6/1/2021 Cross Cultural Education

 

I was recently speaking with my husband on the subject of cross-cultural students. I compared the US undergrads he taught for 12 years and the Bolivian undergrads he is currently teaching.  I told him, “Don’t they act similarly?”  He said, “Yes, in the area of output and work, but there is one huge difference!” I asked him, “What is it?” He said, “Their attitudes and respect.” He was referring to the US students who are not afraid to tear up a teacher in an evaluation. The same young adults who eat in class, walk out before the teacher has finished, etc. This is the issue among other countries at times. Once in the pandemic virtual setting a student from Tarija, Bolivia had their camera on themselves during class, with no shirt on, laying in bed, and on their phone simultaneously during the same class. 
 I would argue that if a culture says that such and such is disrespectful, then it is. We should be respectful to others' culture and opinions. The US system of universities has become a culture more focused on pleasing the customers (the students) rather than educating! We need to be careful. Listen and humble ourselves to learn about the culture of others so we can have a more symbiotic empathetic world.