The students who giggled at my guest speaker!!

Hi new teachers,

Why is intercultural awareness important?

Many years ago, when I was associated with an international school in India, my African-American colleague visited me from USA. We had many intense conversations about media representation of beauty and how companies making beauty products and clothes make money by destroying people's self esteem and self worth by setting 'beauty standards'. Mental Health problems like body dysmorphia, social anxiety, low self esteem, psychological stress and eating disorders have been a result of exposure to media representation of beauty. She was very particular about not straightening her hair or bleaching her face to be more  'white' or threading facial hair. She was very comfortable sporting an afro. I thought it would be great for our students to listen and be aware of media standards of beauty and how they can be harmful. So I invited her to school as a guest speaker.

It was one lower middle years grade with Indian students that she was to address. When she walked in, students giggled. She asked the students why were they giggling. They replied that they found her hair funny. My colleague asked them what else they found funny. They said that her skin was dark. I wanted to disappear into the wall, but my colleague, without being angry or upset asked them if they had dark skin to which they replied "not as dark as yours". My colleague spent the next one hour engaging them in a discussion about different skin colours, how many Indians are also 'dark skinned', different hair types, why certain hair-types and styles are more acceptable than others and influence of media. I apologised to her after class but she told me not to worry and said that she was used to this. I made a mental note that what my colleague spent time on, has to be intentionally taught to students.

While she was staying with me, husband's friend visited. We introduced my colleague to him. His first question to her was "where are you from?". "From the US" she replied. He then asked her, "I mean, which country in Africa are you from"? She said again that she does not know and he asked her again in exasperation "How come you do not know which country in Africa you are from? How is it possible?". It was obvious that he had absolutely no idea of the slave trade and how slaves  were forced to move to USA and their descendants may not know where they are from. I wanted to disappear into the wall again but my colleague patiently told him that they came to the USA many generations ago and now she has no knowledge of which region of Africa she is from. Later, I profusely apologised to her, but she again said with a smile that she was used to this. I realised at that moment how important it was to teach students History. It is History that tells us who we are and why we are where we are. Or, people need to read so that they are more aware....

I can't really only blame the students or my husband's friend. I was also ignorant years earlier. When I used to work with the same colleague in an international school years ago in Africa (thats how we knew each other and she later came to India to visit me), I used to travel to school in a vehicle and used to see African women sitting outside their homes, braiding each other's hair. The country was poor and people lived in small huts without electricity or running water. I was intrigued that rather than worry about food or water, these women worried about their hair! I told this to my colleague. She asked me, "Radha, what do you know about African hair?" The next ten minutes was a revelation about how African hair gets easily tangled, and how tangles can be really difficult to remove. "So yes, these women absolutely need to braid their hair. Your hair is soft Radha and you may not even need to run a comb through it. But it is not like that for us" she said.  I experienced a range of emotions - embarrassment, shame, guilt and then regret and remorse. In those few moments, I became a lot wiser and more inter-culturally aware. I thanked my colleague and made a mental note that I would never judge people again or make any kind of assumptions.

That is why intercultural awareness is so central to IB. It is very important for us to know about other races, communities, cultures. That will make us more sensitive, wiser and knowledgeable about our similarities and differences!!


Cheers!!

#relationships,#behaviour,#school,#learning,#leaders,#teacher-student relationships, #myp, #new teachers, #teaching,#assessments,#students,#learning support, #ib, #intercultural awareness

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