How Teachers Can Adapt When Students Have Completely Different Cultural Expectations
Every day teachers guide students with different cultural backgrounds, languages, family structures, traditions and expectations about education. This basically means that a teaching method for Mr A might not be so effective for Miss B.
As a teacher you should be focused on creating a classroom that recognizes different cultural expectations with respect and accommodation without reducing academic standards.
1. Avoid assuming that every student learns the same way
Every individual is different in many ways, especially when it comes to how they think. Don’t expect all your students to think the same way or understand at the same pace. Some students prefer classroom interaction or independent participation while some students prefer when a teacher is doing all the talking.
Never be too fast to judge a behavior you don’t understand. Just because a student is quiet doesn’t mean they are uninterested, just like a student who constantly asks the teacher many questions is not trying to get on there nerves.
As a teacher, you have to make out time to learn each and every one of your students before reacting.
2. Make classroom expectations explicit
It becomes easier to manage cultural differences when you give them a clearer idea of what they should expect and what you would expect from them.
“Assuming” as a teacher is never a good thing. Your students will never know what to expect if you don’t tell them. Explain things such as:
- The way you would like students to participate.
- Whether questions can be asked during lessons
- How each individual should handle group operations.
- The form in which you would like assignments to be submitted.
- The type of communication style between teacher and students.
- What constitutes respectful behaviour
- The form in which they should handle classroom disputes.
This gives students a better understanding on what they are expected to do instead assuming things they aren’t sure of.
3. Learn about your students without stereotyping them
Cultural awareness is a skill every teacher should have. Teachers should also know that just because some students are from the same country, religion, ethic group or cultural background will not act the same way.
Students are individuals, but they also have different mindsets, family background and personal beliefs. Don’t use the fact that they have the same cultural background as way of predicting personalities, academic abilities or behavior.
Try to learn about what exactly affects a student while learning. This allows you to understand more about each of your students rather than stereotyping.
4. Be flexible about participation
Some students don’t mind speaking in front of the class. There are also students who like to take some time to think about there answer thoroughly or may feel uncomfortable going against a teacher publicly.
As a teacher you need to create different ways for even participation across different kinds of students. Some tasks can come in form of :
- Whole-class discussion
- Small-group discussions
- Written responses
- Online discussion boards
- Presentations
- Individual questions
- Pair activities
This is a great way to develop confidence among students while still maintaining verbal participation. It allows you to meet the learning objectives while building communication skills.
5. Be sensitive to communication differences
The way in which students communicate can create misunderstandings between students even when they understand the subject.
These differences can come in the form of :
- Eye contact
- Tone of voice
- Gestures
- Personal space
- Directness
- Turn-taking
- Formality
- Willingness to disagree
As the teacher you have to be very delicate when judging such a matter. Don’t apply what you expect from a particular culture.
In this case students still need to understand the rules that guide how they communicate with each other. The teacher is suppose to enlighten them on these norm instead of assuming they already know it.
6. Adapt teaching materials
Most students engage more in class activities that give them different perspectives in a way that represents what they are studying.
A teacher should know when it is best to add such activities. Teachers can include:
- Different countries
- Historical perspectives
- Authors from different backgrounds
- International case studies
- Different family and community experiences
- Examples relevant to students’ lives
It doesn’t necessarily mean that you as a teacher have to make the lesson accommodate every culture. This simply means that you are creating a lesson that doesn’t discriminate one perspective or make another feel like the norm.
7. Rethink classroom discipline
Establishing ground rules for your classroom but you need to understand that different students read authority differently. Some students might prefer a formal interaction with thier teacher, while some would prefer if your interaction with them is more informal.
What you should keep in mind as a teacher is to consistently apply those rules instead of judging based on cultural background
8. Understand different expectations about parents and families
Different parents have different expectations of teachers.
Some parents may prefer highly disciplined and authoritative teachers. Others might prefer a teacher that always asks for there participation in educational decisions.
A teacher should be able to communicate when needed and know when parental involvement is required. Teachers should communicate :
- Academic expectations
- Behaviour
- Assessment
- Attendance
- Communication channels
- How parents can support learning
It’s easier to deal with disagreement by prioritizing the students needs rather than putting the blame on cultural differences.
9. Be careful with group work
This is very challenging in a class with many different cultures.
Some students have a natural inbuilt leadership role, while some other students try not to speak to avoid dominating the group.
Teachers can lessen the confusion by clearly stating:
- Individual responsibilities
- Group objectives
- Deadlines
- Leadership expectations
- How contributions will be assessed
This allows students understand thier role in the group and lessen the need to continually educate your students on the same social norms.
10. Maintain high standards while remaining flexible
Just because you want every student to learn in ways that are comfortable for them doesn’t mean you should completely neglect academic guidelines.
Students are supposed to maintain clear standards for learning, behavior and academic interest.
A teacher should focus on guiding them using flexible route while staying focused on the destination.
Students can have different cultural expectations, mindsets, religion and so much more that makes them different from each other but what matters is that they have the same learning objective.
11. Ask rather than guess
Another great way to learn more about how to respond to them more culturally is by asking them about thier experiences.
Teachers can use different activities to learn more about students’ personal interests, past education experiences and the style of learning they prefer.
This is a good way to learn more about each of your students likes and dislikes instead of assuming about a student’s culture.
12. Treat cultural differences as a classroom resource
Cultural diversity doesn’t have to be something teachers find hard to mange. If you look at it in a brighter light it can actually help a teacher improve learning.
It allows students form different outlooks on discussions, literature, history, geography, business, politics, science and other subjects. Bringing these different ideas together helps students to build critical thinking, empathy and intercultural competence.
Your role as the teacher is to provide a conducive environment for students to be able to talk about their different idea respectfully instead of letting their different cultural beliefs become a cause of conflict or exclusion.
