Culture Questions

1. You are a 4th grade teacher with a new boy in your class from an Arab nation. He
speaks very little English. He is having a problem getting along with the other students.
He has fights on the playground every day, which he seems to provoke by constantly
touching the other boys.

What the boy new boy may be doing is to greet the boys from his class. The book says
that men usually kiss on the cheeks and hug each other (56). The other boys are most
likely not used to this and because of this starting fights. The new boy is simply trying to
introduce and socialize with his peers. I would talk with the Arab boy and explain why
his peers are acting this way.

2. You have a new Korean girl in your 4th grade class. The other students in your class dont
want to sit next to her because they say she smells funny. You have a bad allergy and
cant tell. She appears to be a clean, well-dressed child and you dont understand your
students objections.
My best guess for this child would be that the food she is eating has a strong smell to it. In
the E/E textbook it says, kimchi a vegetable side dish which is commonly fermented in a
brine of anchovies, garlic, green onion, and chili pepper this is most likely the reason for
why she smells funny (237). The way I would go about it would be to probably talk with
the Korean girl and explain in a nice and respectful way.

3. You are a 3rd grade teacher who is having a parent conference with parents of an Asian
student in your class. You explain to the parents that the child needs to spend more
time working on his homework. The parents keep nodding and saying yes as you
explain your reasons. You are disappointed when there doesnt seem to be any
follow-up on the parents part.
The parents are nodding their head because nodding means that hear what you are saying.
This doesnt mean they understand what you are saying or agree, they simply hear you.
Also, because you are the teacher the parents respect you and most likely wouldnt want to
tell you they disagree. What I would do is maybe have a translator if the problem is the fact
that the parents dont understand you. But if it is that they dont want to disagree I would
probably ask them questions and try to see their point of view.

4. You are a 5th grade teacher who is using a lot of cooperative learning strategies in your
classroom. In the middle of the year you get a new Arab boy in your class. The
student doesnt follow any of the rules you have explained through a bilingual
classmate. He is very disruptive in your class.
What could be going on is that Arab student is used to being in schools with peers that
are only of their gender (28). The book says that due to tradition and religion women
arent often in contact with males (35). Because of this it may be that the bilingual
student that is helping translate the instructions is a girl and the boy doesnt want to obey
what she is explaining. It could also be that the teacher is female and the boy doesnt
listen to the teachers instructions. The book also says how it may be helpful for some
 Arabic students to either work with only one partner or on their own. Because this
teacher does cooperative learning strategies I am guessing her groups are bigger than
two people and may make her student anxious (45). The book also brought up that
Iranians are considered individual learners, that is, they may tend not to participate as
willingly in teamwork activities (56). So if that is the lesson they are doing as a class
that may be why the new student is being disruptive. I would talk to the student and
explain how listening to his peers and working with his peers is important and why we
do lessons that way.

5. You are a 6th grade teacher with your first student from China. She came with an
excellent report card from her school in China. She is outstanding in math but cant
seem to learn to read.
Although she may have had a good report card in China I dont know for sure if she has
trouble reading in general, or just the English language. It could be that because the Chinese
language and English language are very different. Math figures are the same across cultures,
but the Chinese language Han zi has tens of thousands of different characters while the
American Language only has 26 letters and look completely different (199). If it is the fact
that she doesnt know how to read English than I may give her extra time to learn English as
well as use a google translate app to put over the words for her to read it first in Chinese and
then in English. If she cant read Chinese than I wouldnt use the app but would still give her
extra time to learn how to read English.

6. You are Ms. Smith, a 3rd grade teacher. You dont think your new student from
Egypt is placed in the correct grade. You set up a meeting with the parents to discuss
placing the child correctly. The students father comes in to see you but doesnt seem to
take your concerns seriously.
There are a few reasons that the father would come but doesnt seem to take my concerns
seriously. For one, the chapter says, Arabs rarely admit to errors if doing so will cause them to
lose face (Nydell, 2006). Arabs feel that criticism of their work is a personal insult (Nydell,
2006). face negative stereotypes in U.S public schools (Akasha, 2013; Carter, 1999;
Jackson, 1995). Because of this the father could be concerned about the reasons for wanting to
change the grade of their child. I would ask the father and discuss his reasoning for why he is
concerned about his students grade placement.

