02/02/2021 - Week 5: Cultural Paradigms

   

  When I visited the U.S. four years ago, I was on the moon. Seeing the houses, streets, and even people made me feel inside of an old TV show. It was like the High School Music American dream coming true. But, taking out the wonder, and a tiny bit of excitement, I felt like a fish out of the water. Even though I had contact with American culture almost my whole life, part by the media and part by some relatives who live there, it was still weird. Some things that were normal to me just weren’t for them. I felt like that astronaut in the movie Planet 51. But instead of raining rocks, I was in a land where people flushed toilet paper inside of the toilet.

 If only two months there made me feel this way, I imagine what goes on the minds of those who had to move permanently to another country. How is it to know that these different concepts now are part of your life? How is it to feel ashamed or see others laughing at you for something that is just natural? 

When you are learning another language is almost a rule that you have to understand its culture. Why is this so? Because you have to understand how others think to understand how they speak, live, and interact. But why is it so different? Because of one thing called paradigm. 

A paradigm is an idea of what something has to be in that culture. A model of how we process certain behaviors, speech, and interactions. We have paradigms for almost everything, beauty, fashion, pride, and even how we walk in the street, everything is culturally shaped. And when we move to another place, even if we speak the same language, it is possible that some of those concepts may change. And it is when some concepts change between cultures that the conflicts appear.

To understand it better, check this video:

  As we can see in the video, culture is completely related to living. How we behave, why we do or don’t do certain things, is almost completely - if not completely - related to the paradigms formed by our culture. Sometimes I find myself wondering if I could fit in some of those paradigms. What we eat, say, and do, just are different, that is no wonder why they ask themselves if they will ever fit in.

 

And this is where teaching appears. It is essential for a teacher to fully understand that what we consider embarrassing, brave, and even respectful can change from culture to culture, especially for those who have in their classroom students who suffer from the impacts of a non comprehended culture paradigm. A teacher must understand that my values may not be the same as my students, and we can be punishing them for something they do not understand or intended to do.

We may not be able to understand everything, but just knowing that the differences exist opens our mind and heart to better understand their challenges and how we may help.

Not only teachers should know that, but everyone.

References: https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/p/1157612/sp/115761200/embedIframeJs/uiconf_id/43228871/partner_id/1157612?iframeembed=true&playerId=kaltura_player_1539879321&entry_id=0_9w0czg1f

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT0kzF4A-WQ