| Ideas for Alternatives in the U.S. Classroom |
When Americans see that their TA is an ITA, sometimes they have incorrect ideas about people from your culture. You should be aware of this and know how to positively deal with it.
What should you do to to be more accepting of people from other cultures?
To avoid misunderstandings, share some information about your cultural background on the first day of class and as the semester progresses.
Some ideas for this sharing could be:
Bring in photos from your home country that deal with your profession, major, or interests.
Show students what classrooms are like in your country. Find photos on the internet of classrooms from your country and describe them with your students.
Show examples of what you are used to and then stress that you will attempt to understand as much of the American culture as possible as well as educate American students of your culture.
By emphasizing and addressing the fact that you are from a different country and culture, and that you have interesting international perspectives to share as well as educate them on the subject matter, you will have changed what some ethnocentric students see as a negative impression into a positive one.
Stress that you are open to comments and that you will learn from one another. If students see that you are receptive to their needs, the ethnocentric attitudes will probably disappear.
You must understand your students in the context of their culture, just as they should make efforts to understand your own culture.
If you are having difficulty understanding a certain cultural issue, speak to fellow colleagues, other Americans, or go to any of the mentioned TASC contacts in the column on the left to better understand American cultural issues.