06/1/21; Week 7: Response to "Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom"
When I started my career as a teacher, I did not know what this entailed, but I did know that I was going to walk on a very enriching path for both my students and myself. Along that path as a TESOL teacher I began to experience some situations with my students that at first I could not master, but then I analyzed each situation and understood that my students come from different subcultures and I began to be aware that they can not only be students from my country, but also from other countries so it had to address them more thoroughly, therefore we teachers must always bear in mind that we are faced with different cultural paradigms.
I believe that we
all agree with the fact that there is a wide variety of cultures that involve
customs, that in the educational field, students interact and share their
customs when they meet, identifying that sometimes there is similarity between
one and the other; however, due to their differences, they could generate
comments that can hurt susceptibilities causing disagreements between them. The
teacher must be a mediator between them and must apply strategies to control
the environment and have excellent outcomes.
From my point of view,
I think that communication is a very essential factor to be able to address all
kinds of situations in the classroom, and even more when it comes about a classroom
with a variety of cross-cultural students, so it is important that everyone
understand that they share the same place for several hours in each day and
must have a good sense of coexistence.
I agree with you, as teachers, we must make sure that we have a good atmosphere in the classroom and what better way to instruct the students in the customs and behaviors of each culture than at the beginning of classes, and propose rules of coexistence to avoid misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteIt can be that, even when we define rules for the class, we'll face unexpected situations. In some cases, they can bring us a delicate scenario that will require private conversations or the involvement of other peoples. But, in most of the cases, it will be solved by adequating and discussing with the students the best approach.
ReplyDeleteThanks guys for the great feedback.
ReplyDelete