Speaking with People from other Cultures

     I have noticed that when I am with people of different groups and cultures, I sometimes take on the accent or speech patterns of those people. Sometimes this happens in the classroom. I have seen another teacher catching herself when using low speech with the students and switching to higher language. I believe I should do the same if I find myself speaking similar to the low language of another teacher because sometimes I am in a class or even home to teach the type of English that I usually speak.

                I also find it harder to discuss conflict with a person from another culture, so I am less likely to bring up the conflict. Parents and caregiver seem to each have their own unique parenting culture, so this is one of the hardest types of conflict to bring up. Unfortunately, since early childhood is the field I have chosen, I need to develop strategies to discuss difference of opinion with caregivers and parents. Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond discussed some strategies for communicating with people of different cultures. These could be applied to discussing conflict. They mentioned that a professional should develop knowledge of the other culture.

                The three strategies I am suggesting involve developing knowledge of a parent or caregiver’s culture.

1.            The first strategy involves exploring the difference of opinion about caregiving in depth. Rather than just knowing that a parent uses a different bedtime routine for his or her infant, for example. The alternate caregiver should ask the parent why the parent considers this way of doing things important. The parent could then explain more about the parent’s own culture and the reasoning behind a particular way of doing things. If we are to do things in a way we are less comfortable with, it really helps if we understand why we are doing things that way.

2.            The second strategy is to generally learn more about another caregiver’s culture. A person could search the internet or talk to colleagues who also are from a particular culture. This knowledge may also help a professional understand another caregiver’s way of doing things, but it is important to keep in mind that each caregiver has his or her own culture and each caregiver has his or her own reasons for doing things a different way.

3.            Spending more time with people of a different culture gives a person a better sense for why things are done than research alone can do. It is important to actively try to spend more time with people of that culture.

Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond also mentioned that speaking even a few words in the other person’s language can help make discussion with that person more comfortable. As a Head Start teacher in a Spanish/English classroom, I found that despite my inability to speak Spanish well, my attempts were appreciated by parents at parent conferences. Usually parents could speak better English than I could speak Spanish. But by my attempting to speak Spanish, they could see that they were superior to me in their ability to speak another language. Once this was established along with the fact that I didn’t feel superior because I could speak English, we were able to muddle through by the parent speaking more English, my being able to understand more Spanish than I could speak, and my speaking mostly English but a little Spanish. I also found that the more I listened to and comprehended Spanish, the more I was able to eventually speak phrases my ears had become familiar with. Frequently, both parents would come, and one parent spoke English better than the other. Often I could understand the mother’s concern about something the child was doing at home, for example, but if I didn't, the father would interpret.