Week 5: Cultural Practices/Thelma Hodge

The education of immigrant children newly immigrated to America can be drastically different from their previous educational experiences. Sometimes we forget that things are different in other places because we are so accustomed to thinking that everyone is like us...in all daily aspect (including school). In reality there are many different ways to get to the same ending, in regards to education, schooling is different in other countries but for the most part we all learn to read and write in our native countries after our formal schooling but the way in which the classroom is set up or the teaching styles of our teachers may be different. The problem is that for immigrant children leaving one way of schooling/education and coming to America, where teaching and education may be totally different will create a sense of panic, terror and anxiety because the experience maybe very overwhelming for them.

Not everyone can adapt to change as easily others, as Dr. Igoa (1995) found out when she contacted and interviewed her former students. Rosario was an example of an immigrant child that fell through the cracks of the educational system as result of her not being able to lay solid roots in America. She suffered tremendous pain and depression, while trying to accustom herself the American schooling/education. Her failure in school can also be attributed to lack of family support, academic support and limited friendship relationships. Rosario’s reflection on her childhood as a newly immigrant was painful to read because she was scared, lost and terrified all at the same time but she was unable to express her frustration and pain because she hadn’t formed any solid trusting bonds in her new world.

In all honesty, if I was to immigrant to another country and have to enroll in college in Japan or China, I would be terrified that I wouldn’t be able to adapt my learning style to their teaching style. In all reality, I would struggle and my academics would suffer because I would not only struggle with learning the language but also with making new friends (a common problem many immigrants suffer from also).

            Communication and body language express so much of whom we are as individuals but they also, reflect the culture in which we were raised. According to Vaughn (2010) communication plays a critical role in passing on cultural values form one generation to the next (p. 162). Vaugn clearly believes that all of the verbal and non verbal cues given by parents, teacher’s, adults, peers and friends have a substantial impact in all of our lives and shape us. The interaction between and around all of these groups of people whether we know or not, help us to be able to thrive in our American culture.

            Everyone knows that body language plays a huge role in communication. Vaugn (2010) discusses the importance of facial gestures, body space and eye contact, in regards to how they are perceived in different cultures. The reality is, one culture may prefer to stand closer but Americans may perceive such closeness as “space invading”. A newly immigrant child does not know these unseen cultural expectations and because of that may be ridiculed or teased for not “behaving or acting right” if they stand to close or stand up when the teacher enters the room.

            For immigrant children in particular, keeping culture alive at home, may give them the security that they lack in their new environment. Igoa (1995) found that many of her former students missed the closeness they once had to their native cultures. Igoa’s student like other immigrant children, want to assimilate in the dominant culture so bad that, they deny their past selves and fully adapt their America culture. It’s not fair that they have to turn their backs on their culture. Hopefully, their families are able to continue cultural celebrations and maintain speaking their language at home, so the children can remain close to their native cultural heritage.

            My cultural practices include celebrating birthdays with almost all of my family. Every August, my family (aunts, cousins, grandparents, and family friends) get together to celebrate my eldest daughters birthday. We eat, laugh and play a competitive game of kick ball. We talk about this event all year long and it causes many of us to burst out in laughter when we all reminisce about the good times we have every year. Family is so important to me and I was raised to love my family and enjoy spending time with my family.

           

Week 5: Michelle Prinzo

Self: The Influence of Culture on Education

As an education major I have put a lot of thought into student motivation, behavior, and achievement. I have come to the conclusion that much of a student's performance in school can be attributed to a child's family, community and culture. In Psychology and Culture, Vaughn affirms my thoughts as she states, "educational systems are strong socializing agents and there is an intimate link between culture and education across many areas: language, school systems, parental and familial values, teaching styles and student-teacher relationships, different ways of learning, attitudes and appraisals of students" (166). The picture above is from my high school graduation (sorry for the quality of the picture...I had a terrible camera at the time!). All of the girls in the picture are from the same community, all of us had parents who were either highly education or wished that they had had the opportunity for further education. Above all, all five of us were socialized to value education. Graduation and a college education were expected in our families. What I did not realize at the time was that my achievement was influenced by my family and friends, but culturally I was taught what an education should look like--what I should be learning in school and how I am taught. Next year I will be teaching in a community in which I know my educational experiences will be vastly different then the people of the community. I am interested to see how my views and ideas will blend with the cultural practices of where I am going. 

