Cross-Cultural Students in the Classroom

Having cross-cultural students in a classroom can be very rewarding as students learn from each other and about each other but it can also lead to a lot of misconceptions due to a lack of understanding in relation to varying cultures.  It makes me think about a simple analogy of different kids being raised within different households and how anything different can cause a "shock" factor to a child.

We know a family who does a lot of bantering back and forth with each other.  They really dig at each other with insults and a lot of sarcasm.  When I first met this family, I would literally turn my head from one person to another trying to read their facial expressions as they were being insulted or joked on only to find a smile or laughter.  I felt shocked at this behavior.  Within my family, my children get hurt by any use of sarcasm or joking.  There is nothing about this behavior that they enjoy.  Being around this other family was very taxing on us because it is quite a different lifestyle than ours.

So with this example, there are a few takeaways for me.  Initially, I was offended by the way they treated each other and felt it was rude and distasteful.  However, getting to know this family better, I realized that this is their form of expression to show love.  They laugh and everyone is able to participate in the bantering.  Who am I to decide that the "Culture" within this family is wrong or disrespectful just because it is different than mine?  

The same thought process can exist in a classroom.  Again it all goes back to understanding your students and getting to know their culture and beliefs.  I think it is important for a teacher to be respectful to the students however, I think it is ok to educate students on what the teacher feels is acceptable and not acceptable in their classroom.  In the reading this week there were several references to things that Asians did not like about American students like eating in class, reading the paper, leaving early or showing up late.  This is where the teacher establishes what is expected in his/her classroom that all cross-cultural students need to abide by.