A teacher in East Asia (mainly Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea) is someone we respect like we respect our mothers. We greet and bow to our teachers before class, and we thank our teachers at the end of the class along with another formal bow. We are taught since we were young to obey the teachers with a positive attitude, and it is considered good manners to assist teachers in any task requested; from carrying stacks of workbooks to cleaning the floor, we are taught to comply without question. We believe that without our teachers, we would not be the person we are today.
The teacher is indeed the fountain of all knowledge. As a student who has studied in Japan and Hong Kong along with classmates from Taiwan and Korea, I have found common
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What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. This is true wisdom.” – Confucius, The Analects, Ch II.
References
Cortazzi, M. (1990). Cultural and educational expectations in the language classroom. In B. Harrison (Ed.). Culture and the Language Classroom. ELT Documents 132. London: Macmillan. Modern English Publications and the British Council. 54-65.
Kaplan, R. D. (2015, February 06). Asia's Rise Is Rooted in Confucian Values. Retrieved July 08, 2017, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/asias-rise-is-rooted-in-confucian-values-1423254759
Riegel, J. (2002, July 03). Confucius. Retrieved July 08, 2017, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/
Scovel, T. (1994). The role of culture in second language pedagogy. System, 22/2, 205-19.
Syrmopoulos, J. (2016, April 01). Bruce Lee Teaches an Immeasurable Life Lesson Using Only Four Words. Retrieved July 08, 2017, from http://thefreethoughtproject.com/philosophy-bruce-lee/
Tweed, R. G., & Lehman, D. R. (2002). Learning considered within a cultural context: Confucian and Socratic approaches. American Psychologist, 57(2),
Lisa Delpit’s book, “The Skin We Speak”, talked about language and culture, and how it relates to the classroom. How we speak gives people hits as to where we are from and what culture we are a part of. Unfortunately there are also negative stereotypes that come with certain language variations. There is an “unfounded belief that the language of low income groups in rural or urban industrial areas is somehow structurally “impoverished” or “simpler” than Standard English” (Delpit 71). The United States is made of people from various cultures and speak many different variations of languages. As teachers we must be aware of some of the prejudices we may have about language and culture.
Matsumoto, D., & Juang, L. (2013). Culture and Psychology (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
In this paper, it will be looking at the culture and education practices of Finland, Canada, and China. Education varies from country to country as well as does one's culture, lifestyle of the people who live there. In doing so will review their culture and the role of their education policies that are used to motivate schools and teachers to improve student learning along with how their culture plays into learning. Furthermore, children should be taught with respect to their culture. However, we can also learn from one another. In addition, we have similar and different educational practices from one another. Such as when it comes to the Finnish, Canadians, to the Chinese as, we all learn in different environments because of our culture. Furthermore, and most importantly, thus educational practices vary from culture to culture. For instance, these counties are considered some of the best when it comes to education, Finland, Canada, China and it is because of their educational practices along with their culture government.
“The spread of Confucianism across East Asia was accomplished largely through voluntary and consensual means, rather than by conquest o...
First, Chinese teachers are less likely to use corporal punishment since clear, outward respect of authority is demanded throughout society. Second, teachers tend to remind students of proper behavior, discuss conflict resolution for specific problems, and include students in classroom management planning because there is already a cultural sense that the teacher must be obeyed (Lewis et al, 2005). Chinese teachers often use rewards and recognition as incentives. Since men have a higher role than women, female teachers are more likely to use harsher techniques with the older students. As boys become young men, their respect for other men outweighs the respect for women. Finally, Chinese teachers tend to have more support from parents than many other cultures (Lewis et al,
Since its birth, Confucianism has reigned supreme with no serious challenger in East Asia. While Christianity has attempted to move in from the West into places like China, it has been marked as a western tool of imperialism and oppression while Confucianism is seen to be truly Chinese. Even in Japan, where until 1945, State Shinto was the predominate religion, State Shinto can trace its roots to Confucianism as a way to control the population. Confucianism has fundamentally changed East Asia and without the region would be incalculably different.
