5/17/2021; Week 5: Response to Culture Paradigms
Have you ever traveled to another country? Were you amazed at the way they lived? Were you able to adapt to them? Did you miss your culture? These are some questions that I asked myself the day I met another country, such as the United States. I had never imagined at 17 years of age that there were people in other cultures who would do things different from mine in things that are so normal to my routine, for example. Not having a family lunch at noon, or having dinner at 6 pm. The respect of people when driving even when they stopped at every stop. I also draw my attention to the respect that their children have for the authority of the father, or that from the age of 16 adolescents begin to work even they already have their driver's license or take off their shoes when they enter the house. So I could go on naming many more things that are different in my country Argentina, and that we act differently in the face of the same activities.
All this that I experienced made me remember that each of us has different paradigms and mental models with which we grow and are part of our culture. What is acceptable in one country is not acceptable in another. A video about Brother John Ivers from my pedagogy class gave me a clear vision of what a paradigm is and how to understand the concept. He mentions, “There are simple paradigms like clouds, cars, rocks, houses, and okay? And there are complex paradigms like hypocrisy. What is hypocrisy? What is beauty? What is graciousness? What is pride? What is humility? What is laziness? What is funny? What's flirtatious? What's loyal? What's polite? And you know something; those paradigms differ immensely from culture to culture. Immensely from culture to culture, okay? And so two different people from two different cultures can witness the very same event and their supercomputers that are their brains--by the way I am going to pass the roll around. I spaced it. There will be a few times I will space the roll and you will just be lucky on those days if you are absent.” https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/html5/html5lib/v2.80/mwEmbedFrame.php/p/1157612/uiconf_id/43228871/entry_id/0_9w0czg1f?wid=_1157612&iframeembed=true&playerId=kaltura_player_1539879321&entry_id=0_9w0czg1f
I believe that as future TESOL teachers we must develop a socio-cultural consciousness. Our students will come from different cultures, with traditions, ways of life that will be completely different from my students and mine. That is why we must be very careful when we teach a subject, investigate other cultures and be respectful of their beliefs.
Your question about culture paradigms are so important because in many cases these factors created prejudices and judgments to others because we cannot understand the differences. As a ESL teachers we are a guide to others then we will have the opportunity to enrich our class with different vision of the world.
ReplyDeleteHow many paradigms are in our mind that many times it is difficult for us to accept the opinion of the other and way of life. We must be respectful of each culture as we want them to be with ours.
DeleteWe'll be lucky to have a multicultural class to teach and interact with; it'll offer us the chance to learn from our students.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen!!What a beautiful opportunity to learn from our students and their culture.
DeleteCertainly, a TESOL classroom needs to give an education with intercultural awareness, and most importantly one that is based on principles, because principles don't belong to any country, but to humanity. At some point in our lives when we migrate we become global nomads. When we understand and respect the differences in our paradigms we can become citizens of the world.
ReplyDeleteHello Zaida!! How true is what you say of being able to understand and have respect for the other. How many paradigms can often limit us to accept that the other is different.
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