10/28/21 Week 7: Response to "Culture and Psychology"

 Culture and Psychology

By Angélica Conde

There's a culturally-created ought self in every culture, in every subculture. And then, of course, there is the real self. And the real self may or may not correspond to this culturally-demanded ought self.  And the higher the correspondence, the higher the correspondence between the real self and the ought self, most likely, the higher self-esteem one will enjoy. But the lesser the correspondence between the culturally-created ought self and your real self, then it is harder to have that self-esteem.

As Richard Shweder, one of the major proponents of the field, writes, "Cultural psychology is the study of the way cultural traditions and social practices regulate, express, and transform the human psyche".

Sometimes I am shocked how culture can influence both human behavior and psychology. 

Studying a little on the subject, childhood memories came to my mind bringing back pleasant memories and at the same time thoughts of "how I could believe in that".

Surely many of these ideas you have heard them or perhaps consider them something in which you still believe. When I was a child my grandmother used to say that if I did not eat all my food my guardian angel would stay there on my plate and therefore I would be unprotected. We believed in things like the monster that takes disobedient children with it, and some other things that governed the behavior of children, at least those of us who tried to be "good" on the margins of "good".

There are many things that influence a person's behavior, and many of those factors lie with culture.

For example, my little cousin feel sometimes sick, particularly when she's doing her school homework. I don't really know if she actually feels bad, but when my aunt gives her "her medicine" she suddenly feels better, and actually she's receiving vitamins.

As I had mentioned previously in an article, machismo is a very demanding factor, particularly in my culture and in Latin America.

Over the years we see that it is no longer an aspect that governs an entire culture or country but that it is carried over from generations and family traditions and beliefs. 

The fathers don't allow their daughters to study, only their sons have that privilege because they are men. The women had to keep in mind that their only abilities as women are being mothers, housekeepers, and good cooks. 

And please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that it is not correct to be mothers, housekeepers, or cooks; but what I want to emphasize is that they are not the only qualities of a woman or a man, the problem lies in setting the limits when we talk about gender, the things that women or men are allowed to do or not. 

 But when culture makes an impression on our thinking it is difficult to believe it.

I love this quote because I like to see my students without paradigms or limits. Some of them can have abilities to claim like a monkey does, or swim like a fish does,  or run like a coyote does.

They are so different but so capable.

Teachers in an ESL or EFL classroom will encounter a variety of highly skilled students with their own paradigms and fears. Some will be more adept at listening skills, or speaking skills, but they will learn from the other skills too, someone needs to tell them that they can do it. 

Teachers should help lower the affective filter that many of them have raised because they have heard so many "you can't" that they have already begun to believe it. So let's create a safe and friendly environment to facilitate learning. 

References:

Culture and Psychology - Dr. John J. Ivers

Wikipedia - Cultural Psychology

10/26/21 Week 7: Response to "Differences in manners"

 Differences in manners

By Angélica Conde

"Mind your manners" is an expression many of us heard while we were growing up. But depending on where you're from, those manners can vary greatly. 

I have considered sharing some manners that may differ from my culture.

For example, slurping your food or making noise in my culture is considered rude and gross. On the other hand in China, it's considered a compliment for the chef.

Tipping is considered totally normal in my culture, it's a sign of respect and appreciation for the waiter, but in some countries like Japan or Korea, it's considered an insult.

In my culture, probably very similar to many, yawning with an open mouth is disrespectful if we are in class or listening to someone worse because it is considered as if they are bored with what the speaker says. 

Erupting is rude even when I know that there are cultures that consider it a compliment. And well, as always, it's remarkable to emphasize even when cultures have their different paradigms, there are some manners that are practiced in certain parts of a country, or especially in some families.

When I was a child, I remember one time in school I was punished for erupting in class. And as I mentioned earlier it's considered disrespectful in my culture, it's gross. But I was a 7-year-old girl who burped uncontrollably after drinking so much soda, and I didn't feel ashamed at all, just pain because my teacher punished me by hitting my hand with a ruler. 

