Cultural Influences in Student Motivation
Some cultures place much less value on education. This can influence their own attitudes as well as their significant others/social support system.
Sonya,
This is why it is so important to make each student feel comfortable and supported in the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree that we must be senitive to the different cultures in our class rooms we are in America the great melting pot!!
In many cases, the role of professional educators is to be agents of cultural change. One of the 3 M's is to be a Motivator. If there are cultural influences that are at odds with the mission of your educational institution, the professional educator must motivate students to transcend those cultural influences.
Hi Larry,
You make a very good point that instructors need to really work hard on in their classes. Creating a classroom culture that has everyone comfortable and willing to contribute to the class. Yes, our students come from many different backgrounds and cultures so they may not see how they fit into the new class culture at first but with instructor effort they can get settled in and contributing before very long.
Gary
While it's important to understand how a student's culture influences his/her learning it's also important to realize that the classroom itself becomes a subculture that has it's own influence.
For example it helps to understand that one student's cultural background may prevent her from speaking out due to a deference to authority while another student's culture may cause him to speak out to maintain respect. By the instructor establishing a new common culture in the class room both students can learn new positive boundaries for communication. That classroom culture is a reflection of not only the instructor's personal culture but also his or her skill set.
I think that cultural placement of importance on education is irrelevant. It is not that other cultures place less value on education, it also has to do with socioeconomic factors. For example, in the West we are pretty privileged when it comes to attaining an education and reaping the benefits of that particular education we receive. In other parts of the world, (i.e countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan) individuals do not have the resources we have or the opportunities presented to us. Therefore, many families have to think about the children they have and whether food on the table is less important than receiving an education. Ultimately, the importance on education is not placed due to "cultural thought" but rather on socioeconomic status. It is stereotypical to say that us in the West "value" education because of our culture and the East "devalues" education because of its culture.
I agree with your statement; however, it is not a matter of only culture. We must examine the student's environment as a whole (friends, family, socioeconomic status). When the maslow's hierarchy of needs are met at the lower levels(psychological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem) then one can reach self-actualization. “What a man can be, he must be."
It is not that some cultures place much less value on education, but some students have not found the righ role model to "look up to" -that has reached or acheived academic success. It is our job as instructors to research and look for successful individual from every culture and use them as examples of overcoming adversity in our class lectures and when we are talking with students. We should also encourage our students to seek role models that they can relate with.
