Cultural Diversity in Our Classrooms

1. Developing Cultural Sensitivity to Our Students

Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism refers to how we see our world, and the "color" in which we see it. The lens from which we view the rest of the world is largely a result of our cultural upbringing, and has a great bearing on our interactions with others, including with the immigrants we encounter on a daily basis. Think about those we meet who do not speak a version of English we understand, or speak with a heavy accent. Ethnocentrism is about our attitudes toward others, toward foreigners, and it fuels our tolerances in general.

The mainstream dominant culture in any country, notwithstanding the United States, is what is reflected in what is taught in schools, the text that is used, the standards and the assessments.   Schools across the United States are grounded in the beliefs shaped by the mainstream dominant culture. Thus, the hidden curriculum in schools reflects the underlying values of the mainstream culture. These beliefs often unwittingly created barriers for minority students, and newcomers to the country. Cross-cultural conflicts are encountered in every area of life, especially in school through beliefs, values, and behaviors that might conflict with a host country's.

For instance, non-native speakers of English are automatically considered to be newcomers, and are regarded as such largely due to a lack of communication. Instinctively, those who have no accent, with whom language happens easily or perhaps they learned the language early enough to bypass a notable accent, are typically understood and accepted better. Someone with an accent, despite how good they may read, write, or what level of English language proficiency they are in, may never be fully accepted as American because they do not speak, and therefore look, like a native English speaker. Those who speak English well are presumed to know the rules of the culture. We also have a tendency to forgive those who do have an accent, and shrug a seemingly innocent language mistake, whether it was intentional, disparaging, or truly within their language learning curve, as simply a mistake. Without an accent, the expectations go much higher.

Think about the aspect of time for example. In our culture, it is perceived as rude to be late to an event, especially after the event has started. In other countries like Spain, events usually do not begin at the stated time, therefore most people arrive late; it is customary. If someone from that culture came here and were invited to their first event, they would perceive it perfectly fine to be late, however it wouldn't be perceived that way from native English speakers or U.S. citizens would it? This is but one example. Many of our second language students have fear of authority figures, and are taught it is disrespectful to make eye contact with adults, speak out of turn, or even make a gesture to speak like raising one's hand.

What about in the classroom where we are expected to begin and end a class at a specific time? Should we be expected to change our rules and expectations for a select unwitting few? No, but we should come to understand our students. This is what is considered a challenge to our cultural beliefs, and when we have second language learners, students from other countries, they can be challenged on a daily basis. The principle of being late is not negative, clashes are bound to occur. Schedule appointments with parents carefully, conferences with students, and make your expectations clear from the onset about the concept of time and tardiness.

Here are some suggestions and recommendations for getting to know our students, with culture in the background and in the foreground:

• Get to know the culture of students by researching their surface culture: history and backgrounds of the countries they are form: languages, cultural norms, values, behaviors, beliefs, non-beliefs, traditions, customs, and even foods. Research their deep culture as you can, along with values, family roles, expectations for behavior, roles for males, females, and even familial roles.
• Make home visits when possible to get to know the family and the students' living circumstances. Usually the family appreciates the interest of a teacher when he or she shows up. The formation of a partnership will quickly begin to surface as you engage them in their child's education.
• Attend neighborhood and local cultural events to get to know the insides of their culture. Conduct your own action research! Ask students probing questions about their own cultural practices. This will also open up conversation, and healthy language practice.
• Teachers can focus on inquiry-based and discovery-oriented thematic units on topics that relate to the interests of the students, and that are culturally and socially relevant to them.
• Offer a challenging curriculum with enough time to complete tasks, but provide scaffolding for students by activating prior knowledge, providing schema or background knowledge to help them transition the unknown to the familiar. Provide an equal and equitable academic playing field culturally, linguistically.
• Provide feedback regularly and call on students equally. Modify your questioning strategies according to the level of the language proficiency of the student.
• Integrate multicultural viewpoints and histories into the daily curriculum.
• Learn about, and practice with, diverse learning and teaching styles to accommodate culturally appropriate classroom behaviors associated with each culture.
• Encourage learning within appropriate sociocultural and linguistic situations. Incorporate the students' native language within the learning situations as they apply, and when possible. Be aware of a classroom management style that students may be familiar with, and hep them with the transition to yours.
• Seek to understand their parents and help them be aware of school routines and procedures.
• Develop higher order knowledge and thinking skills through a modified and differentiated curriculum that employs a variety of learning strategies so that expectations are the same for all students.
• Use cooperation, collaboration, and community-oriented instruction for breadth of social and academic experiences within a nonthreatening classroom environment.
• Be aware of your own ethnocentric attitudes and attempt to refine your own cultural negotiation skills knowing that language and culture play such a vital role in identity formation.

