February 14th, Individualism v.s. Collectivism

Individualism v.s. Collectivism

I grew up in a family of 9 children, my mom and dad. When I met my husband we were teenagers, he told me one day, that they were afraid of saying bad things to any of us, because if they did we all gather and protect the member of the family, so they were afraid of us. He thought of us as a very strong brotherhood, and yes we were, I say we were because as time passed by, we have to make our lives and almost all of the 8 moved away from here, leaving me with with my new family. We are still a strong family but each member now leaving apart and growing up their new family, but sometimes we gather for a Family Reunion.

When I heard of individualism and collectivism which is group oriented I thought oh, my family was group oriented and yes we have the goal to be an Eternal family but now I can see that we are also individualistic because we followed our dreams and make some changes to fulfill them even if it required us to leave the family home.

Why is it so important to understand these concepts in culture? How would it help us to understand other cultures?

First  every part of culture is important, culture is a pattern of values and  behaviors that are shared and transmitted from generation to generation by the members of a social group. 

According to the article, Part III Continuum of Individualistic and Collectivist Values, " Nearly three-fourths of the worlds cultures can be describes a collectivist.(Triandis, 1989).
So each member of the family or the society working on be half their community and not just themselves. On the contrary individualistic, works to make them self sufficient, self determined, self reliant with an independent living. So as you can see we can have both being responsible for our personal growth and at the same time contributing to the society to whom we belong.

Let´s see the constrast of both values.

Table 4. Contrasts in Emphasis between Common Collectivistic and Individualistic Values

Continuum of Values
Collectivistic	Individualistic
Interdependence	Independence
Obligations to others	Individual rights
Rely on group	Self-sufficiency
Adhere to traditional values	True to own values and beliefs
Maintain traditional practices	Continuously improve practices (progress)
Fulfill roles within group	Pursue individual goals/interests
Group achievement	Individual achievement
Competition between groups	Competition between individuals
Group or hierarchical decision-making	Self-determination and individual choice
Shame/guilt due to failing group	Shame/guilt due to individual failure
Living with kin	Independent living
Take care of own	Seek help if needed
Property shared within group	Strong individual property rights
Elders transmit knowledge (often oral)	Individuals seek knowledge (often textual)
Objects valued for social uses	Objects valued for technological uses

According to this table I would say that we must find balance within these two values because of them are good. And we must understand others cultures because they also have pros. in ther individualism or collectivism. Don´t you think?

http://www.ncset.org/publications/essentialtools/diversity/partIII.asp

DIFFERENCES IN EMOTIONAL EXPRESIVITY.

One day I took my children to San Diego, CA. USA. We were at Walmart, suddenly my little girl ran unto me and hold me very tight, there were a couple of girls talking very loud and seemed very emotional, expressing themselves yelling at each other. I ask my little girl if she was ok. she said she was afraid because those girls were fighting. They were not fighting but since my little girl didn´t understood what they were saying she just heard them yelling and being very noisy she thought they were fighting.

We as mexicans are use to express our emotions but for my girl those girls expressions beyond the limits so hee misunderstood them. We live in a world of many differences from culture to culture, some have low emotional expresivity like Asian, and some have high emotional expresivity like people from El Salvador.

According to  Guy Winch, Ph. D. in his  Psycological site all the people express their emotions in private almost the same, but in public there are differences: 

 When it came to overall reporting of emotions, the most ‘emotional’ country in the world is The Philippines, followed by El Salvador and Bahrain, Oman and Columbia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Nicaragua (the United States came in as the 15th most emotional country). The least emotional country in the world was Singapore, followed by Georgia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Do you think that this information will help you to understand other cultures reactions wouldn´t it be easier to uderstand why some people shout and talk loudly or don´t feel embarassed to cry or laugh, or never show any expression?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201211/which-countries-are-most-and-least-emotional

CULTURAL MISCOMMUNICATION.

Have you ever being in a situation that you think  that a certain person, from a different culture, seems to  be a snub and at the end when you get to know him you realized He is such a good person.

