History class across the United States - Admission/Application Essay Example

Teacher My History In the same manner that interact different in also treat cheating differently in aclass. Depending on where they come from and their cultural orientation, some students tend to be very sociable and loose about cheating while others find it unacceptable. Gender also plays a role in one’s view about cheating and acceptable interaction. My History class This paper describes my personal observation of the behavior of students in my History class (put the location here). This paper will further illustrate how student’s behavior from different culture about cheating and interaction in class with recommendation on what strategy to adopt to make students more engaged with History class. My History class is typical of any History class across United States and even around the world. It is composed of a teacher and a students situated in an enclosed room where students are seated while the teacher is in front. The students are composed mostly of Americans but there are also international students. Some of these international students were made respondents for interview. There was Shwan a student coming from Japan and also Jose who came from Mexico. Another student from Kenya was a source for interview name Lia and another Alvart coming from Armenia. There is also an Iranian girl named Janelle. Shwan is the Japanese student who is 22 years old wearing microscopic glasses. He normally eats Japanese homemade food during the break. He is also very silent and does not interact in class. He is studying most of the time. In contrast, Jose from Mexico is loud while Alvart is talkative. This paper took one whole week to complete. The first four days were spent observing the class in the absence of the teacher and in the presence of the teacher. Instances of the absences of the teacher are either the teacher is still on its way, the teacher is absent or the preceding teacher left the class early leaving the class waiting for the next teacher. Notes were taken during the duration of the four day week when there are significant and observable change of behavior among students. Socialization and gender roles It is very observable that the class tends to be more unruly in between classes of History class compared to other class. There are also instances that students talk in the middle of a class that annoys the teacher. In between gender, it was observed that girls tends to be more sociable and more talkative than boys but are generally disciplined during class except for Alvart. Alvart the student from Armenia likes to talk with her classmates in the middle of the class that makes the teacher angry. In an interview, Alvart explained that it is due to her cultural upbringing to be expressive even if she in the middle of the class. She said that from where she came from, it is just fine to talk to others in the middle of a class as long it is not loud enough to be heard by everyone. Another American girl student however disagreed with Alvart’s point of view because it is considered rude to talk in a middle of a lecture and that Alvart should adjust because she is in America. The Iranian girl Janelle however is silent because according to her, teachers should be respected in the classroom and they should not talk unless necessary in class. It was observable that the majority of the class socialize with their own gender and clique group. The males generally socialize with their own clique talking about common interest such as sports, movie, cars and women. The women on the other hand talks about fashion, celebrities, gossips and men. There are instances when both gender socialize with each other and these instances are interesting to note because it reflects human being’s primordial behavior which is the tendency to be attracted with the opposite gender which really is a dictate of nature to procreate for the species to propagate (Miller and Brehm 124). For example, there are guys who would like to be funny to girls by throwing jokes in the hope of getting their attention and ultimately, to be able to date them. Cultural factor in cheating The concept about cheating is really interesting between cultures. They are perceived differently among cultures with some being okay with it while there are others who are not fined with it. Among the extreme case are the case of my male American classmates who generally would think cheating is only bad when one is caught. Among the male Japanese students, cheating is totally unthinkable. The perspective about cheating could be traced back to the cultural conditioning of students. Americans tend to be loose about cheating because they came from a very liberal and competitive culture where getting ahead is valued more than honor or shame. In between is the Iranian girl Janelle who is too timid to even consider cheating. On the other hand, the Japanese tend to be very rigid about cheating because it run counters to their honor and sense of shame inherent among Asian cultures. There were three students interviewed. One of which is an American student named John who explained that cheating in class is really no big deal. According to him, it is better to cheat than to repeat a subject because of failure. It is expensive too because one has to pay tuition money for it in addition to other incidental expenses. Shwan on the other hand finds the idea of cheating repulsive that he cannot even conceive or understand why students cheat. He explained that in their culture, the idea that one is caught or have the reputation of a cheater is very shameful which is unacceptable in his culture. Janelle the Iranian girl understand this concept of shame because it is also frowned upon in their culture where honor is valued the highest. This behavior reflects in general the behavior of international students in the absence of a teacher. This could be explained by Hofstede cultural dimension. Hofstede’s power distance refers to how society or groups handle power inequalities and the extent which the less powerful members of a group and institutions accepts the unequal distribution of power within the group or institutions (Hofstede). Applying Hofstede power distance in this case, it posits that students coming from countries with high power distance such as Japan and Iran tends to be respectful with authorities even if they are not around which in this case is the teacher. They also tend to be more ethical and because along with power distance is also the value of shame and honor which is very prominent among eastern cultures. In another context of cultural differences, the place where people came from can also influence the way they behave and interact (Ikeda and Tidwell). For example, there is this girl Lia who is 25 years old girl who came from Kenya. She talks fast by American standard and accompany his language with nonverbal hand gestures to make her point and so is Alvart from Armenia who finds it okay to talk to classmates in the middle of a class. Conclusion From my observation, most students perceive cheating differently. They also have different standards on what is an acceptable socialization. Among Americans, cheating is perceived to be okay as long as one is not caught. Among Japanese and Iranian, it is not even conceivable for them to cheat and is considered a very shameful act. Ideally, cheating should not be acceptable by any standards. To make this less acceptable for American students, cheating should cease to be perceived as “no big deal”. The perception should be changed about it by making the act “high risk” by increasing the penalty against cheating. This is consistent with the hot stove effect that “individuals and social systems are often risk averse” (Denrell and March 523) and often avoid behaviors that have heavy penalties such as cheating. Works Cited Denrell, Jerker, and James March. "Adaptation as Information Restriction: The Hot Stove Effect." Organization Science 12.5 (2001): 523-38. Print. Hofstede, Geert (nd). The Hofstede Centre. Retrieved at http://geert-hofstede.com/the-hofstede-centre.html Ikeda, J. and Tidweell, Charles. Cultural Differences in Non­verbal Communication. Retrieved at http://healthvermont.gov/family/toolkit/tools%5CF-6%20Cultural%20Differences%20in%20Nonverbal%20Communic.pdf Miller, R., Perlman, D., and Brehm, S.S. Intimate Relationships, 4th Edition, McGrawHill Companies Interview with student Alvart from Armenia Interview with student Shwan from Japan Interview with student Lia from Kenya Read More