10/15/19; Week 5: Response to “Cultural Paradigms”

This week, in our TESOL course, we have been studying about Cultural Paradigms.  As part of our study, we have watched three videos: a lesson by professor John Ivers from Brigham Young University-Idaho concerning cultural paradigms, the “Cultural Clashes in Defining Beauty” Ted Talk by Delali Bright and Cultural Differences by National Geographic.  In the first video, professor Ivers explains that two people can see the same event and interpret it differently because of their cultural differences.  A paradigm may differ immensely from one culture to another.  In the second video, Delali Bright told us how she was bullied and marginalized for being skinny when she was younger.  In her country in west Africa, skinny people were seen as sick, poor and ugly.  When she moved to the U.S., she was praised because of her body.  She realized that the two cultures have different definition for beauty and that others’ opinions were determining her happiness and unhappiness.  She says that “it’s important to realize the role that people around us play into how we form our opinion, and how more often our values are affected by a changing society.”  In the National Geographic video, a group of men from Sudan go to the U.S. and face many cultural differences including some kind of prejudice.                                                                                       Watching the videos, I could learn that paradigms force us to interpret reality in a different way and culture creates false needs and false problems.   I am a teacher in Brazil, a large country, rich in cultural diversity due to miscegenation.  Brazil is a melting pot of cultures from Europe, Africa, Asia and native population.  It is stated that there are many “Brazis” inside Brazil.  The teacher needs to be aware of these cultural differences and challenges some of his/her paradigms concerning different cultures.  It is important to see each student as part of a culture but also as an individual, respecting both his/her collectivity and individuality.  The more the teacher raises this awareness, the more s/he is able to make the classroom a welcoming and respectful environment for all, avoiding feelings of exclusion and drop outs.  The question is: how can we raise this awareness in the school environment, respecting both collectivity and individuality?   

Image from teachallreachall.weebly.com