Meghan Carpenter

  Culture affects psychology. It makes sense, because culture affects every aspect of our lives. The way we view ourselves is often affected by the way we feel we fit into the culture we live in. Those who feel their real self aligns well with what their culture expects of them will often have higher self esteem than those who feel they do not align with their cultural paradigms. These individuals may feel a variety of emotions, including shame.  I felt the reality of this situation when I found myself pregnant at 18 in a very conservative, religious community. The shame I felt lasted much longer than my repentance process did. I knew that Heavenly Father had forgiven me, but I felt shame because I went against the status quo of my community. It took years and therapy for me to let go of my shame.  How does this apply to our classrooms, you may ask. Our classrooms themselves will develop a culture. If you encourage your students to communicate with each other, they will b...

  Manners. The bane of parents everywhere, but the manners parents teach to their children are different in different cultures. Something that one person believes is rude could be completely fine in another's culture.  Take blowing your nose, for example. I was taught to be quiet in blowing my nose, and to blow my nose away from others. Some cultures, such as in Japan, would find even my discreet nose blowing rude. They would much prefer to blow their nose in a private bathroom, or an empty room away from any others. Some blow their nose openly and without any shyness. I wouldn't find this rude, but others could.  In the classroom, especially the English Learning classroom, you will have students with different beliefs in manners. This will include everything from burping in the classroom to putting their feet up on the desk. This can cause conflict in the classroom. Showing the bottom of your feet, such as putting your feet up on the desk, is more than just rude to someo...

  As an English Language teacher, you will have students from many cultures in your classroom. Hispanic cultures have different paradigms than European cultures, which have different paradigms than Asian cultures. In fact, the US has different cultures depending on where you grew up.  One of my first experiences with cultural differences was when I was in 1st grade. I had moved from North Carolina to California and even as a 7 year old, I saw the difference in the classroom. I was raised to call adults 'sir' and 'ma'am'. When my teacher asked me to do something during the first week of school, I responded the way I had been taught to, with "yes, ma'am." I was very confused when my class laughed, and I was sent to talk with the principal. I quickly learned that, in California, they don't use 'sir' and 'ma'am' the way I had been raised to.  Just like I learned when I was misunderstood in elementary school, your students will have ...

  Attributional tendencies is a big word that simply means where or who people "blame" for something that happens. For example, the typical American might attribute their successes on themselves. They might think "I deserve this success because I worked hard and I earned this." The same person might attribute their failures to someone else. They may blame their personal failures on their teachers who didn't teach them well enough, or their managers who didn't prepare them well enough for the job.  In other countries, such as Japan, they attribute their successes exactly opposite to Americans. They will attribute their successes externally. They might say "I am successful because I have amazing parents who gave me every opportunity I've ever had" or "I had amazing teachers who set me up for success". But they will also attribute personal failures internally. They will blame any failures on themselves and not others. It's always the...

  Another important aspect of the cultural differences in the classroom is personal space. There are a lot of factors that play into someone's personal needs in regard to personal space. For example, I have anxiety, so I would really rather people didn't stand too close to me, and I am not a "huggy" person. This is perfectly acceptable in the United States, where I live though.  In other cultures, my need for more personal space might be more difficult to maintain. My friend who was raised in Peru is much more open to physical touch than I am. In fact, students who are from certain South American countries, the Middle East and Southern Europe might be more open to "contact". We could call these "contact" cultures. Northern European countries, North America and Asia could be called "non-contact" cultures. Students from these cultures typically stand and sit further apart and touch less. This can cause some conflict in the classroom. What a...

  I think by now, I've convinced you that understanding your students' cultural background is extremely important. Another aspect we need to consider, though, is your students' cultural understanding of collectivism vs. individualism.  In many western cultures, like the United States, Western Europe and Australia, individualism rules. The needs, wants and successes of the individual is more important than the needs, wants and successes of the group. In the classroom, this often translates to each student for themselves. My work getting done means my success and my grades aren't based on the work of anyone else. Group projects can be difficult because my grade is no longer my own, it is dependent on others' work.  In many other cultures, including most Asian cultures, collectivism rules. The needs, wants and successes of the group overshadow the needs, wants and successes of individuals. In the classroom, the overall success of the student body is more important than...

  Like we've talked about for the last week, in a classroom setting, especially an English learning classroom, there will be a variety of cultural backgrounds. This can translate into quite a few interesting situations, but one that might happen often is a difference in emotional expressivity. Emotional expression can be defined in a number of ways, but Wikipedia defines it as:  An  emotional expression  is a behavior that communicates an emotional state or attitude. It can be verbal or non-verbal, and can occur with or without  self-awareness . Emotional expressions include facial movements like smiling or scowling, simple behaviors like crying, laughing, or saying "thank you," and more complex behaviors like writing a letter or giving a gift. These are the expressions we use daily, from moment to moment. And they are, generally, deeply ingrained in us, but not something we remember learning. These are the difference between  "Hi, how are you?"  "Oh, ...