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A MENTAL IMAGE BOUND TO CHANGE (THINK OF AS THE 'BEFORE' PICTURE)

1/20/2013

7 Comments

 
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In a little over a month, I will be leaving Seattle to teach for 4 months in Hefei, China. This will be my first time in Asia and the first time I'll be in a culture that is very different to anything I've experienced before. Or so I’ve been told. After working with so many students from China this past year and a half, I've become eager to learn about the ways in which people go about their daily life in China, how they participate in their communities, the role of women in their family and among coworkers, and well, just experience what China feels like! Most importantly though, I'm excited about learning firsthand what education may look at the secondary level. What an amazing opportunity I'll have by being at a Chinese high school and getting to live what a regular school day is like.

The world of education in China is all very new and fascinating to me. When I first began my MA program in TESOL, I had several classmates participating from Asia (Korea, Vietnam, Japan), but I don’t recall anyone being in China. Still, one thing that caught my attention was how strikingly different my colleagues experiences sounded to my own. I have to admit that I was also a bit distrustful when reading about how students in Asia (big sweeping generalization) were quiet, passive, and prone to memorizing everything. Could it really be that everyone there acted that way? Sometimes some of the differences mentioned sounded downright racist to me, like ‘we’ had some sort of superior way of learning and teaching. I know most of my classmates did not mean this, but that’s how it felt to me at the time.

A year and a half ago, when I began working with international students at a community college, I started hearing more and more about the differences in teaching and learning styles between Asia and the US. I kept thinking, “Could it really be that we are all that different?”

While I would say that I relate to my Chinese students differently than to my former Colombian students, I've tried to avoid making too many generalizations or stereotyping any group. How much of these differences can be attributed to my own ways of interacting with people after all?

Sure, the students I worked with in Colombia would always interrupt, I mean, interject with their opinions in class and many tried to find creative ways to go about their work by always personalizing it. Something that does not always happen with my current students. However, the Asian students I met my first quarter at the community college also had their own strong opinions and different approaches to conducting a task. They were perhaps quieter, but if given the chance to talk in small groups, students had lots to say. Moreover, when talking informally with them after class, they didn’t seem that different to many domestic students I’ve met.

So why is it that deep down these comparisons between domestic students and Asian students bothers me?

For one, the "othering" that goes along with being quick at pointing at our differences doesn’t seem constructive. At some point it's like we forget we probably share many common personality traits. I'm also afraid that doing this also hurts our ability to feel empathy and put ourselves in the other person's shoes. Deep down, it all comes down to my strong belief that we all share common behaviors as human beings and our differences aren't that divisive anyways.

Why not focus instead on finding similarities and creating a smoother path for us to meet our needs at the middle of the road?

So, that is what I’ve set myself to do now. Instead of looking for differences between China and the US (or Italy, or Colombia –my other home countries), I will look for similarities. I will try to find ways in which I can relate much better to the people out there by sharing our commonalities.

There is something beautiful and moving about discovering a new place and comparing our first impressions to that mental image we had created before getting there. Often, before setting out on any trip to a place I haven’t been to before, I try to envision what it will look like. How will the people be? How will the streets I will walk by every day look and smell? Will I make new friends? Will navigating through the city be challenging, or will I feel at ease?

Thanks to all the helpful comments from coworkers who have already been to the school I am going to, and thanks also to my former students, I have a rich mental image of what life might be like in Hefei. Of course, I also expect it all to change, and to change me as I take it all in. This must be why I love teaching. Every day I get to design a plan, envision what it could be like, and go in a classroom to see it all change, changing me along the way. Teaching, like traveling, is often one big adventure with detours and new stops found along the way. Let’s see where these new few months take me!


7 Comments
Katie Agren link
1/20/2013 05:16:01 am

Good luck Laura! You have such a great attitude to begin with. It's easy to look at cultural differences from a deficit perspective, and that only makes it easier to give up when met with challenges down the road. During our Peace Corps training, one of our directors encouraged us to get through those challenging moments by looking at how a behavior or practice works within the cultural context in which it exists rather than how it frustrates us as individuals. It definitely helped me to get through those days that I felt frustrated, confused, and far from home!

Have a great time in China, I'm missing it a lot these days!

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Laura Adele
1/20/2013 03:19:59 pm

Thanks, Katie!

I've been thinking about you a lot lately and wishing we could just walk a couple blocks and chat about your experiences there. I think you were still living at the dorms last time I saw you (mods), right?

Great advice from the Peace Corps training.... will keep it in mind!

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Katrina
1/20/2013 05:43:39 am

Great first blog post! I can't wait to read about your new experiences!

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Laura Adele
1/20/2013 03:20:30 pm

Thanks, Katrina. I can't wait to hear about your move to Colombia!!!

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David Fobair
1/22/2013 03:40:54 am

Hi Laura, I enjoyed reading your first(?) entry here. I'm in The New School masters program. Classes start Monday, and I'm looking forward to Intercultural Communications (and Methods) classes that I'll be taking. Your writing here really resonated with me as I reflect on how I can become more aware of the cultural differences and similiarities of the students in my classes here in NYC. I've another year left in the program. I've not taught abroad yet, but it is something that I'm interested in. In fact, Colombia is one of the places I've in thought of teaching in, as I have an interest in improving my Spanish language skills. Maybe one day we can talk more on your experiences there too.

Best of luck to you this semester in China. I think it should be a very exciting and enriching experience for you. Best David

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Laura
1/22/2013 08:11:46 am

Thanks, David!

Best wishes with your studies at the New School. I had such a good time and miss being a student there, even if I only graduated last May. Let me know if I can ever help with anything. I didn't take the Intercultural Communications class (took English in the World instead), but I've heard wonderful comments about it.

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Sam Cooke
6/26/2013 08:24:14 am

Laura, the way that you proclaim and stand by your principles makes me really admire you. I sometimes find myself going along with a conversation to please those around me and perhaps I don't believe in or forget my own values more easily than you do. I know I am quite late catching up, but I found this post very inspirational.

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    Laura Adele Soracco is a teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) who has mainly worked at the college/university level. She has a master's degree in TESOL from the New School University in New York City.


    Currently blogging from Ankara, Turkey.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

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