My mom had taught me that flatulence was part of the human body, and that was an accident, I'm not trying to say that I consider it correct, but again, I was a girl who didn't have much control over my flatulence, just remembering it gives me so much laughter. 

Nowadays things are different, I am an adult and I can control my body. But I still think it was not the right way to correct me. Well, what can I tell you, in those days it was also allowed for teachers to "punish" students with the ruler. Now it's another story, you can probably go to jail for punishing students like that.

Well, I have students who have burped, farted, yawned, blown their noses in the middle of class and I don't think they should be humiliated. I have always set them apart and explained the correct behavior of manners, I have taught the other students not to point at someone who made a mistake or did something that goes outside the parameters of what we consider "correct". As educators, it's our role to help them and teach them to be tolerant.

💬What is a manner that is considered polite or normal in your culture and has a different meaning in another culture?

Finally, there is a video that according to my cultural manners it's gross and disrespectful, but not for them.

This infamous scene from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was inspired by the customs of the Maasai Tribe, located in Kenya. While most countries consider spitting very rude and unhygienic (it could very easily transmit disease), the Maasai Tribe uses it as a form of affection, good luck, or reverence. They will spit when they greet each other as a sign of respect. A father will spit on his daughter when she is married, to bring good luck and prosperity to the marriage. And the tribe will spit on newborn babies, to ensure the young child will not be cursed. Yes, to us it seems odd, but it's safe to say that many of our ways will seem equal as bizarre to the Maasai.

References:

Differences in manners - Dr. John J. Ivers

Wise bread - 12 Lessons in Manners From Around the World

How stuff works - 13 Examples of Good and Bad Manners Around the World

Ace Ventura - Displaying Affection https://youtu.be/DYwyBs15ekI

10/26/21 Week 7: Response to "Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom"

 Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom

By Angélica Conde

As TESOL teachers we should be familiar with this topic, as I was previously talking about. Culture is a broad concept that addresses many characteristics.

For example, we must be aware of cultural paradigms and cultural miscommunication. Imagine a classroom with students from different cultures. Perhaps you are familiar with some of these cultures and perhaps not with others. So it is very important to learn from them to understand the meaning of some attitudes or habits of your students so that we do not judge them under the paradigms of our culture. 

I particularly like to learn from it. There was a time when many Venezuelans immigrated to my country. And although they are from the same continent and you can say there all countries have the same customs and are the same, it is not like that. I like to learn from them, their interests, their slang, because yes, we speak the same native language but there are many words that do not mean the same thing.

So now I will tell you a little about the position of the students according to this same experience. 

A few years ago I used to teach English classes for adults, I hadn't had much experience with adults because I had dedicated myself to working with children. And for my classes with my adult students, I needed an extra dose of energy and joy because apart from the fact that it was a night class, my students came tired, sleepy and I used to play music during each activity so that they work in pairs and circulate around the classroom.

To be honest, it was a very good experience, and as I mentioned above I had to try harder to meet their needs in their circumstances and at the end of the course, we were all very happy because our efforts were worth it.

In the next group I took, I had a student, now she is my great friend. She was from Venezuela. She had a huge impact on my class, my students, and myself. I could feel her enthusiasm in each class, she was friendly with everyone, she was always happy, smiling, also she danced, because yeap, I kept playing music during their interactions.

So the question was: Why wasn't she tired, sleepy, or complaining?👀

Is it that she did not work?

No. She worked hard. But hey, I don't know if in general her entire country or her native region were like that, but she once told me "life is to enjoy it, we shouldn't dwell on our problems, it is about moving forward and being happy, I am always happy. "

And of course, at the beginning the other students thought her behavior was exaggerated, then they ended up understanding and loving her.

