Review
During my preparations to become a teacher, it never occurred to me that culture would impact children in such a dramatic way. So many times I have heard colleagues ask why children could not be on time, act like other children, and follow simple rules. After reading this assignment, it comes to mind that maybe the adults should have tried to take the culture of the individual child into consideration (Noel, 2008, Chapter 1).
Cultures have differing communication styles. This affects the way children share their ideas. If their culture is accustomed to reading a story and then talking about it, they will share differently than if they are taught to simply listen to a story or to reflect on a story after hearing it (Noel, 2008, p.18). For example, Native American children do not appreciate the teacher stopping to discuss parts of a story. They have been taught to listen to the entire story and then talk uninterrupted for as long as they wish (Noel, 2008, p.18).
This brings me to the Adichie (TEDtalksDirector, 2009) speech that told how everyone should be careful not to read a single story about people and think you have a clear picture of their personal history. Cultures are made up of so many experiences. Children are different according to what their encounters have been in life.
Many times children do not have an area of personal space that is appropriate for the classroom setting. This is also a cultural issue. Some children are taught to stay at an arm's length from each other while others are not (Noel, 2008, p. 19). For instance, some children stand very close to others during school activities. Children can be taught to stay at an acceptable distance in their classrooms.
There have been instances where people do not seem to have a sense of time. For instance, if told to come to a party at 2 pm, the family finally arrived at 3:30 pm. Individuals who are not worried about time schedules are considered to be polychronic (Noel, 2008, p. 24). Families who are on a tight schedule, and plan everything are monochronic (Noel, 2008, p. 24). An example of this would be a mother standing and tapping her watch telling a child to hurry or they will be late.
The economic background of families could be determined by where people live, what job they hold, their family history, and other factors (Noel, 2008, p. 26). For instance, what is important to someone in a rural setting is very different from those living in an urban area. Schools release students during harvest and planting times in rural areas. This was true in my dad's family. Everyone in the family had jobs during those times. The younger children normally milked cows, mucked stalls, and fed the animals while the older children and the adults planted and then harvested the crops. The oldest daughter would make sure the children not in the fields completed their chores. Everything was about family in the rural setting. On the other hand, urban cultures are trained for jobs outside the home and rely on problem-solving to learn their trade. This group is more about individual efforts (Noel, 2008, p. 31).
Reflect
In all my years of training, I never thought culture would impact my life as much as it has. My upbringing was in the rural South with very strict guidelines on how to talk to adults, when to ask questions, and when to be quiet. You by no means questioned an adult about why you were told to perform a task. It simply was not allowed. Everyone spoke the same and had just about the same kind of clothes, cars, and houses. It wasn't until I went away to college that cultural issues started to impact my life. Suddenly, my speech was not correct for several people with which I came into contact. They made fun of how I talked. This was never an issue where I grew up. This definitely is an example of differing communication styles listed in this chapter (Noel, 2008, p. 15). Noel (2008, p.15) noted vocabulary, word meanings, and sentence structures are all components of a person's culture.
It appears that culture dictates differences for men and women as well. In fact, even the decade determines those differences. For instance, when my mom and dad were married, she was to carry out all the household chores. My dad expected dinner to be on the table when he arrived each night. By the time my husband and I were married, he helped with chores. Dinner was cooked by whomever arrived first. We both helped setting the table. However, if you did not cook, you washed the dishes. Now, my entire family has jobs to get dinner on the table. They also help with clean up. At least now, they can use a dishwasher to make the process faster.
Teachers need to be more mindful of a child's background so they can make for a more relaxed learning environment. A child who is used to sharing their opinion will not raise their hand and wait their turn. A child who is from a polychronic background will not suddenly arrive on time. A child who is from an urban area will not speak the same way as a child from a rural area (Noel, 2008, p. 24).
Refine
The material in this chapter (Noel, 2008) has opened my eyes to the differences in family backgrounds. It is now up to all teachers to make each child's life a little easier by taking those differences into account. A child who is not used to storytelling will not be able to tell a story in a matter of minutes. Children can become more at ease learning in new ways if taught how to do so. They can be asked to summarize what is read in class. This makes children more comfortable speaking in front of others. They would speak from their seat. However, it is sometimes necessary to ask them to speak louder.
Children in my classroom will always have opportunities to work on their strengths as well as their weaknesses. This cannot happen simultaneously, but given time students will be more comfortable with their work. Children will be encouraged to share their ideas in a spoken format as well as a written one. Bringing their own experiences into their work will help them feel more comfortable. Students will be placed into groups of different cultures to learn about their way of communicating. Lessons will be structured to discuss difference in personal space. The lesson will sometimes dictate how far away students will stand. For example, small group lessons are conducted at a closer distance than large group lessons.
Students who are really strict with schedules will be taught to slow down and not schedule everything. They could have a few minutes in my classroom to do what they wish. They might pick a writing activity, a computer game, or a game just to release tension. Students who don't adhere to schedules at all, can be taught to schedule certain parts of their day. For instance, timing assignments without the pressure of grading will increase time management skills in students. Later, assignments will be given for a grade. So many times using a computer makes children want to complete their assignment. Computers seem to lose any fears of writing when they use technology.
As a teacher, it is critical to make sure students do not draw conclusions about someone else by only knowing one thing about their background (TEDtalksDirector, 2009). We must expose children to many ways of learning about different cultures. One way is to have students bring in items about themselves and tell what the items mean to them as we did in class (Homann, 2012). This will help students learn how to talk in front of others in a non-threatening way. It also gives insight into personal history. Students will be given many opportunities to learn about their classmates. Another way to learn about students is to have them gather around globes and point out where they were born on the globe. This opens up the lines of communication without feeling they cannot speak in front of their peers. I look forward to learning new ways to incorporate cultures into my classroom throughout this course.
References
Homann, L. (2012, Aug. 30). Class activity.
Noel, J. (2008). Developing Multicultural Educators (2nd edition).
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 30 August 2012. How to cite sources in APA style.
TEDtalksDirector (2009, October 7). Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story. (video file). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg
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