2. Classrooms That Care

Culture Shock

Have you ever traveled somewhere, and things were so different you weren't sure how to behave, react, or simply felt uncomfortable in your surroundings because it was unfamiliar? Another state, another city, another job, or another country - culture is everywhere; it is what defines or base of familiarity. Many students new to the country and new to the English language, or any new language, also experience "culture shock" (Hall, 1959). Because their sense of culture is so deeply ingrained, as it is with all of us, moving from one country to another can have a profound impact on learning because they must operate outside of a comfort zone they've have become accustomed to.

It usually begins with a honeymoon stage: we're excited by a new surrounding, the difference, and the exposure to something new has removed us entirely from what we thought was boring or old. Culture shock moves from the honeymoon phase to the aggressive or hostile stage, where the newness diminishes and instead is replaced with frustration, anxiety, and anger about our inability to function as we did in more familiar surroundings (Ogberg, 1998). This can also be known as "homesickness."

Once recovered, a newcomer adjusts to the language and to the host culture, as well as to the new environment.  Anxiety takes a back seat to new food, cultural habits, and acceptable norms with which to now live and thrive.

How does all of this adjusting affect the classroom? It is important for teachers to know and recognize the symptoms of culture shock, and expect to see manifestations to various extents at each stage depending upon the student. This is why it is so important to help students maintain a positive attitude about themselves, and about their new life here. It often begins with teacher attitudes toward learning in general.

Culture Shock in the Classroom

Culture shock is the shock of the new and unfamiliar, and for ESL students almost everything a new country can be culturally new and unfamiliar. Second language learners come from a variety of backgrounds. Some may have come from a country where the goal of education where knowledge was is acquired by rote memorization of facts, and therefore learning in a less constricted environment where the onus for acquiring new knowledge is on the learner might be completely foreign, uncomfortable, and intimidating. Not used to learning by discovery or applying critical thinking can result in suspicion, fear, or even perceived threat. This can result in their remaining silent for fear of being perceived as showing off, as not intelligent, or fear of losing face by giving the wrong answer. Being praised in front of others for example, can cause some students embarrassment if they aren't used to being praised. Others might feel uncomfortable when asked to share opinions and beliefs that they were taught were supposed to be private and never shared. Some ESL students may be unused to being taught by teachers of the opposite sex, or they may have come from schools where the expectations and treatment of boys and girls are different. When these cultural beliefs are challenged, learning can if not handled properly.

Social differences

ELL students are often confronted with social differences that may cause stress, and stress can also derail learning. Not all, but many important school social events and holidays are related to American culture, such as the sports banquets, graduation ceremonies and the Christmas prom, and religious holidays like Easter and Christmas.

Second language students can respond in a variety of ways to these situations. Some out of a desire to fit in, will do so. Some will rebel, and others resentful that their own culture does not seem to be valued, or out of a loss for an ability to value it. Some may fear retribution at home for celebrating or integrating into a culture other than their own, or fear losing their own identities.

Emotional and Psychological Effects of Culture Shock

Along with emotional reactions to culture shock are physical reactions: tiredness, sleeplessness,  oversleeping, headaches and stomach aches can all be symptoms of culture shock, or homesickness. The emotional effects can include anxiety, irritability, aggressiveness or depression. Behavioral effects can include refusing to speak the mother tongue with the parents, especially in front of non-native friends. Some students reject native cuisine and will not wear traditional native clothes. Others may openly rebel against the traditional role expected of the child in native family life. It can present particular challenges when school culture shock is combined with typical adolescence.

The Educator's Role, and the Parent's Role

Not all ELLs will experience culture shock, and much of it will depend upon how it is handled at home, at school, and the extent of cultural integration they have become immersed in (there may be a sub-culture of related cultures for example like Latinos or Asians in neighborhoods where such cultural diffusion takes place).  Most students that do have problems adjusting initially, eventually find their own way and adjust, particularly when they are younger.

• Show empathy. Make it clear to your students that you understand the pressures they are under. Try to relate to them your own experiences with cultural integration, either at work, in another city, or share the experiences of other students and how they adjusted.
• Use culturally-friendly curriculum, and if one is not available search the Internet for supplemental resources (see Module 20 for a list of resources).
• Share this knowledge with parents, and encourage their cooperation and support in this transitional period. Make them aware of the stages and phases of culture shock at school, and share these solutions with them.
• Encourage students to take part in an extracurricular after-school opportunities such as sports, music, book clubs, writing clubs (where appropriate) and anything else that might interest them. Make them know to them by directing their parents to information, or pairing them up with other students who are patient, caring, and could take on the role of mentor.
• Contact the student's other teachers or counselor if the student is withdrawn and taking an unusually long time to adjust. The more support they can have, the easier the transition will be.

References

Brown, H. D. (1994) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.