10/16/21 Week 5: "Cultural Paradigms"

  Cultural Paradigms

By Angélica Conde

Culture is the media for human beings. Every aspect of our lives is touched by the culture. The way we think, feel the way we behave, and even the way we usually solve problems. But something is clear that there are different perspectives that impact a culture throughout the world.



Cultural paradigms are among the most important determinants of behavior and motivation.  

To take a simple example:  when the weather is hot, the cultural response varies from one group to another.  Some cultures will see people consume iced beverages in the belief that the colder the drink, the more the body will cool down.  In other cultures, the response is hot beverages like tea, to elevate the body temperature and diminish the perception of external heat.
 
🤔Let's ponder: What kind of beverage would you drink in this situation and why?


Internet, television, and social networks make us believe in the prototype of the perfect body and life. And we try to adjust our life to it. 
The standards of beauty are set by what others say is correct or not. And... What about what we think of ourselves?

Delali Bright story:

Delali Bright shares her personal story of how growing up in West Africa, she was bullied and marginalized for being skinny. Her family worried about her, put her on diets, and found her embarrassing and shameful. Then, she moved to the U.S. in her 30s, where she was suddenly seen as beautiful! Through her story, Delali illuminates the importance of creating your own self-image.

I've had the experience of being part of one group or not qualifying for another for such and such a reason. In high school, I remember that it was normal for girls to play volleyball and boys soccer, but then I didn't know how to play volleyball, I only knew how to play soccer because I grew up playing soccer with my older brother. When I tried to play volleyball my wrists would bruise and hurt. I tried and then I was not part of the group of popular girls who played volleyball. 
However, I played soccer every Tuesday night in the chapel of my neighborhood with my brother and my friends and there they fought to have me in their team hahaha. It was only the perspective of others that determined if I was part of the group or not. 
And this has not only happened to me, as Delali Bright explains; we can be judged in one way or another by different audiences, but what really counts is what we believe about ourselves.

Max Coleman story told by Dr. John J. Ivers:

A young man by the name of Max Coleman. And Max Coleman lived in the state of North Carolina many, many years ago. And Max Coleman was not very smart. Max Coleman was a straight D student in high school. A straight D student. Max had a lot of friends who were doing a little better than he was. And they, one time, went to the guidance counselor, so they were like juniors in high school. And they went to the guidance counselor, and they signed up for the SAT test. Many students back East take the SAT. And they signed up for the SAT test, and they said, “Max, just come on. Come on. Sign up for the SAT test with us.” And Max said, “Aw, shucks. I don't know if I'm college material.” And they said, “Oh, Max, just come on. Take the test and see what happens.” So Max went and he signed up for the SAT test.

And that dreaded Saturday morning arrived. Well, it wasn't that bad of a morning for Max 'cause he figured he was going to bomb the test anyway. But he got up and he went and he took the SAT test. And the SAT, and he answered every single question, although he didn't know the answer to most of them or he just guessed, made his best guess on the questions. And then when it was over, he thought, “You know, I'm so glad this test is over. I am sure I bombed this, and I knew I wasn't college material.”

Well, see, a lot of these tests are administered by what is called the Educational Testing Service. And the Educational Testing Service has this big complex in Princeton, New Jersey. And so the tests were shipped up from North Carolina to Princeton, New Jersey. And when they arrived one afternoon, a few days after Max Coleman took the test, a thunderstorm was brewing in Princeton, New Jersey.  And the thunderstorm was getting closer and closer. And then they started feeding the tests into the machine. See, the Educational Testing Service does hundreds of thousands of tests every year. They have to go into a machine. And the machine grades them.
And all of a sudden, the main building of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey was struck by lightning. And there was a one-second power failure, and then the backup power kicked in. But everything went dark for one second. Everything turned off for one second, and it was that one second that Max Coleman's test went into the machine. And Max Coleman, that straight-D student from North Carolina, received a perfect score, on his SAT.
When the results got back to his high school in North Carolina, the guidance counselor was looking through them. 
And then she called the principal and said, “Sir, sir, someone from our high school, our little old high school, got a perfect score on the SAT. That hardly ever happens.” And the principal said, “Let me see that here.”
“Call the newspapers. Call the news media. I want them to know what fine young people we're educating here in this here school. And Max Coleman became an instant celebrity.  
Well, anyway, something changed in Max Coleman's educational performance after that. Max Coleman, all of a sudden, went from a straight-D student to a straight-A student. All of a sudden, now, later on, Max received the report of a revised test score. The Educational Testing Service occasionally rescores some of its perfect score tests, just to make sure. And they found out that Max had bombed the test royally. But it was too late because Max knew he could get straight A's and continued to get straight A's. 

Now, we all know kind of what this story means. It means that one's self-image is extremely important in one's academic performance.

Research has shown that possibly the most important factor in student achievement may be a positive self-concept. Some research has said that that's not the most important factor. Some research has said that a positive teacher/student relationship may be the most important factor". Dr. John J. Ivers
  

Now for those who are teachers, students, parents or not. How important is one's -self-image!

The image that we have of ourselves can sometimes be influenced by the environment that surrounds us, by the cultural paradigms, but what I want to achieve is that we can establish relationships of trust.
Encourage, for example, those students who need more help, to believe in themselves.
There is a phrase I heard a while ago, I don't remember where I heard it. "What you believe you can become". 

🤔What kind of teachers were those who positively impacted your life? 
🤔What kind of teacher would you like to be?



References:
Why do believe in cultural paradigms - Abensour & Partners
Dr. John J. Ivers;  The Affective Domain and Foreign Language Video Transcript BYU-Idaho Online Learning

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario