Cultural differences and understanding (Kent)

We're often asked questions like:  "So what are you doing here?  Why are you here?"  I guess there are several answers to those types of questions.  We want to learn Spanish better.  We want to learn about and from other cultures.  We want to do volunteer work.  We want a break from our North American lives, routines and stresses.  However, for me, I'm beginning to realize  that it can be boiled down to "understanding."  Understanding myself better by understanding others who are coming from a completely different cultural context.  I am trying hard not to be judgmental or critical of these differences.  However, Teresa has helped me realize that we are now at a stage of life where we do have life experiences and expertise that can help us to look critically at cultural differences and even have conversations with others about these differences.

One thing that makes it easy to have these conversations with our host family is that they are very experienced at hosting volunteers and students from other countries--particularly from Europe and North America.  They are very gracious when it comes to our differences and misunderstandings.  In fact, "grace," I would say is part of the culture here, as is evidenced in the frequency of words/phrases such as "tranquilo" (calm/no worries/laid back), "no importa" (not important), "no te preocupes" (don't worry about it), and "Está bien" (that's fine).

Our family knows that there will be some foods that we just can't quite stomach.  When "guatita" (cow intestine stew served with rice), our family served us very small "sample" bowls, knowing that we most likely wouldn't eat it.  How did they know that we wouldn't like it?  In their many years of hosting international volunteers, no foreigner has ever been able to have more than one bite, including us.  "Está bien.  No importa." Yolanda said with a smile and served us the "foreigner plate" that they had prepared for us (meat, rice, plátanos and salad).  Similarly, when we were served "sopa de pata" (cow hoof soup), none of us were able to eat the cross section of cow hoof sitting squarely in the middle of our bowls, but most of us were able to eat the rest of the soup, which had a rich broth.  "Está bien.  No importa."  Overall, we have eaten most things served to us.  I think it's important to try as much as possible (I have eaten lobster, octopus and conch, all for the first time) but these two things we simply could not stomach, and we were received with grace.

Noise is another area of cultural difference.  I suffer from occasional headaches, some of which last more than 24 hours.  Saturday night night was one of those nights where I had a headache all night long despite the fact that I took the maximum recommended dose of ibuprofen.  When we went to Catholic mass the next morning my headache was almost gone.  During the first song, however, someone apparently thought that the volume of the praise band was not loud enough and cranked it up past what we would call "unhealthy levels."  Teresa and I looked at each other, and I said "I need to get out of here because this noise level is aggravating my headache."  I looked around at everyone else.  No one seemed to flinch or be bothered by the sudden volume surge.  For the rest of the service, I sat outside for the music, which was still plenty loud, and came in for the spoken parts.  In the mornings we are often awakened by the many sounds of the early morning (6:00 a.m. or earlier):  roosters, conversations in the kitchen, the tamal man yelling "tamales!!!!!" while honking his horn, and Navy men jogging through the streets loudly chanting.  These are normal sounds that people here are just used to, just like we in Goshen are used to the 80-100 trains that rumble and blare their way through town every day.  I must be adjusting to the morning noises because I can now go back to sleep as the roosters crow.

Classroom management (educational jargon for "discipline") has probably been one of my biggest challenges with regards to cultural differences.  In the preschool where we teach music, the 4 and 5 year old classes have been especially challenging at times.  There are so many cultural factors at play at once.  Because of the mild climate, windows are always open, and many classrooms don't have complete walls that go from the floor to the ceiling.   Recess is right outside the classrooms with many children screaming with joy that they are free to run around.  Teachers and parents come in and out regularly talking very loudly (or talk directly through open windows).  The other teachers seem to be used to these noises and interruptions, but to us it's very distracting and seems to affect the classroom management.

Another major classroom management difference involves behavioral management.  In North America, educators have been taught to talk to children about problems and work at resolving the problems by getting to the underlying issue, working particularly with children to help them change their behavior over the long term.  Here in the preschool, children don't respond well to this probably because they have not been taught to do it.  When I've tried this approach, usually children run away and/or refuse to talk.  What some teachers do is yank a child to the place they need to be or yank them to a timeout.  In the North American context, this would be illegal and would be seen as abuse.   It is also viewed as a short term solution.  Threats are also used.  One teacher uses the threat of calling the police for a noncompliant child, which usually gets him to submit for the time being, but again it's a short-term solution.  A lack of resources does play a role in all of this too.  Most teachers here work very hard, but when the education system has less financial resources and less professional support, it usually means that teachers work with more students (many of whom have special needs) and have less tools and resources with which to work with these students.

I have had some conversations with Luis, PE teacher at the preschool (he just has the kindergarten classes, and then goes to several other schools).  We have break time together at the school and we always have good conversations.  He's asked me about how we do classroom management in the states because he feels as though this is an area with which schools need to improve.  However, with most teachers I don't have an opportunity to talk with them in depth.  Our music classes are back-to-back without time in between.  So, I have decided to experiment with different techniques that I feel good about (and that don't involve yanking).  When I find that they work, I use them over and over again, hoping that it can be a model to teachers as an alternative.  For example, I often use "positive reinforcement" which involves complimenting children who are doing the right thing, which usually has a positive "ripple effect." Children usually respond well to this because most children appreciate being recognized and affirmed.

I certainly don't have all the answers, especially with regards to complex issues such as classroom management and cultural differences.  However, a benefit of living and teaching in another cultural context is that while the learning curve seems steep, there is a lot of learning going on, both on our part and hopefully with others with whom we are in contact.  I value this opportunity for greater understanding.