So many of these are because there is ignorance and a lack of awareness and acceptance of differences. If we allowed people a line of grace to be different and don’t view those differences as wrong or bad, we allow ourselves more opportunity for connection. Then we take it one step further and don’t just give space for differences, but we seek them out and ask where that person is coming from. We don’t merely allow the differences to exist, we see what we can learn from them.

     I have worked in several jobs with individuals that have disabilities. There was one individual that I worked with that was on the Autism spectrum. I didn’t know this at first. He would sit at a table near the larger group in the break room and kept to himself. He never laughed with everyone else while we would joke around working. Most of us figured he didn’t like us or he thought he was too good for us.

     One day in the break room, we were watching a video on someone’s tablet and it looked like he was trying to see so I invited him over to our table. He didn’t smile or say anything, but he did slide into an open chair next to me. He stopped me after work that day and thanked me for the invitation. I didn’t think much of it, but invited him again to sit with us the next day. This happened for a few days. I would make the invitation and he would join us. Then one day I didn’t invite him because I figured at that point he knew he could and the invitation wasn’t needed anymore. However, this day he sat by himself and another friend made a statement about if he was avoiding us or if we all smelled bad. This friend intended it as a well meaning joke. However, the boy was apologetic and said he didn’t know if he could. He then opened up about how hard it was for him to understand social settings and that he was on the Autism spectrum and it made it challenging for him to express emotions in the same way as us. The times he wasn’t laughing with us, he was still having fun.



     He was a great guy and super smart. We all enjoyed hanging out with him and could have gotten to know him better if we would have been more open minded and reached out sooner. We missed out on connection because we were closed off to differences.

     This is how it is with those from other cultures. Knowing that cultural differences in emotional expression exist is the first step. Be aware that not everyone is the same as you and not everyone views the world in the same way. Be willing to ask questions and be willing to have an open mind. I believe as we allow our differences to show, we can learn and connect with each other.

     

2/6/2021 Week 5: Cultural Miscommunication

I was listening to a lecture by Professor Ivers from BYU Idaho. The lecture is all about cultural miscommunication and how we base our understanding of communication on the paradigms that we hold. An example that stood out to me was about his wife and the class that she is an aid for:

“My wife is a kindergarten aid and she had a student from China. And the student was very intelligent, very impressive, and so they decided that they were going to make this student “student of the week.” And the student was going to have his photo out in the hallway and samples of his work out in the hallway, and all the kids were going to see it. And the student cried, and cried, and cried, because he was going to be “student of the week,” and all his stuff was going to be out in the hallway.  And so my wife and the main kindergarten teacher tried to console him, saying, "This is a good thing, this is a good thing."  They thought he misunderstood. 

 

Then, all of a sudden, the Chinese boy's parents are on the phone with the elementary school saying, "How dare you make our student ‘student of the week’ and put his stuff in the hallway." 

 

See, that would humiliate him in a group-oriented society, because he would be the nail that is sticking out.  Now, they’d be happy if you told them in a personal interview that he was a good student.  They would probably say he's not that good, but they would still be happy. But when you put him on display for everyone else to see, then they believe that will bring public scorn to him, possibly. “

This well intended gesture was not seen kind at all. In my own culture, if I had my work on display and was given the title of “student of the week,” I would be thrilled. I would be so proud of myself and would want everyone to see my accomplishments. It is not part of my cultural paradigm to be embarrassed by being singled out in this way. For this child and his family it was. 

There were many examples given by Professor Ivers that were about the way people spoke to each other. He mentioned speaking too directly as being offensive to some. He also brought up interrupting as something that people do. I am from the South in the United States and we are a very talkative bunch. Interruptions happen all the time. It means that conversation is happening and that everyone involved is engaged in the conversation. I sometimes find it weird when I’m in a conversation and the other person is just quiet. They might say something after I finish, but that back and forth is missing. To me it feels like the person I am talking to doesn’t care much about what is being said. Instead, they might just be polite and care a great deal. That's why they are quiet, because they care and want to hear it all.

The other thing in this lecture that stood out to me was a discussion about race and cultural misunderstandings that arise between white Americans and African-Americans. African-American culture tends to make more eye contact while speaking and look away more when listening. This is the opposite from white Americans. The direct eye contact and energy can be seen as intimidating and this lends itself to already ingrained racist steriotype that African-Americans are dangerous or bad.

