Cultural Experience Reflection Paper

Arriving at a foreign country at the age of eleven years old was and exiting and yet intimidating experience. High buildings, wide roads, newer and nicer cars on the streets were some of the first things I noticed when I arrived to the city of Los Angeles CA. Living in a country where you were not born in could be difficult some times. Although Spanish is spoken at a grand scale in CA, it was difficult to communicate with and understand the teachers from my classes at the elementary level since all they spoke was English. Los Angeles is a city of great diversity, therefore it is believed to be the perfect place for any person arriving from another country to not feel like a foreign, such believe

Teachers must learn about their student’s cultures if they want to educate them to the best of their ability. Many of the students in culturally diverse classrooms will want to learn in different ways. Some will want to learn in pairs, groups, as a class, or just alone. If the teacher is educated in their culture then lessons can be adjusted to appeal to every student as much as possible instead of forcing some to forget about their culture and learn like others. Students from

My cultural immersion focus is on the religious war in Nigeria. One of the interesting things I found in my research was that, in Nigeria the Christian faith and the Muslim faith represents the greatest percentage of religions. I also learned that the Christians and Muslims pray every day several times a day. With that being said, I wondered if they believed in a higher entity prayed every day, who they are praying to? And what is their belief system based on? (question 1) Since their Christian faith seems to be divided into Catholic, Protestant or some other, I decided to attend a typical Catholic Church service and a Friday mid-day Muslim prayer service. Maybe I should not have used the

In educational institutions they ignore certain students by being unaware of students’ funds of knowledge and their truth depth of knowledge. (Rios-Aguilar 164) Students have a wide understanding over a range of topics, but schools maintain a deficit perception of culture when it does not adhere to the dominant education system. If we were to bridge funds of knowledge and capital we would have the potential to have a better insight into students’ opportunities and experience in educational institutions. (Rios-Aguilar 163) Wolfram et a. clarifies how essential it is for students to attend a school that acknowledge distinct cultures and backgrounds, “When schools do not systematically accommodate different language varieties, some group of students do less well in the gate-keeping activates that determine program access, placement, and progress (Wolfram et a. 87) Program (such as AVID, honors, etc.) may have an essential role in college acceptance. Schools should allocate their resources and funding towards equipping teachers with imperative skills and knowledge to teach students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Some of the qualities of a superior teacher are being academically prepared, knowledgeable about the subject they are teaching, and hold an interest in students’ needs. Having a good teacher is essential to a student’s success. (Watanabe

Gaining learning and experience about other cultures background will enrich my multicultural knowledge. Therefore, as an educator I must learn about others culture. As I begin to learn about others cultures I will understand how values influence the ways families interpret the instruction that feels right to them. A close study on Figure 3.1 implies that a teacher’s point view or the way the students are treaty can affect their learning. It keeps narrating the story of a teacher that had to learn her students’ roots, their culture values, to get to know them in order to reach them in an academically level. The cultural values are very important and cannot be overlooked, they shape our intrinsic motivation. Many families try to keep their values and belief intact at home, so their children when they step in a classroom. Monica Brown, is the Department editor of Diversity Dispatch, argues in her article, Educating All Students: Creating Culturally Responsive Teachers, Classrooms, and Schools, that nowadays it is noticeable the diversity growths in schools, however, this is not the problem. The problem is the way teachers have responded to the diversity growth. (Brown, M. 2007). Therefore, this will affect the students learning. Brown cross with a strong point in regarding the lack of sensitivity some educators show towards their students’ culture. As educator I don’t want to be one of many teachers Monica Brown speaks on her article. I will understand that I must respect my

In chapter seven of our book Child, Family, and Community by Gonzalez-Mena talks about how good to teach students about other cultures. • While the child were reading the Chinese New Year book, a mother walked in and sat down next to her daughter. The mother stayed awhile with her child in the classroom. In chapter six in our book Child, Family, and Community by Gonzalez-Mena states, " Teachers and parents have to look for opportunities to have both casual conversations before and after school and plan ones as well" (145). It is really important for the child to know their parents care for their education.

