1. When we first arrived at the Ko family's home, I was a bit taken back. It was a very small home with no chairs, couches, TV or computer. Walking up to the door, we noticed that all of their shoes were outside on the porch. I felt very odd taking my shoes off outside, but I did it as a sign of respect. When we got inside the house, the mother offered us to sit on the floor next to her. She made sure to give us a pillow to sit on for comfort. The language barrier was a huge struggle, but communication was not as challenging as I expected. We learned that the mother is very smart. She had good math skills such as addition, subtraction, and multiplication. She learned the alphabet and how to spell her name and address. She has two children, ages one and two. They were very energetic and their mother yelled at them in their native language when they misbehaved.
2. The Burmese family that we teach has very different cultural norms and practices than what I am used to. I have never taken my shoes off outside before, but for them it was a very common practice. It is also a social norm to sit on the ground in their culture. At first I just assumed that they did not have the money to buy a couch or chairs. However, when I learned more about their culture and background, I realized that they were most comfortable sitting and eating on the ground, rather than at a table. Being a culturally ignorant American, I first perceived the family as unintelligent because they did not speak English. However, when we began math skills, my perception of the refugee family completely changed. The mother was very smart and could do complicated multiplication in her head faster than I could. Even though she did not speak English very well, she found many ways to communicate with me. She used hand motions and pointing at objects to explain herself. When she first started yelling at her kids in Burmese, I was a bit startled. However, I realize now that their culture is very strict. Elders are much more respected in Asian cultures. Burmese parents must maintain a strong control face in order to gain respect from their young children.
3. I learned that the Burmese mother is much smarter than I expected. In the future I will be able to bring more challenging lesson plans and books for her to read. Since she knows basic math skills, we will move on to more complex math and money counting skills. I have learned to be more culturally sensitive and flexible for future interactions with them. I have realized that they do some things much differently than us which is not necessarily wrong or bad. Diana and I learned that it is much more difficult for the mother to learn when her kids are a distraction. We have made an agreement that when we go to their home, one of us will teach the mother while the other keeps the children occupied. We switch off each week. With careful planning and openness to culture, we will make the most of our future experiences with the family.
No comments:
Post a Comment