I live, and will probably teach, in a country where the catch phrase is currently "America First!" Cross-cultural understanding is not a strong trait among my fellow countrymen, despite the fact that for many, their ancestors came from somewhere outside US borders. (An interesting website that examines ethnicity and ancestry, among other factors, is the Demographic Statistical Atlas, at https://statisticalatlas.com/United-States/Overview .) In certain populations, prejudice is obvious. Wikipedia has an interesting definition of the word. Prejudice: "Prejudice is an affective feeling towards a person based on that person's perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived, usually unfavorable evaluation of another person based on that person's political affiliation, sex, gender, beliefs, values, social class, age, disability, religion, sexuality, race/ethnicity, language, nationality, beauty, occupation, education, criminality, sport team affiliation, or other personal characteristics." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice) Reading through the list of things that might trigger prejudice, I can imagine those feelings in myself toward some of those qualities. (If you aren't a New York Yankees fan there must be something wrong with you!)
With that definition in mind, it is possible that irrational ideas about someone who is different from yourself might creep into the classroom. It seems that in places where there is a fairly homogeneous population (like here in the Intermountain West), prejudice is "invented" based on less important things than race or ethnicity or language. One example is the overblown (in my humble opinion) rivalry between fans of the University of Utah and Brigham Young University; and another, the animosity between members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the non-members who also live in Utah. I have even see evidence of prejudice between people of different political parties.
When we insert into this environment someone who is very different (from a different country with a different language, or from a different sub-culture), there is a heightened possibility for misunderstanding, miscommunication, and prejudice. Is it possible to make the classroom a place where all are accepted, treated with respect, and made to feel welcome? That would be my goal.
I think it starts with teaching and learning respect for others, no matter their differences (even those seemingly insignificant differences that were mentioned above). Next, strive to have the class work together on projects that target commonalities among them. What are their likes and dislikes? How are their favorite foods like each other's? Do we have similar family makeup? When we can find some common ground between us, we can recognize that perhaps we are not as different as we think.
This week I saw an ad produced by Danish TV about our sameness, titled, "All That We Share." (See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4qEI8QARbE.) In the video, people start out in different "boxes" with those that are just like them. An announcer asks questions of the whole group, and one by one, they come out of their boxes and join with others, who before the question seemed different.
We may have students that are different from others. This may present challenges. But creating a welcoming, understanding classroom culture can help all students to feel at home there. Doing this is a small step in banishing prejudice, one classroom at a time. One heart at a time. Until we can be united in the things that we share.
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