For my cultural immersion experience, I choose to attend meditation at a Buddhist temple. Lately, I have been very interested in the Buddhist religion so I thought that this would be a good introduction into it. I am not a very religious person nor did I know much about Buddhism before this experience. I did do some research and was able to find a meditation for beginners session at the Temple of Harmony. This specific temple is located in Joliet, Illinois. I did some research beforehand on what to expect for my immersion experience. I quickly learned from looking over the temple’s website that people of all races, religions, and ages came to practice Buddhism at the temple. This made me a little bit less nervous for my experience since

Culture Class was where Essence and I first meet. Her first impression of me was that I was very high strung she believed that I didn’t know how to let loose and enjoy life.

Teachers that use multicultural materials in the lessons have a closer connection with the students because the lessons allow the class to learn mobility, socialization, and chances to build community partnerships. in strict classroom settings where “silence is golden” the class is unable to deeply understand each other. This in turn, impedes on the classes ability to grow together, which impedes the ability for the student to grow personally and emotionally. I was able to compare my work with ideas in the article by noticing how in my job, as a child care provider at a beach club, children and I spend a few hours a week simply hanging out. With the only obligation being playing and talking, the children feel comfortable to discuss many topics. I have gained the respect of hundreds of young friends by being a positive, active listener who attempts to help the child find the answers they seek rather than instill my own

For my second culture immersion project I went to eat at a Mexican restaurant. I went with my group members Ryan, Brian and Brian's girlfriend. I went this pass Tuesday after we had our group meeting. I don’t recall the name of the restaurant but I know it was downtown Appleton near by the Walgreens. . This was good choice for the project because I never have eaten at an actually Mexican restaurant before.

I attended the Body of Christ (BOC) church service in Oakland Park, Florida run by people from the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. The service was similar in many ways to traditional interdenominational or non-denominational church services. The service times were from 10:30 am and were competed by 12:00 noon. The service started promptly at 10:30 am with a welcome to congregants and guest from the pastor. Several songs of contemporary music were played and sang with the worship team and congregation. The pastor shared a sermon on not just taking, but being a giver in your everyday life. She quoted from the bible that it was better to give than receive. They also sang two songs

I live in Spokane Washington and had a little trouble finding a true cultural experience, there seems to be more opportunities for them in the summer months vs winter. I decided that I would like to try an ethnic restaurant for two reasons; 1) Date night with my husband, 2) get out of cooking dinner. Again, Spokane is not inundated with ethnic restaurants and there is only a handful, and some had bad reviews and the food looked downright scary. I ended up choosing Top of India which serves authentic Indian food, curry and all. I am not a very adventurous person when it comes to food and spiciness so I have never tried Indian food, the mentioned of curry has me turning up my nose. Maybe, in part to the horror stories

The three things that have made the biggest impact on and have influenced my life that shaped me into the person I am today are family background, experiences from my school year, and religious beliefs. Our culture provides a lens through which we view the world and interpret our everyday experiences. In order to know who I am today, I must look at who you’ve been. Many educators around the country are interested in developing a multicultural approach in their teaching. They find themselves in classrooms with 25 children of varying racial and cultural backgrounds, and are looking for ways to connect what they do in the classroom to the cultures represented by their students. Before we can begin to understand others, however, we need to understand ourselves and what we bring to our interactions with others.

Education is one of the most important factors in every person’s life regardless of where they’re from, their race, or their culture. Becoming educated not only makes life easier for us but also can help people become more successful in all things. However with so many people of various races, ethnicities and backgrounds in the United States it is difficult to create an education system that attends to each student’s individual culture. Ones own culture influences their actions and lifestyle, therefore this can create conflict if it is different from their schools cultural teaching style. Multicultural and multilingual classrooms have become the norm in many educational and professional settings throughout the U.S. because of changing immigration patterns caused by globalization (Institute for Educational Leadership, p. 2). For teachers today, it is essential to understand the role of culture and have the ability to interact interculturally in the classroom to create an effective learning environment. Analyzing cultural issues or differences can help teachers to understand some of the unconscious processes that shape individuals’ actions and interactions, as well as their language use and communication. “Teachers who understand cultural diversity…are more likely to be successful in their multicultural classrooms” (Samovar, Pg.2).

5. When teaching languages that are spoken in many different countries, e.g., Spanish, where are the cultural boundaries?” The lack of knowledge and materials can create a major problem when trying to teach culture. To enhance and overcome these difficulties it is important that teachers learn their religion, history, philosophy, psychology and so on. The more background you know from a culture the better and more effectively you can teach your classroom. Thus, being aware of these challenges and obstacles teachers should try their hardest to fulfill these gaps in order to teach their students about other cultures