Culture in the Classroom

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Culture in the Classroom

• Why this module?
• How is it set up?
• Love at first sight? Experiencing The Dutch
• Your cultural / personal identity
• Studying in this course

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Story

• Theres this boy Anthony who is 6 years old and
  starts Primary school. Hes told by both his
  father and mother to respect the teacher, no
  matter what. Disobedience or disrespect will be
  punished. Anthony is a sweet boy and he tries
  hard to do his best at school. But after three
  weeks, his teacher asks his parents to come to
  school. Anthony, she says, keeps being
  exceptionally rude. Anthonys parents are very
  upset, you can imagine. So is Anthony.

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• He doesnt understand at all what he has done
  wrong. The teacher explains Anthony will not
  accept my authority, he wont even make eye
  contact!
• Who is to blame here?
• Anthony and his parents, because they didnt
  realise the value that is placed on eye contact
  in The Netherlands?
• Or the teacher, because she didnt know that
  avoiding eye contact is a sign of respect?

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• Heres another priceless example. Marjolein is an
  8 year old Dutch girl, who lives in Morocco with
  her parents. During one of her holidays, she goes
  to stay with her aunt and uncle in France. All
  goes well, they have a lovely time with this
  well-adapted girl. Then, one night, they take
  Marjolein to a restaurant. Much to their dismay,
  Marjolein proceeds to eat her food using her
  hands!
• What is going on here?

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What is going on here?

• Why do we see so few Moroccan, Turkish or even
  Surinamese pupils in Havo/vwo groups or in Higher
  Education?
• Do differences in intelligence play a role?
• What is the role of language?
• Culture?
• Is there a correlation between this phenomenon
  and the current imbalance in Islamic crime in The
  Netherlands?

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Good education is

• intercultural education, in which pupils are
  taught
• to know about, understand and to deal fairly with
  differences and similarities between people,
• whether these stem from culturally diverse
  backgrounds or not.

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interculturally sound education

• If we want to enable all people in society, we
  need to know how to cater for all people.

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To come to a practical application of
intercultural education requires us to gain
insight into

• cognitive (thinking) processes
• the self and the group affects communication
• self- and group identity
• influences on our thoughts, emotions and
  behaviours
• What happens (congnitively) when different
  cultures meet in a single-purpose setting?
• Can we make education effective for all parties?

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How is this module set up?

• two periods of ca. 8 weeks
• We study general concepts of social psychology
  and sociology that becomes part of your general
  knowledge
• In the second part of the module, we apply this
  knowledge to issues to do with Intercultural
  education. We will look at policies, materials,
  exercises, activities

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Assessment

• Exam on the basic concepts of Social Psychology
• Antidote assignment prepare and present an
  activity in class
• Folder with assignments, some of which will be
  carried out at the placement school.

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Key Reading

• Jewish IdentityThe Molder of Human Behavior in
  Breaking the Ice A Guide to Understanding People
  from Other Cultures
• Getting to Grips with Cultural Diversity in When
  Cultures Collide
• Managing Successfully Across Cultures
• Setting the Scene
• Perceiving Groups and Social Identity in Social
  Psychology

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What do you think so far?

• Useful?
• Stupid?
• Boring?
• Looking forward to it?

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Cloggies

• Coffee cult
• Handsigns
• Greet
• Speaking to foreigners
• What is typical Dutch?

• Publuc transport
• why dont we queue?
• Trays in the toilet?
• Freedom?

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Your own identity

• Make a college on your own identity
• Study the article The Jewish Identity by I.B.H.
  Abram.