Cultural awareness

In Unit 1 Transitioning to the Classroom we were asked to reflect on cultural awareness.

Here are a few questions that could help me express my thoughts:

1. What biases and assumptions might a teacher bring into the classroom?

As students go through different life experiences, so do we, teachers. We also come from different cultures, countries, beliefs, which means we have our notions too. We might look at our students who are constantly late for classes and assume that their behaviour is rude or, even worse, that the majority of people in their culture behave the same way. That's why it's so important to learn about the possible underlying reasons for such behaviour and keep them in mind before making assumptions. I liked the following idea from the article on approach to teaching - "We are not proselytizers. We are not teaching to deconstruct students' perception of reality"(Jenkins, 2008). It is a great reminder to always remember our WHY. Why are we here? What is our main goal?

2. How can teachers be better prepared to teach in one of these contexts?

The article suggests "learning about the function of English in the local community, learning extensively about the culture to determine cultural (in)appropriateness, developing materials (if none are available) or tailoring materials to be culturally appropriate and so that the local culture is represented"( Jenkins, 2008).

I haven't had much experience teaching refugees or people with trauma and I can only rely on information given by our instructor or my colleagues' experience. Imagining myself teaching in these contexts makes me feel a bit worried - what if, by accident, I cross the line and it will hurt one of my students? I feel it's very important to remember that all of us make mistakes and it's important to learn from them. Also, I think this is where PLN and your teaching community is vital for support and encouragement.

I have learned that the taboo topics for refugee classes could be war, terror or violence. Also there are other sensitive topics such as love, politics or religion. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to avoid these topics completely, but the teacher should be very careful when bringing them up in class.

3. What personal life experiences can help me in adjusting to teaching in one of these contexts?

Being an immigrant myself, I can imagine how hard it can be to be away from your home land and from your family. We moved from a very homogeneous society to a very diverse one. Working with people from different cultures helped us understand and accept cultural differences. Also moving within Canada helped us realized how different cultures can be even within one country.

Another fact that could help me to adjust to teaching in different contexts is that my husband and I had to start our careers again at 35 when we moved to Canada. My husband worked as a general surgeon in Russia but when we came to Canada, he had to cross that experience out and start from scratch. It took him more than 6 years to get back into his profession and he is not the only one. There are many highly qualified immigrants in Canada who are working low-paid jobs and have little or zero chances to get back into their profession. If I ever teach a class with immigrants as students, I will never underestimate the knowledge and experience they "brought" with them to Canada.