Culture and Race

     Since I was brought up in a small homogeneous, island country, Japan, I did not really know about different cultures when I was young and different cultures were something I was longing for because I saw them only on TV. Foreign people I met were American missionaries and English teachers and they were so nice to me. Therefore, I had only a positive impression of different cultures. Although I learned about racial discrimination in history and social studies classes, the people who lived in the U.S. were all “Americans” to me.

     My university in Japan is proud of its interdisciplinary and international studies and invites students from all over the world. I became friends with not only Americans and Europeans, but also students from the other Asian countries. It was a very fun and exciting experience to me. When I first went to the U.S., racial difference was not even a problem because I was treated equally, even though I was one of minority students and did not speak English perfectly. Therefore, I took it for granted that no racial difference existed around me even in the U.S. and was thinking other people with different races were treated equally as well. I also made friends with students from other races.

     I think creating a good personal relationship with people with different cultural or linguistic background is a key. We tend to make generalizations about different cultures or races but they do not always hold true of them. If we get to know and like a person, whatever race or culture he or she may have, he or she will be just someone we like. We, teachers should look at a student as an individual student and avoid judging him or her based only on his or her race or culture. Educators need to create classroom settings in which culture, ethnicity, and race are not only considered, but in which they are validated and confirmed (Chenowith, 2014, p.39).

     If a teacher of dominant culture think his or her culturally diverse students must follow his or her cultural norms in the classroom, the teacher will put the students at a disadvantage. For example, since Japanese people value silence, Japanese students often remain silent even when a teacher ask their opinions. If one of such Japanese students starts to learn in a classroom in the U.S., he or she might be judged incompetent by the teacher. Therefore, I always believe teachers need to be culturally open-minded, otherwise, they misjudge culturally diverse students. As cited in Schulz, Hurt, & Lindo (2014), despite the increasing number of students from non-dominant ethnic or cultural groups, professional school counselors and educators in the United States public school system often have difficulty openly addressing issues of diversity in the classroom context (p. 3). Teachers of dominant culture should try to know different cultures and when they face any challenging situations due to cultural difference, they should share the problems with their colleagues or school leaders so that the school can openly address cultural issues.  

References

Chenowith, N. H. (2014). Culturally responsive pedagogy and cultural scaffolding in literacy education. Ohio Reading Teacher, 44(1), 35-40.

Schulz, L., Hurt., & Lindo, N. (2014). My name is not Michael: Strategies for promoting cultural responsiveness in schools. Journal of School Counseling,12(2), 1-35.