In the lesson by Professor Ivers he clearly defined a spectrum of emotional expressivity. Emotional expressivity describes to what degree public shows of emotion are permitted in different cultures. For instance, Japan and most Asian cultures fall on the low end of emotional expressivity. The Middle East countries on the high end of emotional expressivity. He places the US squarely in the middle of the spectrum and then subdivides different cultures depending on where they lie. He then describes how the two far ends of the spectrum tend to perceive each other and the misunderstandings that follow.
That's what he talks about and illustrates--how different people handle things differently and how their paradigms determine their reactions.
This was something that I was familiar with to some degree. I had seen that different cultures would respond to similar stimuli with different responses. The underlying emotions could be the same and the output could be opposite sides of the spectrum. I think that what I really learned from this was where certain cultures lie on the spectrum and how that affects their perceptions of other cultures.
Now when I see someone supposedly over-reacting to something I will remember that they might just be reacting in a way that feels emotionally genuine to them. The same goes when some people seem really reserved. I observed a class full of Spanish speaking students. They were exuberant and very emotional filled when they communicated with each other. They talked of a student in another class who was from China and how he wouldn't say anything to them. The teacher told them that he was pretty good at speaking English, but that he wasn't as open in communicating. I see now that they took his less emotional, more conservative way of expressing himself as a lack of interest. They couldn't connect with him perhaps because he also had no paradigm to understand how they communicated either.
In a TESOL/ESL classroom, I would have to adapt to different students and how they express their emotions. I think I would also need to teach my class about how they will be perceived and how they will perceive others.
I've been thinking about something that applies to this that is kind of random. Professor Ivers said that the less emotionally expressive cultures are generally perceived as being more intelligent--I think. That makes sense in reference to a lot of cultures. It is also a common American perception that the British people are more intelligent and a lot of people attribute this to their accent. I am curious if it's not more about their level of emotional expressivity.
It seems like that could be the same problem as assuming a student who is more emotionally expressive is less intelligent because they won't get the attention that they need--encouraging support. Teachers who rank their students into tiers depending on their intelligence might be suffering from their own paradigms of perception. I want to be a teacher who can be more focused on teaching my students the things they need without letting my own experience get in the way.
That's what he talks about and illustrates--how different people handle things differently and how their paradigms determine their reactions.
This was something that I was familiar with to some degree. I had seen that different cultures would respond to similar stimuli with different responses. The underlying emotions could be the same and the output could be opposite sides of the spectrum. I think that what I really learned from this was where certain cultures lie on the spectrum and how that affects their perceptions of other cultures.
Now when I see someone supposedly over-reacting to something I will remember that they might just be reacting in a way that feels emotionally genuine to them. The same goes when some people seem really reserved. I observed a class full of Spanish speaking students. They were exuberant and very emotional filled when they communicated with each other. They talked of a student in another class who was from China and how he wouldn't say anything to them. The teacher told them that he was pretty good at speaking English, but that he wasn't as open in communicating. I see now that they took his less emotional, more conservative way of expressing himself as a lack of interest. They couldn't connect with him perhaps because he also had no paradigm to understand how they communicated either.
In a TESOL/ESL classroom, I would have to adapt to different students and how they express their emotions. I think I would also need to teach my class about how they will be perceived and how they will perceive others.
I've been thinking about something that applies to this that is kind of random. Professor Ivers said that the less emotionally expressive cultures are generally perceived as being more intelligent--I think. That makes sense in reference to a lot of cultures. It is also a common American perception that the British people are more intelligent and a lot of people attribute this to their accent. I am curious if it's not more about their level of emotional expressivity.
It seems like that could be the same problem as assuming a student who is more emotionally expressive is less intelligent because they won't get the attention that they need--encouraging support. Teachers who rank their students into tiers depending on their intelligence might be suffering from their own paradigms of perception. I want to be a teacher who can be more focused on teaching my students the things they need without letting my own experience get in the way.
I liked that you recognized that emotional expressivity does not correlate with intelligence. An expressive person cannot be said to be less intelligent than a conservative person. This reminds me of an old saying that it is better to not answer a question and be judged as unintelligent, than to answer a question incorrectly and to remove all doubt. (Smile) As teachers, we always need to carefully observe our students. All students are capable of learning and improving.
ReplyDeleteThat is an extremely interesting thought, that intelligence is perceived in relation to one's expressivity. I will have to give that some thought. It's true that Asians are less expressive and we consider them to be generally more intelligent. I always tend to think of the British as intelligent, but again that may be because they are less expressive and not just the accent. However, Hollywood tends to use the British accent for anyone who is a foreigner when they are speaking English (such as movies about WWII where the actors are speaking English for the benefit of the English-speaking audience instead of German).
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