When it comes to understanding cultural differences in an academic setting, it is beneficial to define the term itself. While some authors and researchers attempt to define this term, others imply a definition through the issues that surrounds the concept of cultural differences. One of the most interesting and illuminating points about studying cultural differences, especially in an academic environment, is that the term often conjures up images of classes that have students from many parts of the world interacting with one another in a common setting. But this aspect isn’t necessarily a good nor bad thing. Simpson (2008) points out that neither the teaching nor learning of English comes without certain clashes in the classroom. Simpson (2008) also indicates that clashes result from divergent educational philosophies meeting in an environment that is both low in mutual awareness and high in expectations. Examination of just classroom cultures is not complete without a discussion about certain things performed in the classroom. Wang (2009) discusses how peer reviews were
I saw a huge difference between the Chinese teaching style and the American teaching style. When I was in my native country, the people who were around me used the Chinese traditional teaching style which called “teaching by holding his/her hand” to teach me, in other words, teaching by showing students step by step. This teaching style mainly focused on preventing students from getting into a wrong way. They made me believe that was the best way to learn something new before I realized that the American teaching style was better. In fact, the Chinese one actually helped me a lot. It not only saved me a lot of time when I learned something new, but also it made me feel confident. It was easy because I just followed other people by doing the same thing. It prevented me from experiencing and thinking deeply during the whole process. Also, it was hard for me to have my own
Swarbrick, A. (2013) Aspects of Teaching Secondary Modern Foreign Languages: Perspectives on Practice. London: Routledge Falmer.
o The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor (wo)man perfected without trials. __ Confucius
In contrast most Asian, students sit quietly waiting for the teacher to come into the classroom and respectively welcome him/her. When the teacher comes into the classroom, all the students stand up for him/her as a form of respect. For Asian students, manners and respect towards elders and teachers is a part of their culture. Generally people from these countries are very respectful to guest and are expected to drop everything when a guest visits their house. The young of the family greet them, serve food and tea, to make them feel welcome. While this is admirable, it is partly because these cultures do not encourage freethinking.
Teachers serve as the guiding force in a student’s life. They are responsible for molding a student’s personality and shaping his/her mental orientation. Teachers deeply impact our lives and direct the course of our future. One cannot deny the influence of teachers in one’s life. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that, till a certain age, out life revolves around our teachers. They are our constant companions, until we grow old enough to come out of their shadow and move ahead on our own.
The scope of this exercise is limited to teaching English as a second language (TESOL) i.e. teaching programs in English-speaking countries (specifically UK) for students whose first language is other than English. The first thing I noticed, when reading about it, was the paucity of specialised material on the subject. Tricia Hedge refers briefly to “multicultural” classrooms and one reference to “multi-lingual” classrooms and then only to talk about a possible diagnostic method to highlight learner problems (Hedge, 2000 p270). I have therefore tried to glean from various sources, insights and advice where possible. The scarcity of material has another consequence; multi lingual classrooms are often only mentioned as part of a wider discussion of “problems” encountered by teachers and learners. Many of the sources rely on research into monolingual groups (Hedge, Skehan, Lightbown et al.).
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Teaching world Englishes. The other tongue: English across cultures, 2, 355-366.
In most institutions of learning today, the classes are made up of students from different ethnic backgrounds. These have different traditions and also speak different languages. In a typical classroom, the majority of the students will speak the same language. The teacher must then employ strategies which will accommodate all the students in the class. This will ensure that every learner gets the best quality of education. This will enable them to be better prepared for career and expressing themselves. In this paper, strategies to assist learners of the English language in their literal development for third grade learners. In the paper, three strategies that can be used by the teacher will be discussed. New strategies and research that will help the English language learners to gain in depth mastery of the language will also be discussed. Due to the widespread learning of the English language in most schools, addressing issues of the language learners is of vital importance. Teachers should have the understanding that cultures are what give someone identity and therefore no student should leave their culture for another. Instead, there should be the blending of different cultures so that students can appreciate and learn from each other.