7. You are a first-grade teacher. A Korean student comes into your class in April. During a
discussion of age and birthdays, this student says that she is 8 years old. The other
students in your class are turning seven. The office tells you that she has been correctly
placed.
The Korean student is older than your other students because of Lunars New Years Day
one of the two most important celebrations in Korea. If the student was born in August than
she wouldnt celebrate her birthday or turn a year older until every family member eachs
dduk for breakfast on New YearsJanuary 25th (237). As the teacher I would need to
 explain why the students are younger than her and maybe do an activity in class about the
Lunar New Year so to teach the whole class about the tradition and why they do it.

8. Guadelupe is a smiling 3rd grader from Argentina. She seems well-mannered and
eager to please. However, when you speak to her she refuses to look at you.
This is not the student being rude, instead she is being polite by not looking at mea
superiorin the eyes. Because I am an adult the child sees it as disrespectful to look a
teacher in the eyes. I would explain to the student how that is not disrespectful here but
instead is actually a sign of respect.

9. You are a 4th grade teacher who wants to write a quick note home to an ESL students
family. You pick up the red pen that you use to mark papers and write the note.
When you hand the note to the student, she looks upset.
Red ink is a sign of wrong or incorrect work. Teachers use this color pen often when
grading assignments. Instead I would use a different colored pen to write the note.
10. The Japanese mother of one of your 1st graders picks up her child every day at your
door. You are upset because this mother seems unfriendly. She never smiles at you and
you wonder if you have done something to offend her.
The mother is not offended by me but instead is trying to show a level of harmony. She is
being respectful. I would simply not take offense or maybe invite her to meet to talk about
her child and have tea.

11. Haitian brothers Jean-Baptiste and Jean-Pierre are often late for school. They are also
each absent about once a week but on different days.
The boys may be running late or absent not because they dont want to be at school or
because their parents are lazy, but instead because they may have younger siblings they are
taking care of at home or have other family obligations. I would talk to the boys and see
what is going on and see if there is anything I could do to help.
12. Your new Kurdish student seems to be sick all the time. He is lethargic and doesnt
seem to even try to learn what you are teaching him.
Because this student is from the Middle East I must put into account what is going on
in his home country. Hes possibly lost family members or is worried about his family
back home. What I would do is be there for my student and talk to him.

13. A Russian student, who has learned English and is able to do much of the work in your
4th grade classroom, copies work from other students during tests. When you talk to him
about this, he doesnt seem at all contrite. His parents act like youre making a big deal
about nothing.
This student may not realize it is a bad thing to do in American culture. In some countries
it is more important for students to get the right answer. I would explain to the student
plagiarism and how American culture cares about this a lot.
14. You have a Puerto Rican student in the 3rd grade who speaks English fluently. She
participates orally in your classroom and socializes well with her peers. She even
translates for other students. However, she is doing very poorly in her content area
schoolwork.
Communication skills and written academic skills are two very different things. So
although this student may do well communicating with peers and translating for students
she still needs extra help with schoolwork. I would just make sure I work with her extra on
the content area.

15. Your 4th grade Malaysian student seems to be very good at Math. He gets 100 on
his spelling tests. No one in your class knows the names of the state capitals better than
he does. However, he seems to have a hard time comprehending a simple reading
passage.
Just because the student excels in math, spelling tests, ad state capitals does not mean he
will excel in everything. Also other cultures practice and have students work on
memorization skills which the following skills use memorization. As the teacher I would
work with the student to work on other skills besides memorization and talk about why
those skills are important.

16. Some of your most advanced ESL students do not understand many of the geometric
concepts which are taught in American classrooms starting in kindergarten.
Just because America teaches geometric concepts in kindergarten doesnt mean that all countries
do this. In other countries students may not learn these topics until middle school. As the teacher
I would give the student extra help to learn these concepts.

17. Thi Lien is a new student from Viet Nam. She seems bright and alert but gets no help
from home. The papers you send home are still in her backpack the next day.
Important correspondence is never acknowledged. She doesnt do homework and
forgets to bring back library books. Her home life appears to be very disorganized.

While it may seem Thi Liens home life is very disorganized what is really happening is
that her parents respect you as a teacher and see teachers as the most important influence
on their childrens life (138). Instead of sending papers home for students it may be
useful to call the parents or email them to relay the information. Especially if the
information is important and the parents need to know about it. On the case with her not
doing her homework or forgetting to bring back library books this may because of what
was said before with how the teacher is the influence on the students, so it is seen as the
teachers job to remind her. In this case what I would do is to explain to Thi Lien how she
must remember to return her book and to do her homework at home. Not in a way that is
saying she is wrong, but in a way that explains how it works here. She could also possibly
have a question and not understand what is going on, but since it is impolite in her culture
to ask she doesnt want to interrupt. This is something to be aware of and to make sure I
am going to her individually to make sure she is understanding the homework.