I have  a cousin that grew up in Mesa, Arizona, when we were teenagers I went with my branch to Mesa, AZ Temple, we drove for more than 9 hours, from where I used to live. I introduce her a friend with whom I had a crushed. The next day when she came to say hi, I was in shock to see her talking with my friend instead of me, I was very mad with my cousin, I couldn´t believe she was trying to get him. Wel actually that was a misunderstanding, when I told her he was my friend I didn´t tell her that I liked him, back then I was shy and I thaught she would understand.  The last day of visiting she said she like this guy so much she didn´t realized that I did too and she was sincere.  So I learned that with her I have to tell things as they are and not pretend that she would figure it out.

There are many miscommunication with people, specially with cultures, for some moving head up and down means yes, but not for the Bulgarian, and moving head side to side means yes according to professor Ivers from BYU-I, so how can we go through the world com municating with every person without being afraid of a miscommunication even being rude.

I have seen a lot of movies were the students at first don´t like each other they have fights and differences but then when they get to know and learn about the others culture start to understand each other and realized that there are similarities thatn differences.

I think in school there should be a class where students learn about the differences of cultures, so they will be able to understand more and have less problems with others.

02.05-2019 Cultural Differences concerning TIME

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” ..  Time is what we want more, but what we use worst. William Penn

Monochronic v.s. Polychronic

There are two visions when we talk about time, the one that considere the time as something sacred, that work on schedules, procedures and tasks, and the polychronic which works based on emotions, family, friends, and that time can wait for the rest of the things but first family and love one´s.

I live in a country that is polychronic, you can do what you want if you have friends, connections. Last year a friend of my daughter went back from his mission, he was late to enroll to college so since grandpa is a principal at College, they went to talk with him and ask him to help him to get enroll. And it happened, just like that.

I have being planning to open a restaurant for the past 2 years but since I don´t have the connections and friends I haven´t be able to have the permissions I need to open it. This is a country where for us is very important to have friends and connections, as part of our culture we can change schedules, procedures, tasks, as we want, and sometimes is not fair, to be honest is never fair, but sometimes it has a positive imparct and som
etimes a negative impact on us. It was good for my daughter fiend, but not fair for my permission to set a restaurant.


On the contrary in the monochronic people can have the assurance that if someone says I am going to do it, they will do it, if they say is going to be on a certain time then it will be done on that time. Like my friend of the United States.

But which is better? I was wondering that talking about church, when I go to the Temple the sessions are always on time,  the conferences, even the speakers are always on time. But is not the same story at our stake activities,  nor the Sacrametnal meetings, why?  Because we bring our culture polychromic, and despite we know that we must be on time, sometimes we say we must wait for the rest of the members that are not here yet. To be honest this is embarassing, becuase we waist the precious time of the one´s that are on time.
But the great questions would be, how do we change from polychronic to monochronic? Is it worthy or should we have some of both? How can we judge when should be one or the other way?

I personally think that Jesus gave an example of being on time, His time, not ours, When his friend Lazarus was sick his sisters Mary and Martha:"... sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." 
Jesus stayed where he was for two more days,  he didn´t leave his mission. After he went to see Lazarus which has passed away already.
"...Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give itthee.  23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

And he did, our Savior is our guide, we must follow him,  so we must let the holly spirit to guide our path so we can be on time where ever we must be, in His time, in His way so we can enjoy it and make good use of our precious time.

02-05-2019 Week 5. Response to Cultural Paradigms

A couple of years ago, I was visiting my mom, who moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. She was making tamales for saling, usually when dad went back home from his job, he went to sell them with his customers. But day dad was not going to be able to sell them because he had some things to do immediately. I told my mom that I could help her, she said no, but I insisted. So we got the tamales and we drove in the neighborhood, I jump out of the car whenever I see people outside in their yards, specially when I saw hispanics, for my surprise, no one want to buy my tamales. I also felt embarassed when a woman told me they didn´t like mexican food and she asked me to go away or she was going to call the cops. I felt so embarassed. Why, what did I do wrong?

