16 Jul Culture Clash – the Importance of Cultural Learning

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Culture Clash – the importance of cultural learning

A True Story about Cultural differences in the classroom:

One semester I was appointed to teach a capstone class for the graduating seniors. It was one of my favorite classes to teach because it was a very small seminar style class, and the lion’s share of the course was in the student’s interactions. It was dynamic and intimate and incredibly beneficial for application of learning. This semester, there seemed to be one girl who sat in the back away from everyone else and didn’t seem to enjoy conversations with others. Her demeaner was subdued and she never smiled or seemed to enjoy being there.

During a group assignment her groupmates all mentioned to me that she was difficult to connect with. I arranged a meeting with her. She greeted me warmly and sat in the chair. I asked her how her experience in the class was.

She said, “Professor, I enjoy your class so much, but I am struggling with my classmates.” When I asked why she replied, “It’s not just them, I am struggling with American culture. It’s so different and I think people don’t understand me.”

Naively, I said, “Do you think there is a language barrier?” Which didn’t make sense even as the words were coming out of my mouth because her ability to speak and write in the language was excellent. She said, “No, Americans are so different. We hear stories where I’m from and I just didn’t believe them.” Before I could ask for clarification she continued, “For example, everyone is always smiling here. They look at you while you are walking or even when you are eating, and people are always smiling. It confuses me because I think people are wanting me to smile?”

At this point I’m thinking yes, that would be great! A little affective feedback would be great, so I know you enjoy my class. But again, I don’t say this out loud and before I can utter anything, she declares, “In my village, social smiling is a sign of mental illness, and everyone does it all the time here! I am surprised at all the smiling.” Of course, my response back was a beaming smile of relief! I explained and we both enjoyed the lighthearted clarification. Who would have thought that something as seemingly innocuous as a smile, would lead to such an important shift in cultural awareness?

What this story means to me

I tell this story often because it highlights so well the importance of understanding cultural differences and respecting them. It would have been easy to finish the semester assuming that student was miserable and didn’t like the class.

I could have remembered her as the student who never smiled in the back of my classroom. But because of one small conversation, I remember her as so much more. A muse in the always progressing lesson of sensitivity and awareness.

what is culture?

Culture isn’t just our skin color or the way we dress, although those facets are often a part of culture. According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, culture is the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group. It’s more than just the way you dress. Culture is how you spend your free time, it’s whether you have one child or many, or none. It’s where you get married, or if you get married. It determines so much of who we are. It affects the way we discipline, the types of foods we offer, whether we believe in time-outs or physical discipline. It may even determine the role and importance we see for teachers.

See where I’m going with this?

How do we allow for cultural learning in in the classroom

Culture isn’t just something for adults to think about before we post something on social media. It’s something to consider when we watch the kiddos in the dramatic play area cleaning up and listen to the ways they achieve the task. It’s pausing when a child is reprimanding a classmate for wasting food and remembering that their reference might be that of food insecurity where waste is unheard of. It’s asking questions when a child is resisting trying a fun, new activity and learning that they are not permitted to dance in front of strangers.

Conclusion

Giving ourselves the opportunity to glean from the children in our care is one of the ways that we avoid conflicts and missteps and that when done well, allows us to progress forward – together.

Contributing Expert Author

Samantha Reeves, M.A.

Samantha has over 25 years of experience in the field of child development. She has worked in all manner of professions as they relate to children including beginning her career as a floater teacher with 3 units, to a multisite center
regional director, and most recently, a professor in the Child and Adolescent Studies department at CSUF.

Samantha earned her B.S. at Cal State Fullerton in the same department she would later instruct in. She has a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University where she focused her research on attachment theory and attachment related disorders.

Samantha lives in Anaheim Hills with her husband and 4 children. She recently made the decision to put her teaching career on pause to stay home with her kids, but plans to return to the classroom in some format in the future.