18. Pablo is a well-mannered boy from Colombia. He insists on calling you Teacher
 instead of your name which you are sure he knows.
On page 106 of our E/E textbook it explains how students call their teachers
maestras/os which means someone of higher education. This could be the reason
why Pablo is calling me teacher, although he knows my name, in his country it is
respectful to call the teacher by the formal name, such as teacher. What I would do
is go along with it. It is not a sign of disrespect to call you teacher. It is a part of his
culture.

19. Hung is a bright ESL student in your 3rd grade class. He listens to you attentively and
follows directions well. However, he is very rude when a classmate is speaking. He
either talks to his neighbor or daydreams. He never joins in any class discussions.
In other cultures the teacher is the center of all learning, not their peers. So for this student
he doesnt see his peers input or answers as significant. As the teacher I would talk to the
student explain to him how we listen to work as a class in the United States. I would also
make sure to ask him questions in class to help get involved in the class, especially
because he most likely wont do this on his own because he is used to teachers lecturing.

20. You are a 3rd grade teacher. Your new student speaks Arabic. He seems to hold his
pencil in a very clumsy way and has a great deal of difficulty even copying work in
English.
Arabic language is written from right to left and back to frontvery different from our
English left to right and front to back. This will make writing for this student very
difficult to write and for copying down English. This student will need extra help in
relearning a new way of organizing and writing because English is so different than
Arabic.

21. Maria is a Mexican student whose attendance in your 6th grade class is very poor. It is
affecting her academic performance. After an absence of several days, you ask her why
she was out and she explains that her aunt was sick and her family went to help her.
Although you explain the importance of good attendance in school, the same thing
happens a few weeks later. You wonder if Marias family considers education
important.
In the Mexican community family is extremely import. It is said Mexicos society is
collectivist in nature, therefore, family is a priority in most households (66). In the Mexican
community parents are not involved in their schools. The book says, involvement often
exclude the internal ways that many Mexican parents are engaged in their childrens
education as well as, for many Mexican families educaion involves much more than the
literal translation of educationeducacion is for them the daily teachings and lessons most
often related to behavior/actions with illustrative examples based on the elders life
experiences (70-71). So it isnt that Marias parents dont see education as important, it is
more that they think that the education of her aunts experiences as more important. It would be
beneficial as a teacher to be aware of this and maybe allow the students to know that I
 understand and to let me know if she has to be gone for a couple days for her family and giver
her homework to work on while she is gone. I could also add this sort of thing to my
curriculum and have my students talk with a family member about life experiences and write a
paper on it or even a short story from their family members experiences. This would allow me
to both make sure my student is getting the curriculum I need to teach, but also make it
interesting for the student and follow their family values.

22. Mei, a new student from China, is scheduled to begin your 4th grade class in the middle
of the school year. On the day she registers, she is introduced to your class and shown
where she will sit. She is to begin school the next morning. You arrive in your classroom
at 7:45 a.m. for a day that begins at 8:30. Mei is waiting at her desk in the dark. The
custodian tells you that she arrived at 7:00 a.m.
In other countries school starts much earlier than in America. Her school in China may have
started at 7 am and she was not aware that our school would start so late. I would email the
parents to explain as well as explain to the student. It may also be extremely useful to have
a bilingual translator explain to the student and call the parents to explain.

23. Korean parents bring you a gift because you have helped their child. You open it and
thank them profusely for their generosity. The parents look uncomfortable.
The reason the parents look uncomfortable is because I opened the gift in front of them.
This is considered rude so instead I would make it a point to apologize and explain how in
America it is rude to not open a gift in front of the people who gave the gift. I would also
make sure to thank them and then wait to open the gift after theyve left.

24. You notice that a Muslim child in your classroom refuses to take a sheet of paper from
a classmate. This isnt the first time this has occurred.
A possible answer for this could be that the student handed the Muslim student the piece of
paper with their left hand. In many cultures the left hand is seen as unclean. This just needs
to be explained to the students as well as the Muslim student that their peer doesnt mean it
in a disrespectful manner.

25. You have applied for a cultural trip for teachers to China. You know that you will be
meeting other teachers along the way. You buy small gifts for them and wrap them in
white tissue paper. At your first stop during the trip the recipients of your gifts upset.
In China white means death or a funeral so what I would do is change the wrapping to red
because red means joy.