After thinking about it, and my dad´s advice, I realized  that contrary to what we as mexicans do in the United States the informal business is not to popular, it is also illegal, people are not use to receive sales man or woman door by door. I also realized that not all latins or hispanics like mexican food, yes I kinow, it is common, but I didn´t know how many hispanic cultures are in the United States. For me as mexican offering food door by door tamales, or sweet bread, water is very popular, we are used to hear people selling outside our home and we are happy to hear that the tamale man is near by. But for other cultures this is not normal, it actually is illegal, or represent the low class trying to make their living.

Why so much differences it is what is called Cultural Paradigms. Cultures set different rules or interpetations and even if they don´t sound natural or even wise those are their paradigms and we must respect them each other differences.

It would be such a wonderful world if we all have the same Paradigms, but because there are so many differences we must learn about other cultures paradigms to better understand their decisions and actions.

In a classroom a teacher that understands each student can better help them to understand the teachings and in TESOL the new culture and language.

Please don´t be afraid if a tamale man or woman  knocks your door maybe like me she or he doesn´t know about your culture. Don´t afraid of differences, if someone is thin, or fat, or yells, or talk quietly, if  he or she has good manners maybe what is good for you is bad for him,  at the end we all are human trying to succeed in this life.

TESOL 103

due Jan 17 at 10:59pm

 Response to "Is the Great American Teacher Dead?

Accoding to John J. Ivers article, "... it is very difficult to determine if great American teachers are dead... With classrooms of students bored and without deepening the information. He also stated; " If one wants to see things more clearly, one must go to the outsiders..."

There are also teachers that are truly guiders to knolewdge and wisdom, those that don´t just exposed the facts or information but help the student to deep in and discover by themselves. Giving a path to follow  and inviting their students as they inspire them with passion until they transform their life. There are teachers that are beyond the expectations, that truly look forward to bring the very best of each student.

In a study made by Arum and Roksa (2011) where they studied more thatn 2300 undergraduates they find out that  45% of the students studied showed no significant improvement in complex reasoning, critical thinking, and writing from the time they entered college to the end of their sophomore years. These data were obtained through use of the Collegiate Learning Assessment; a standardized test. Cote and Allahar (2011) lament a high degree of student disengagement, lack of rigor, and a general devaluing of the powerful messages to be learned from the liberal arts. Bauerlein (2008) implied that teachers are abrogating their responsibility to be real educators. 

As I see the find outs a misconception of teaching has flooded the classrooms with less interest and powerful impact on students. It is not who makes more activities or even who is more funny, or instructed but it is whom is prepared to spend their lives lifting their students spirits and  selfsteem to conduct them to real learning the one that come from hard work and trully commintment to become.   There is need of less information and more ahw moments were students can truly find a new world.

In TESOL classes teachers must be aware of the cultural self examination, students that think that since English is going to be their second language they will never have perfect skills in the language because it is spread that they can´t perfect a second language. A good environment is the foundation of the learning process.

To become great teachers, they  must take in consideration the wodespread assumptions,  Dikx said, " a truly transformative learning experience is one where “we are left with the feeling that life will not be as it was before, that this experience has created a sense that we cannot go back to the way we were before the experience”

I wonder how many days students go out of the classrooms having a feeling that overwhelmed them with the determination to be a scientist, a professor, a doctor or even a mathematician, because of a great lesson that a good teacher gave them.

A teacher that with passion, with prepared lessons, that makes inflection of the voices that give interesting and surprising facts that invites the students to deep in and gain amazing find outs. We all one want, and we all must be one, because we all can teach in a moment of our lives.

I don´t that Great American Teachers are Dead and I have one of these great teachers.

This is me.

I am a bilingual mexican woman. I love teaching and learning. My beginnings with English language were in my childhood when our parents took us to San Ysidro, CA, USA, to make the laundry and to by a hamburger at Mc Donald´s. When we crossed the border my dad spoke English pretty well so that´s when I decided that I was going to be bilingual just like him.
I am a bilingual secretary and I am on a TESOL certification program, at the same time I am working to get a Marriage and Family Studies Bachelor Degree at BYU-I Online. I am 45 married  for 21 years, mother of  3 adults and teenagers at home, this is me a woman that believes in learning an progressing.
We can all learn a new language, of course we will need to focus our attention, time and skills to reach our goal. Don´t hesitate to learn this beautiful language that can open doors for great opportunities. English is just for me...