Important: The Iceberg Concept of Culture

     When we think of culture, many things are likely to come to mind. These thoughts will not be the same for everyone and will vary depending on a persons experiences and background knowledge. Culture plays a huge role in making new students feel comfortable and school itself is its own culture that newcomer students will have to learn to navigate. A common theme that I've come across throughout my readings and community engagement experiences is that culture is so important to making students feel comfortable within the classroom. Sharing their culture can give the students  a feeling that they are understood and that they belong. The "Iceberg Concept of Culture" came to me through a cultural bridging presentation from the Saskatoon Open Door Society and I feel that it is an important concept that can help teachers better understand their newcomer students and families.

     This visual shows that there are so many aspects to culture and most of which, we cannot see so therefore they may not be something that we immediately think of. I found that it is important to be willing to learn about the culture of our students beyond the visible, into the invisible culture. Often we see the surface level aspects but these aspects don't allow us to truly understand our students background and make them feel comfortable. The visible parts of culture like food and dancing are a great starting point for students to share in the classroom, don't get me wrong. Though, through talking to many people who have been through an EAL program, there is one thing that you have to remember when using food and dance and other parts of visible culture - we have to make sure that's not all they are sharing (make sure we aren't making token of their culture). They have to feel free to delve into the deeper parts of their culture and be able to share the parts that may be out of others awareness. Sharing many aspects of their culture can allow EAL students (and other students for that matter) to develop their sense of identity. Feeling that they are in an open-minded classroom will help newcomer students and all of your students feel like they can share. Creating this culture of open-mindedness right from the start with our classroom can allow us as teachers to better understand our students background and views but also lets our students better understand each other (as well they can gain an appreciation for the diversity of the world around them).

      This image does not encompass everything that culture is but it gives a good visual for the things that we may not think of, specifically, I want to draw attention to body language, eye behaviour (eye contact), and facial expressions as these are prominent cultural norms that we need to be aware of if we want to be culturally responsive to new immigrant and refugee families. I point out these three points because they have come up frequently in many of my community engagement experiences and in class conversations. Through talking to the people and places within the community that offer services for newcomer families, I have found that these three things tend to be very different from culture to culture. I think that it's important that we note these cultural differences (eye contact and personal space for example) exist and it is not necessarily about changing the way we interact completely but being aware of how we are coming across. It may be the case that we have to explain certain cultural norms like shaking hands or giving a thumbs up and what they mean within the Canadian context. Obviously there are some things you cannot research or look up, but if there is a family coming to your class or school and you are unfamiliar with where they're from and their culture, talking to available community organizations can offer helpful insight. 

     One take away that I can give you from my experiences is - if you don't know, ask! For example, when preparing for a parent teacher conference it would be appropriate to know cultural practices around eye contact and if it is appropriate to shake the parents hands. Your students can offer you information on practices so you are well informed when meeting their parents or guardians. Through talking to community organizations, students, or other families in the community you can gain valuable insight into cultural norms and how you should approach meeting these newcomer families.