26. Thu is a 6th grade girl from Thailand. She becomes hysterical when the other girls tease
her by playfully mussing up her hair. Her parents have to come to school and take her
home. While you understand her need to look tidy, you think she has over-reacted.
The headin Thailandis where a persons soul is. Because of this it is important for me
as the teacher and the students to understand this. I would explain this to the students in a
respectful way that talks about Thailands traditions and why they think this way.

27. During a parent conference, you tell the parents of your Colombian ESL student that
 their child is having difficulty in learning English. You suggest that they only speak
English in their home. The parents look confused. When you relay this conversation to
the ESL teacher in your school, she is very upset.
This was a very disrespectful thing to say and creates this dynamic of my culture is more
important than your culture. Never ever ever do this to an ELL student. Instead I would
suggest maybe having the parents help work with the child in English a bit each day. Not to
completely only switch to English but to help their student work on it a bit outside of
school.

28. You are a 4th grade teacher. You have a friendly boy in your class from the Dominican
Republic. He speaks very little English in the classroom and doesnt seem to be
making much progress. When you give him directions, he seems to be confused. You
are sure he is putting one over on you by pretending not to understand because you
have heard him speak with the other children on the playground.
Although he is communicating with students on the playground doesnt mean he has
necessarily learned and understand academic language. I would work with the student and
try to explain what I am asking and work with the student on academic English.

29. You are a fourth-grade math teacher. Ayumi is one of the brightest students in your
class. She has been in the country for 2 years and it is obvious her background in
math is superb. She cannot seem to understand the units on fractions. You dont know
what to think.
In most countries around the world, because they use the metric system, they rely more
on decimals than fractions. What I would do is work with the student to go over the
similarities of decimals and fractions. I would also explain why we learn fractions.

30. As a reward for good work in your class you give students a packet of 4 pencils with
decorative erasers. Your Japanese students take two and leave two behind.
Two is seen as a lucky number in Japan while four in unlucky. I would just make sure that
when I offer this student pencils I do it in twos.

31. Jean Pierre is a 5th grade student from Haiti. Your class is studying long division.
Jean-Pierre hands in his completed paper in a short time. You are upset because he
has not completed the work. There is no work showing. You think the problem is
written backwards. Maybe the student has a perceptual problem.
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In other countries students solve math problems mentally and dont need to show
their work because the answer is more important than how they solved it. This is also how
many South American countriesHaiti includedwrite long division (128). I would go
over with the student how in America we need to see how the student worked out the
problem and need them to show their work and also talk about the similarities and
 differences with how they write out long division.

32. An Egyptian student in your 3rd grade class is a good math student but becomes
disruptive when you teach a math lesson using math manipulatives.
This is most likely because other countries dont teach manipulatives and dont see
it as an important lesson. As the teacher I would explain why we learn
manipulatives and why its important.

33. You have a new 3rd grade student from Bosnia. During recess time, the child hides
under and bench and cannot be persuaded to come out.
Bosnia has recently1992 and then again in 2007had a genocide in their country.
Because of this, the student may think that when the students are released at recess that they
are being sent to have a bomb dropped on them. As the teacher what I would do is go sit
with the student and talk it through with them to see what they are concerned about and
explain what recess is. Even though the student wasnt alive during the genocide the parents
were and have probably warned their child.
34. You have new sixth grade student from Asia. The student appears to have an attitude
from the first day. Now he is out of his seat fooling around and youve just motioned to
him to come over to talk to you. He glares at you and seems even more angry. What
happened?
What most likely happened is that the gesture you made (maybe using one finger or using
the left hand) for him to move to a new seat was disrespectful for his culture. Instead I
would be careful with how I ask the student to move. Instead of using my hands Id ask
with my words for him to move. Or if I have an instinct of using my hands I would practice
using a hand with my fingers closed (197).

35. As your second-grade class lines up for a field trip, you count your students as you
walk down the line touching each of them on the head. You notice that several
students pull back from you.
In some countries physical contact is something that is disrespectful (Thai culture see
the head is where a persons soul is) and teachers should avoid. I would just make
sure I dont touch my students head or at all while counting off.

36. You take photographs of your students working in small groups for a Back to School
Night. The grandmother of one of your Chinese students is very upset when she sees
your photo of her granddaughter.
For some Chinese peopleconservative Chinese peoplehaving a picture taken in odd
numbers is seen as unlucky. I would make sure that if I take a picture of students to not take
it with odd numbers.
37. You signal O.K. by making a O with your thumb and forefinger to a student
who has done a good job. Your 8th grade newcomer from Brazil looks very shocked.
Although in America this is a sign of a good job, in few countriesBrazil included
see this as odd and disrespectful. I would make sure to not use this sign in my
classroom.