As I got to know her, I knew that she would always be punctual, she would present her assignments on time, and she was there to learn, to enjoy the class. And that for me and for the other students was shocking, many of the students according to my culture go to class just because or for other reasons, surely because they enjoy learning too, but don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that learning is not enjoyed in my country or that all Venezuelans do it. I speak particularly about her and how much we learned from her during that course.

After that experience, I have learned to be willing to always learn, and not to judge them even under their same cultural paradigms because people individually also have their paradigms, so that is the teacher's job to know their students and meet their needs.

I like an experience Dr. John J. Ivers had in The United States.

 "If you ever have a southern student in your class, in many schools—I went to high school in North Carolina, and when you say “yes” to the teacher, you say, "Yes sir" or "Yes ma'am." When my son was a fourth-grader when we moved from North Carolina to Rexburg, Idaho, and he responded to his fourth-grade teacher, "Yes sir," he got in trouble for being sarcastic and was sent to the principal’s office.

Surprising right? A single word can be misinterpreted as disrespectful or sarcasm.

🔍What would you do if a student from a different culture says or does something that you interpret as disrespectful?

References:

Cross-cultural students in the classroom - Dr. John J. Ivers

23/10/21 Week 6: Response to "Attributional Tendencies"

 

Attributional Tendencies

By Angélica Conde

The theory argues for a general tendency to attribute success to internal causes, people’s own actions or abilities, causes controlled by the individual, and, correspondingly, a tendency to explain failure by reference to external causes, causes over which the individual has little control.

(Heider, 1958; Kelley, 1971)

There are two explanations for such attribution biases. First, the psychological explanation states that organizational actors make causal attributions in order to protect their self-esteem, to maintain their sense of mastery over their environment, and to reduce cognitive dissonance (Bettman and Weitz, 1983; Staw, McKechnie, and Puffer, 1983). Second, the political explanation suggests that causal attributions are also utilized to enhance the esteem of actors by projecting a favorable self-image to others.

Researchers also distinguish between stable and unstable attributions. When people make a Stable Attribution, they infer that an event or behavior is due to stable, unchanging factors. When making an Unstable Attribution, they infer that an event or behavior is due to unstable, temporary factors.

The typical American will attribute his or her personal successes internally. Your typical American will attribute his or her personal successes internally. If he or she ever does something and achieves something very impressive, he or she will think, "I did it. I'm good, I did it. I worked real hard, I deserve this. I'm smart, I'm talented." However, when something negative happens to the typical  American will attribute it externally and will give blame to parents, to teachers, to other people in their lives who were mean to them, and that sort of thing. They'll attribute it externally: "People are bad to me, they took this away. I would've been able to do it if it weren’t for other people."

On the other hand, in Japan, they're the exact opposite of what we are in the United States, for personal failures and personal successes. In Japan, the typical Japanese person will attribute personal successes externally. "The reason I am successful is because of my parents, my great teachers," this and that. But he or she will attribute personal failures internally. Every time they fail, it's their fault, it's always their fault. And Japan has a high suicide rate. 

Personal speaking, I think that every different situation has a different reason. I don't consider that success should be considered caused by internal causes and failure by external causes.

Every situation is different and we need to learn to recognize our triumphs and failures with courage. Applaud our victories and learn from mistakes in order to improve.

In my country, I have heard very often when a baby is learning to walk and falls and cries that his or her parents or relatives say: "bad floor" "bad table" and hit the floor or table blaming him that it caused the fall.

I completely differ with this behavior, I believe that in this way indirectly children are taught to always blame their environment for their failure, that the people or environment around them are to blame and we do not teach them to face their guilt and learn from their mistakes.

As a teacher, I try to help my students understand that they should value their successes highly and that they should not sink into their failures, but rather see failures as impulses to try harder.

💬What do you usually do when you succeed or when you fail?

References:

Attributional Tendencies - Dr. John J. Ivers

Wiley Online Library 

JSTOR  Collection Content

APA PsycNet Direct - Attributional analysis as self-affirmation.