Other: Keeping Culture Alive

I find the traditions, celebrations, and customs of different cultures fascinating. Last week my mentee and I talked a little bit about how she celebrated Easter. As her family seems to be very westernized, I was not surprised to hear that she celebrated with her family, an easter basket, and an egg hunt. It seems that her family has taken to a very American way of celebrating the holidays. So what does this have to do with the picture below?

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween. Halloween is a celebration that is celebrated in many cultures around the world, but in many different ways and with many different customs. The only reason I thought to ask my mentee about how she celebrated the holiday was because of an experience that I had with one of my internship students. This student moved here from Germany about 2 years ago. He has assimilated into American culture very well--which I believe has a lot to do with the fact that his mother is a Cincinnati native (his dad is a German citizen).  Both he and his parents are bi-lingual and this student is very excited to share his German culture with the students in our classroom. Many of the readings dealt with how immigrant children often have  conflicting views with different cultural practices and how parents often try to keep their home culture alive for their children. The student I have told you about experienced this as well. His mother, an American immigrant in Germany, used to try to keep many of her cultural practices alive in her family. One example of this was during holidays. Her favorite holiday was Halloween and even though people in the part of Germany in which they lived did not celebrate Halloween, my student was dressed up every year and his family trick or treated throughout each room in their home!

I am curious to know about what holidays my mentee celebrates...This will be a fun conversation next week when I see her again!

Communication Across Cultures

In "The Inner World of the Immigrant Child," Christina Igoa tells the story of a Chinese immigrant named Qiu Liang.  Having immigrated as a child, Qiu speaks about his acculturation to American life and the struggles he faced in doing so.  He goes into depth about his Chinese comfort zone, how he initially was silent in English-speaking settings and even refused to go to school for a week by locking himself in his room.  He goes on to note the critical role of friends in helping him break the silence.

This concept makes me recall Sara's way of keeping quiet when speaking to me but chattering energetically in Spanish with her friend Viviana when we have the two of them together in a session.  Even if talking about school work, Sara instantly expresses more ease in conversation when conversing with a friend and in her native language.

[ERROR IN .JPG UPLOAD]

Below is a picture of my mom and aunt watching, as my niece introduces my newly-adopted cousin, a Chinese immigrant, to one of her toys.  My cousin, Bo, was brought to the U.S. two years ago and, unlike other babies in my family who feed off the attention of loving older relatives, Bo expressed terror in the overwhelming situations of family parties as people swooned and reached for him.  This picture was taken after Bo had begun to establish a friendship with my two-year-old niece, Elly, and begins interracting with others.

[ERROR IN .JPG UPLOAD]

While verbal communication is not an issue for Bo as his first language will be English, he has still experienced a culture shock in his uprooting as well as his immersion in a world of people who look vastly different than those he is used to being around (and himself).

Week 5, Cultural Practices--Allison Miller

Me and Lizbeth's sister, Susannah

According to Vaughn, “School reflects what the culture believes is important to learn” (p. 166).  Education at a multicultural school like Amis, which is made up primarily of immigrant children and children of immigrants, I feel like it would be very difficult to be an effective educator for all of the different types of children you are teaching; just spending a few days a week after school at Amis, I’ve met children from all over the world—Mexico, Africa, Asia, etc.  So many features must be considered:  how the student body is organized, the culture’s sociolinguistic practices, cognitive/learning styles of students, motivation, teaching style (Vaughn, p. 168). While there are three types of multicultural learning which McLeod identifies, I believe that Amis utilizes (or, since I have not had the opportunity to sit in a classroom and witness, should utilize) intercultural schooling.  This would prevent the children from being “encapsulated in their own culture or forced into assimilation” (p. 172).  I’ve really enjoyed reading Igoa’s personal accounts of how she managed The Center, teaching students who came from all over the world.  She uses her personal experience as an immigrant child in order to relate to her students and to understand their experiences.

Since I wasn’t sure exactly how Easter is celebrated in the majority of Mexico, I googled it and found that they do not tend to celebrate with chocolate eggs and jelly beans like Americans.  Interestingly, this is not the case for Lizbeth’s family.  When I asked her about her Easter, she claimed she found ten chocolate eggs and saves the chocolate so she can enjoy it long after Easter is over.  In terms of the strategies of acculturation (Vaughn, p. 98) this particular instance seems to fall under integration.  While maintaining their original culture, Lizbeth’s family is also interacting with the dominant culture and interweaving it into their own.