All of these miscommunications are because individuals place expectations on others and make assumptions. This is another reason that I feel like everyone needs to have some understanding that there are different cultures out there, some even within your own country. These cultures see things differently and different doesn’t mean wrong. Even within our own culture, there are misunderstandings that are born from assumptions. Professor Ivers makes this statement,

 “Be aware of those potential misunderstandings, and realize that those people have good intentions. They have good intentions, they are just working off of different paradigms.”

We need to put our assumptions aside, especially when it comes to our interactions with individuals from other cultures. Expect the best out of people. More often than not, people mean well. Go into every interaction with an open mind and realize the good intentions.

2/4/2021 Week 5: Cultural Differences Concerning Time

     I grew up in a household that was very structured and task oriented. My siblings and I were involved in sports and other extracurricular activities where the philosophy was "To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be running late. To be late is to be running laps." "Give your full focus to the task at hand," "Let's stay on schedule," and, "See it through," are all lines that I heard from my parents countless times. While I knew there were families and individuals that ran late and didn't adhere as strictly to timelines as my family, I still assumed that a time-based schedule was the norm for everyone. 

     My first introduction that this wasn't the case was when I met a friend of mine, Brittany. She moved into my neighborhood to be closer to her husband's family. Alberto, her husband, was from Mexico and his parents, brother, and several aunts and uncles all lived nearby. I was invited to a dinner with his family at 6pm one evening. I arrived around 5:45and was the first guest there. By 6:30, only a few more guests had arrived. They had music playing and great conversation, but I could tell that food would be a long way off. The plan was to grill carne asada, but the grill was not lit until close to 8:00. I left around 9, and people were still showing up as I pulled away. Even though I had an incredible time, I was confused and frustrated about being told that dinner was at 6:00. When I talked to my friend, her response was, "Oh. I should have warned you. That's just a Mexican thing." I didn't get it. 

     Today, I listened to a lecture given by Professor Ivers and first learned of the concepts of monochronic and polychrinic time. I find this idea fascinating. Professor Ivers laid out that the monochonic world is ruled by the schedule and a polychronic world is ruled by relationships and the family. When put that way, I love the polychronic way of thinking. My friend Brittany's in-laws were not in a rush to get the grill lit and food cooking, because they were enjoying spending time with their guests. They were making connections. They knew that some family would be coming after work and that the party would last a long time. There was no rush only enjoyment. There are so many times that I get frustrated with my kids because the second we have to be somewhere is the second they need a trip to the bathroom or they need a snack or help with their shoes. It slows me down and makes me late. Being late puts me in a bad mood. If I could shift my focus to prioritize the people in front of me - my family I think it would leave my home a more peaceful place. Taking an extra 5 minutes to sit down with my son to walk him through tying his shoes ones more time will help build a positive connection as well as help him gain a sense of independence. We can both walk away in a positive mood. Tying the shoes myself in a huff about being late only sets a negative tone for us all going forward. 

     What role does this play in the classroom? For starters, I think about different learning styles and personality styles. My daughter has inattentive type ADHD. She can only focus on what is going on in the moment. That doesn't always last long though because she can get distracted easily and often has several activities going on at one time. Too many times I am helping with her homework and I say, "If you would just stop playing with that toy and concentrate you could get this done much faster." I don't know why I still say this to her. It isn't true for her. She concentrates much better if she has music on or a small toy to play with. She does not view time the same way I do. There will be students in my future that see things from her perspective. I have to be able to meet them where they are and have understanding and find a way to teach in a way they can learn. 

     Now, my daughter comes with a diagnosis. There are protocols and supports in place to help her. When I am teaching students from different cultural backgrounds, they aren't coming with the same protocols and supports or a list of their different paradigms. It is up to me as a teacher to understand that time orientation is not the same across the globe. This is a fact that I need to store in my mind. It will help in not making a preemptive judgement about a student or their family. It is another cultural difference that should be embraced. 

     As an adult and a parent, I find myself hating schedules and loving them all at the same time. They keep things running smoothly and efficiently. As a single mom, I have a lot of responsibilities that have to get done. No one else is going to step in if I can't. If I put off work, I have to do it at night and that cuts into my sleep, which helps no one. I have to know how much I can handle and when to say no to extra work. Chaos would reign if I didn't live by a schedule. That being said, I think I let my schedule be in-charge too much. I would like to learn from the polychronic time orientation on how to relax on the time lines and to focus instead on family and connections. Do I really need to do the laundry right this minute or can I sit and read another book to my kids? Can I run late to a girl's night out because my kids wanted to tell me about their day and snuggle for a few more minutes? 