23/10/21 Week 6: Response to "Personal Space Differences"

 Personal Space Differences

By Angélica Conde

Our perspectives on personal space are often heavily influenced by the norms of the places we inhabit.

 I like a story Dr. John J. Ivers tells. 

"When I was a little kid, I lived in a neighborhood in Philadelphia that was occupied by a lot of German Jewish people who had fled the Holocaust. There was a lady that lived near my house right across the street, and her name was Mrs. Osher. And Mrs. Osher didn't speak any English, and I hated Mrs. Osher. Because every time I got near Mrs. Osher's yard, she would come out yelling and screaming, every time. I didn't know what she was saying, but I knew it wasn't good.

And so, you know, my buddy used to say, "Oh, that's just Mrs. Ochsner. She doesn't want you near her yard." I wouldn't even be in her yard—I'd get close to her yard! And all of a sudden that lady would be out of that house, yelling and screaming at me in German. And now I kind of know what was going on, because again their personal space is sacred and their living space is sacred, and I was intruding upon her living space".

I live in South America and the norms here are really different than in Germany.

There is a graphic that can help you to better understand.

Even though this graphic shows you the idea of personal space in my culture, there is a very controversial practice, especially in my country, and maybe it also happens in other Latin American countries.

 

I'm talking about public transport, lines in supermarkets, etc. 

Public transport is a place where personal space is not respected at all. 

At peak times it's a competition of who gets on the bus first, sometimes without respecting the lines a crowd approaches to try to get on the bus as soon as possible and sometimes there is not even space to move. The funny thing is when someone arrives at their destination stop, to get off they push everyone or sometimes the people near the door of the bus get off to facilitate transit and then get back on.

Covid-19 redefines personal space world over:

But hey, Covid-19 brought with it many changes in the lives of people worldwide, and one of the most important practices to protect ourselves from Covid-19 is to maintain a social distance of no less than 6 feet. Then the personal space was respected much more, we saw the changes in public and private transport, the famous supermarket lines, the capacity allowed in public places, education changed 

The pandemic influenced every culture around the world, even keeping us distanced from our family members who live in another house, those who belong to our closest circle. 

I know that the situation is very different in each country at the moment. In some countries the majority of their population has already been vaccinated, in others, they are still making progress in this task, and we still continue to take care of ourselves and we continue to maintain the respective social distance.

Face-to-face education could no longer be carried out and we went on to study virtually. As a teacher, I have always liked to respect the personal space of each of my students, despite belonging to the same culture, some of my students have considered me in their closest space as friends, they have hugged me regularly and others have not. And it is something that I respect a lot, I respect each one individually. And with that, I would like to be very emphatic because I have seen teachers who hug their students without their wanting it and make them feel very uncomfortable and ashamed.

 But again, as I indicated at the beginning, Covid-19 brought education to the screens as in many other countries, and something that I miss so much is that personal interaction with my students, and the many hugs that I received.

👀What is your experience about the different ways personal space takes place in your country?

References:

Personal space differences - Dr. John J. Ivers

NPR Code switch - How different cultures handle personal space.

10/21/21; Week 6: Response to "Individualism vs. Collectivism"

 

Individualism vs. Collectivism

By Angélica Conde

Individualism stresses personal rewards and benefits. This concept emphasizes that each person should live the life they want to,  set personal goals and objectives based on self. Individualistic workers are very comfortable working with autonomy and not part of a team.

However, collectivism stresses group goals and groupthink; thus, collectivism looks for the best for personal relationships. Collectivism easily sacrifices individual benefits or praise to recognize and honor the team’s success.

Characteristics of Individualism & Collectivism:

INDIVIDUALISM:

• Each individual takes care of themselves and their immediate family only.
• Think in terms of "I".
• Value independence.
• Personal opinion, the personal mind is valued.
• Working for benefit of self.