Since Lizbeth’s family does not speak English at home, I can only assume that many of their cultural traditions still revolve around their own Mexican culture.  Lizbeth’s family travels back to Mexico over the summer (when she and her siblings are not in school), where I’m sure they have different cultural practices and traditions than most Americans.  I’m sure it has to be difficult for Lizbeth who lives, in a sense, two different lives.  At school, where she is around many different children of all races and ethnicities, she speaks English and acts a certain way; at home, she is around her unilingual, Spanish-speaking family who hardly (if at all) understands English, and may have to act entirely differently to conform to this culture.

A few of the girls in my sorority

On the first day I met Lizbeth, we were talking about our favorite foods, and she told me that in Mexico she really likes celery, but American celery is not as sweet, and therefore it is not her favorite food now that she lives in America. I thought that this was really interesting, and depicts the difference in cultural foods of the two countries.  While Mexico may focus more on fruits and vegetables (I’m only assuming this as Lizbeth said that she and her family’s diet is mostly comprised of them), in America processed and fast foods are the main focus (in order to keep up with the fast, hectic lifestyles that many American families lead), so fruits and veggies may seem to be left in the dust, maybe being less well-cared for in stores. 

It also must be difficult for children to understand the importance and meaning of body language at Amis, since it varies from culture to culture.  Again, at home, the students may have specific body language that they are expected to use, but when they come to school the rules probably change, just as with Lizbeth’s language.  Simple gestures such as smiling, eye contact, and spatial distance vary from culture to culture (Vaughn, p. 164-5), therefore misinterpretations are bound to occur.

           Personally, my own culture consists of many things.  I am a female, a college student, and a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.  I attend school Monday through Friday, take off in the summer, and have a winter break and a spring break during the year.  I relate to the 107 other women in my sorority in a variety of ways, and maintain in close contact with them (I even live in the house this year!).  I am Lutheran, and go to Church as often as I can,  never missing a holiday service.  I celebrate holidays such as Easter and Christmas.  I am a daughter and a sister, going home to visit my family every couple of weeks.  I want to be a nurse, and my education is very important to me.  I also feel it is vital to make connections with people that are different from me in order to better understand humankind and why we act the way we do.

 

Week 5- Cultural Practices; Maureen Rooney

     Personally, I see AMIS as a school that teaches immigrant children from many different areas of the world. Therefore, even though I have not sat in on a class, I believe that the students personal interactions with each other would be very interesting to observe. 

      AMIS is a place that uses the technique of “treating all students equally and incorporating them into the same classroom” even with people who are different than them (Vaughn, 168). Even though all of the students are immigrants or “children of immigrants”, they come from different backgrounds and lifestyles. They are all unique. It is for this reason that I believe watching them learn in a school setting would be very interesting. Some students may be shy and intimidated by the teacher so they would not ask questions but instead they would listen silently. While others, I feel, would be more personal and forward, asking questions and raising their hand in class. 

      Viviana is from Mexico. She has been very straight-forward and close with me from the first day I met her. Viviana constantly asks me questions and participates in conversation. I have assumed that this is partly a result from her culture. Even though she does not live in Mexico anymore, her parents most likely interact in the same manner as they did in their home country. As a result, Viviana has most likely acquired many of their demeanors.

 

          I believe that I have picked up many characteristics that are apart of my culture too. My parents, which have a great influence on me, are extremely outgoing and direct. Likewise, I like to ask questions and hear a straight answer. In grade school, the teachers would always count on me to answer questions and participate when no one else would. I believe that I follow the “preocedural knowledge” mindset because I usually think “knowledge [is] gleaned from using reason verses feeling (Vaughn 171). 

Outside of the classroom, I enjoy meeting new people. Typically, I always introduce myself with a hug; I enjoy the personal interaction. I feel that others may think this action as too forward. However, in my family, hugging and showing our emotions is normal and expected. Also, while my family can be proper at times, we also can be informal at times. We like to joke and tease each other. As stated, “informal cultures there is [a] greater likelihood of spontaneous humour and joking” which correlates with my family (Vaughn 163). I have also been told that I like to talk a lot and many members in my family do too. At times we “talk at the same time, elaborating and adding onto another’s incomplete statement […] and don’t have much silence” in our conversations (Vaughn 163). I believe I also acquired this trait from my parents because they also like to often communicate with others. My personal interactions in and outside of school can result the type of culture and environment that I was raised in.