Community Task - Unit 3

I interviewed an EAL teacher who teaches small groups of students in a rural elementary school in southeastern Manitoba. In this community, the majority of EAL students are German immigrants. When asked to share a cultural misunderstanding or disconnect that has occurred in her context, she explained the following scenario.

The group of German immigrants in the community is very conservative and very religious. When Christmas or Easter come near, she would desire and tend to focus on these holidays. The purpose of introducing these holidays is to involve students in the culture, as well as understand the different events that occur during school hours. Because of the culture of these German immigrants and specifically their parents, these holidays are seen as wrong and evil. The parents go to the extent of keeping their children home from school when special events occur in the school surrounding these holidays. Speaking of Santa Clause or the Easter bunny, are completely off limits. As a result, these students miss out on school-wide celebrations and the teacher has no opportunity to explain or teach these new English speakers the cultural relevance of these holidays.

The main possible cause of this challenge includes the nature and personality of the German people. In the TESL 0160 notes, we were told how wisdom and knowledge are important and essential parts of running an ESL classroom. By growing in knowledge about the personality of the German people we can wisely work alongside them in such a way that exhibits honour and respect.

Germans are known to be traditional to a fault and disciplined with few nationalities to compare to (S.l., 2014). They are also understood to be extremely stubborn and unfortunately rather cold in their interactions (“The Seven Personality Traits of a German”, 1970). With understanding these personality traits, we can understand how German immigrants may find it difficult to adapt their way of thinking along with their traditions. They may find it a threat to their identity by having a stranger attempt to interfere with their way of life. To announce their opinion, they coldly withhold their child from school on these particular days.

To deal with this challenge requires clear communication. As talked about in many of the TESL 0160 discussion forums, communication is a crucial part of problem-solving. Both English-speaking countries and Germany are considered low-context cultures. This means that they “expect messages to be explicit and specific” (Goman, 2011). Because of this value in both Canada and Germany, it is quite appropriate to communicate with all who are involved. This includes the teacher, the parents and perhaps the principle or the child’s homeroom teacher. By together discussing the challenge of holidays in our Canadian culture, perhaps a compromise could be reached, for example, when talking about Christmas exclude the topic of Santa and instead talk about the nativity story.

The effects of this communication result in a deeper relationship filled with respect. Clear communication builds rapport with both parents, as they see the teacher’s eagerness and willingness to teach their child, and child, as they see the relationship growing between their parents and their teacher (Brown, 2015). Hopefully, the result would also include gaining greater cultural knowledge for both the parents and child.

Bibliography 

Brown, D. H. (2015). Teaching by principles. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Goman, C. K. (2011, March). Communicating Across Cultures. Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/business-communication/communicating-across-cultures

S.l. (2014, March 12). The German personality. Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.justlanded.com/english/Germany/Germany-Guide/Culture/The-German-personality

The Seven Personality Traits of a German. (1970, January 01). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://schnitzelrepublic.blogspot.com/2010/07/seven-personality-traits-of-german.html