COLLECTIVISM:

• People identify with and take care of their respective families and communities.
• Think in terms of "we".
• Value of belonging.
• Shared values, ideas, opinions.
• Working for benefit of the group.

I remember my time in high school. In my freshman year of high school.

One of the main characteristics of the assignments was the typical group work, where it was assumed that all the members of the group cooperated in the development of the topic, and then each one orally shared a part of the work. But for me, it was a shocking experience because I was touched by colleagues who didn't have the slightest degree of interest. So my solution was to prepare the entire assignment and prepare it individually.  

Obviously, on the day of the presentation, I told my teacher about the situation, but she gave me the following lesson. She congratulated me for presenting the assignment but told me that the work was focused on the group evaluation. Then he said a phrase that I never forgot and in fact is widely used in my country "when it rains everyone gets wet". 

My teacher taught me a lesson that maybe at the time I didn't understand but over time I have been able to understand better. She wanted me to do my part, she didn't want me to do everything, but with initiative, I could have searched and discovered the reasons why my colleagues didn't get involved in the work. Maybe they didn't have time, maybe they forgot, maybe they were too shy to work in a group where most of the students didn't know each other, but she taught me to always exhaust my resources to organize the group work and provide an environment nice and trustworthy where everyone could feel free to express themselves. I'm not saying that you must take the initiative always, but this small action can make your experience more enjoyable.

 

Throughout my life, I have treasured that teaching, because it has facilitated my conscience by working in a group and striving to always learn from each partner. 

In conclusion, we can try to get the best of both worlds, we can balance individualism and collectivism in our environment.

 For instance, adopt the value of teamwork from collectivism but at the same time encourage individual creativity in each group member. 

We should consider caring individual creativity and innovation or the group’s wellbeing and success.

💬How do you like to work? Individually or in team settings?

References:

The culture of the future - Hilary Corna

Future learn - Cultural inl¿telligence - Purdue university

10/19/2021; Week 6: Response to "Differences in Emotional Expressivity"

 Differences in Emotional Expressivity

By Angélica Conde

Emotions and emotional expressions are invaluable in facilitating social interactions and relationships. The ability to decode emotional signals on the face that are applicable across cultures, ethnicities, and gender is beneficial in our daily lives and social interactions. 

At the same time, culture provides an essential guideline in socially modifying one's facial reactions in order to create smooth social interactions for social coordination. 

But, What about if we are part of another culture? Are we going to understand the same expression or emotion in the same way?

Probably, no.

We all, as human beings, have emotions and represent those emotions by facial expressions or maybe not.

I grew up in a macho culture where boys are taught not to cry because men are not supposed to cry. So many families raise their children under that paradigm and boys are forced not to feel or express their emotions, not to cry for fear of being embarrassed by their own father, normally.

Machismo is a very controversial subject and I once had a rather difficult experience.

One of my students, a 6 to a 7-year-old boy, was very rude and handled this concept of not crying because he was a boy. 

One day while the children from that classroom were playing soccer, I was observing each child in the group. They fell down on the grass, they collided, they screamed, and more for the euphoria of the game. But this little boy fell over and didn't cry, instead of that he was really upset. 

Soccer is a contact game that if you've played it before you know what I'm talking about.

Suddenly, when they were going after the ball, this child of whom I speak and another collided strongly while running after the ball. But as I expected, this child didn't cry, but he did become very red and angry while I consoled and checked the other who was crying without consolation.

This child didn't cry because he was taught not to cry, as for example in other cultures expressions of affection in public are not accepted., or not to laugh louder.

As teachers of a second language, we are going to face situations in which we have to learn from a variety of cultures. Our job is to understand and respect just like the students do.

🤔Consider your own concept of self for a moment. What kinds of pastimes do you prefer?            

Activities that make you excited or ones that make you calm? 

References:

 Differences in Emotional Expressivity - Dr. John J. Ivers

Culture and emotion  - Jeanne Tsai