Behavior Considerations
When working cross-culturally, there are many considerations for establishing a collaborative environment depending on the student's educational background, culture, and personality. As students assimilate, they learn to be bilingual and bi-cultural. Consequently, they require support in both areas. Having an awareness of cultural differences is a starting point for helping students understand the expectations of the classroom while respecting the culture of the home.
What is Culture?Though others see it illuminate through us, our cultural make-up lay deep within our psyche and goes undiscovered until we have an experience that brings our core beliefs to the surface. The graphic to the right shows how the unwritten rules of culture impact us in our daily lives. Working cross-culturally requires an awareness of the complexity of culture as well as a developing understanding of how to recognize cultural conflicts as they occur.
Working Cross-CulturallyThe clip to the right was taken from the Penzeys Spices Catalog, Back to School edition, 2012. In this article, written by Lani Haag, I was able to share my core reason for working with other cultures...to experience the world, and to discover more about myself. Moreover, seeing value and beauty in places many people overlook causes you to have a broader scope of the word, opening the door to many possibilities...
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Cultural Considerations
A person new to a culture learns to "kick it," (a phrase borrowed from a Somali mom) as they experience events that rub with their home culture. With repeated exposure, practice, and eventual justification, we internally re-map our brains to accept certain pieces of the host culture's thinking, even if it is "counter-cultural."
While they are working out what is for them, and what is for the birds, know that maintaining consistent systems and processes in the classroom will help to alleviate intimidation and misconceptions. The following are areas that could lead to potential cultural misunderstandings and may need direct instruction in the expected procedures if confusion should arise:
While they are working out what is for them, and what is for the birds, know that maintaining consistent systems and processes in the classroom will help to alleviate intimidation and misconceptions. The following are areas that could lead to potential cultural misunderstandings and may need direct instruction in the expected procedures if confusion should arise:
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Learning another language and culture is a process that will take multiple exposures and guided practice to master. As supporters, we can assume the best, and provide the structures needed for all students to feel like they are part of the community, regardless of their cultural background.
Problem Solving Cultural ConflictWhen students are new-to-country later in their academic career, or transition into a classroom mid-year, teachers often forget that these did not receive the same training as the other students. Each classroom has it's own unique culture that even our non-ELL students will struggle to navigate at times. If you find yourself confronted with an issue that appears to be culturally influenced, take the time to reflect on a potential learning point for yourself, and a teaching point for the student. Often a conference with parents, through a translator if necessary, is also beneficial.
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Cultural Connections
If you are having trouble with your newcomers or second language learners disengaging during content teaching, here are a few strategies you could try:
- Partnering students with the same first language and letting them "turn and talk" in their native language.
- Trying to find content materials in the student's first language. The local library, Readinga-z, Youtube, Raz-Kids, Tumblebooks are all great places to find content materials in other language.
- Using Pinterest to find anchor charts, diagrams, or classroom supports in other languages.
- Utilizing quick graphics, pictures, partners, games, and manipulatives to engage students
- Providing students with leveled readers and relying less on textbooks.
- Leveling your questioning to their English Language Proficiency Level so the student is able to participate.
Small Group Behavior Monitoring CardsI created these behavior cards to help explicitly teach the behaviors I was looking for in our small group discussions.
When a student was missing one of these behaviors, I would non-verbally highlight the behavior as a reminder of what I am looking for. Without drawing any further attention to it, we would move on. If the student was able to demonstrate the behavior with no more than one redirection, they could take the slip back to class to receive a dojo point, or a school coin. If not, I would write, "not today" on the card and would let the student know that we would try again the next day. |
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Whole Brain TeachingUtilizing a classroom management plan that is systematic, consistent, and predictable will reinforce expected classroom behaviors. Whole Brain Teaching is a system that utilizes strategies that are English learner friendly and is a fun, interactive way to learn. The video to the side shows the basic strategies with college students, but there are many videos on Youtube showing this method used at all grade levels and content areas.
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Behavior Strategies
And sometimes it isn't just culture...At times, students will need more intensive instruction on the behavior expected in the classroom.
First, Then: Students first complete the require work and then get to choose their preferred activity.
Behavior Cuing: Teacher cues the student by reminding them of the preferred behavior you are looking for.
- "I will know you are ready to learn when..."
- "I can tell you are participating when..."
- "You can show me you understand what I'm saying by..."
- "I noticed it is difficult to _____ when____."
Mindful Language:
- Instead of "I like it when..." try "I noticed that..."
- Instead of "you always" or "you never", you could say "Today you..." or "Yesterday this was____but today it is____"
- Tell them what they are doing right, and what they could try next.
- Have the students use samples to self identify what still needs work in their writing. It's OK if they don't see everything wrong with it.
- Make suggestions to student work with "Have you considered..."
Positive Phone Calls Home: By putting emphasis on the positive things you are seeing in school, you can build the home/school connection, and shift to a growth mindset.
Behavior Progress Monitoring
Here are some progress monitoring forms we used this year to watch for trends and improvement with student behavior.
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Free Classroom Rewards
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Beef up your incentive program with 100 free or nearly free individual rewards! At one of my schools, the teachers volunteer special rewards students can purchase with their good behavior coins at the school store. This is has been great at building a sense of community. Personally, I have contributed cheer leading camps, princess makeovers, and Spanish lessons...It didn't take more than 20 minutes of my time and I'm pretty sure I had just as much fun as the kiddos.
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Growth MindsetCarol Dweck: Developing a Growth Mindset
This is a great video supporting the idea that our words are powerful in propelling students forward toward meeting their goals.
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Other Considerations
- If parents see similar behaviors at home, consult with your school counselor/psychologist for ideas in establishing structures that could transfer between school and home.
- Ask another teacher who has worked with the student in the past.
- Call the previous school to see if there were any strategies that worked for them.
- Visit with parents to see if you can glean any relevant background information.
- As with all students, document/report unusual or disturbing behaviors.
- For any student with emotional disturbances, PTSD, or unique family circumstances, advocate for counseling to help them move forward. Some cultures will view mental health differently than others.
- Link to strategies for working with Emotionally Unpredictable Students.
The best way to reveal our core beliefs about a topic is to have an encounter someone who has a different perspective. When cultural views and practices conflict with our own, it can feel intrusive, and even scary. If given enough exposure, cultural differences soften, and we find ourselves looking at life through a different lens...seeing things those around us cannot yet perceive.