2/8/2021; Week 6: Response to “Differences in Emotional Expressivity”

Several years ago, my husband and I traveled to Europe. While there, we visited a friend my husband had met through a web forum for a common hobby they share. When we first met Leon and his wife, Susan, in The Netherlands, we were greeted with kisses on the cheek. We were well aware that this was the normal greeting but it was still a bit uncomfortable/awkward. Fast forward about five years. I started helping out in an ESL class with students predominantly from Venezuela and Mexico. At the beginning and end of every class everyone kissed everyone else on the cheeks at least once. I grew to love the tradition. It felt like a warm welcome. That class had become like a little family. One day we had a student from Pakistan join us. I could tell he was very uncomfortable. I was not the teacher but still tried to reach out and welcome him to the class and help him know what was going on throughout the class. He was a very nice man and I was happy to see he came back. However, after the second visit he didn’t return. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a student who has come from a country/culture where emotions are suppressed/reserved and have classmates who want to greet you with cheek kisses. I also feel for those who are used to warm greetings who then greet a classmate who is reserved. If you take this and apply it to other emotional expressions, I can imagine it can become a very real challenge to help students feel comfortable in class. I see this as being something that would need to be addressed early on, to help students understand the differences and be respectful of each other. I feel that as a teacher it would be my responsibility to be aware of the cultural differences in expressing emotion and help students to adjust and respect one another.