     Then, if I can see these priority differences for myself, it allows me to have more understanding and acceptance for others. It can help me from placing judgement on them as well. Did someone come late to a staff meeting I'm running because they were handling some things for a family member? Does someone need to cancel coming to game night because they are going to their sister's house instead? 

     Learning about cultural differences is really eye opening for me. It is a much needed reminder that the world doesn't function the same way I do. My way is not the only way of doing things. It is a reminder that compassion and understanding are essential. Regardless of the background of an individual, I want to have a classroom that everyone feels seen and valued. 

2/2/2021 Week 5: Cultural Paradigms

When I moved from the state of Louisiana to California, I made jokes that I had moved to a new planet. Grocery staples that I could normally get at any store were nowhere to be found. The interstates were extra intimidating not only because of their size, but because it seemed that no one would ever let you merge. I was used to always being let over and a friendly wave exchanged between both parties. It felt like the people were rude because they never said hello or smiled when passing on the sidewalk. These differences were enough to make it not feel like home, but they didn't interfere with my ability to connect with others or understand situations. I could still feed my family with familiar foods easily found. I could still navigate my way around the interstate system even if it took longer to merge (though I still find it hard to call it the freeway). I was also able to make friends and connections even if strangers on the street kept to themselves. My life was minimally impacted. 

This video clip is an excerpt from "God Grew Tired of Us." It follows a few men from Sudan. They came to the United States from a refugee camp where they lived for some years after fleeing civil war in their home country of Sudan. The differences they experienced in moving to the United States was very different than mine. Things that I accept as common knowledge and trust that my 2 year old nephew knows are completely foreign to these men. Potato chips, donuts, and individual packets of butter were foods that these men had never even seen before. In order to bathe, they wondered if they would need to collect water in jugs themselves and didn't know what a shower was. The impact of these differences was immense, however, these are differences that can be taught easily enough with some instructions and experience. These are just the beginning of the challenges that cultural differences can present. There are some differences that effect not only how we experience the world, but how we view it. 

 In that same video, one man remarked that he had never use electricity and assumed it would be hard to do. With no knowledge that electricity is as easy as flipping a switch, he made the assumption that it would require force or skill or ability. The world view he had was one that required effort to accomplish tasks. Why would electricity be any different? In her TED talk at State Street Boston, Delali Bright relates her upbringing in West Africa. She was skinny. This was a problem. In West Africa, this is seen as a sign of poverty and illness. Her family worried about the judgments people would place on her and worried if she would be able to find a man willing to marry her. They took her to doctors and placed her on vitamin regiments and diets to try to help her gain weight. She was bullied and made to feel shame and embarrassment about her body and size. With her self-image low, she moved to the United States where her small waist was seen as beautiful and was praised. It is amazing how the same quality can be viewed so differently between cultures. 

With these thoughts in mind, I think about culture in the classroom and what effect it has. There are those small differences that are mostly about the function of things. There could be students that expect a prayer before meal time or students that do not use utensils to eat with. This can open them up to unwanted attention that has the potential to move into teasing. It can make students feel different and that can close them off to being receptive in all subject. This is one reason that I want culture and our cultural differences to be part of my classroom. I want even the girls form Louisiana, like me, to know that there are different people out there and they are no less valued because they do things differently.

The next thing I think wonder about has more to do with the cultural paradigms that effect our view of the world and our expectations of people. In this video the instructor, Brother Ivers, uses and example of one culture that finds it inappropriate for men and women to see each other eating. He also discusses cultures that think it is wrong for women to swear, but not men. I imagine teaching a student that comes from a culture like on e of these and is now in my classroom. How can I make it a safe space for them? How can I help them feel comfortable, but also help them understand that the belief is different? How can I help their fellow students to understand and accept.

In the video about the men from Sudan, they were told not to go out all together or in large groups because it made others in the community nervous because this was not something that people saw regularly and it made them uneasy. There was one convenience store that even called the police because they assumed the men were there to cause trouble. I will say that while it is not customary in the US to go in large groups to stores, this was probably more about race than the large group. Racism is another cultural paradigm that unfortunately still exists in the US that these men were possibly not prepared to handle. At first I start to think about how to help students from different area adapt to the way of thinking here, but I think there are paradigms in our culture and in our classrooms that can be addressed even if everyone comes from the same background. 

We need to be understanding, accommodating, accepting, patient, and kind. We need to teach that differences are just that - different. One isn't automatically better than another. Some can be harmful, but many can be helpful. We can learn from each other. Embrace each other and grow together.