Personal Space Differences
I think the term personal space is debatable, there are a lot of factors like your culture, the place you live, the situations that of your life that affect the way we see this term.
In the video Personal Space Differences Video, we see many differences about this term in different countries, an example we see is in Germany, where personal space is sacred, and on the other hand, we have places like Japan or Mexico, where personal space, is more minimized.
I grew up, and I'm still living in Mexico, more specifically Mexico City, and like I said before the view of this term depends on how are your living circumstances. One example we see in the video is about the subway or public transportations, here in Mexico if you are wealthy economically you can afford a taxi or an uber to travel by yourself, but if you cannot afford it or if it is not convenient, you can take the subway or different buses, where you probably won't have any type of personal space, but that is normal and expected.
Watching the video previously mentioned, I definitely reflected on how personal space could be seen in other cultures and how these may cause some misunderstandings, and just like the video said, this is because of the paradigms we group up within our lives.
One example could be in the ways we interact with people, I personally don't like physical contact with strangers, but I was raised with the idea that I had to give it and expect it from people, in other countries, this may be the opposite, and if we see this differences in the wrong way they can cause controversy.
Example of a crowded subway in Mexico City
Inside TESOL and ESL classes, diversity is prominent, and teachers must teach their students these differences and how to respect them and understand them to avoid dilemmas. But not everything is negative, these differences also can bring new ideas and points of view to the students, and they can open their minds to new things.
Personal space is different for everyone, and like in my case, it can be completely different from the culture I have, all of us need to be aware of these differences to avoid misunderstandings, and even though if we don't agree, to appreciate each other's cultures.
Questions to Reflect:
- How is important is personal space in your country?
- How important is personal space to you?
- What are some ways to teach students the importance of respecting our differences in this particular topic?
Great questions at the end of the blog! They really get us thinking about the information that you have shared! For the last question I got reminded of how I solved an issue with one student who kept invading everyone's personal space when there was no need to. He would also come up to you and tap on you the whole time, something that was frustrating and annoying for me and the other students. The one day I had enough and started tapping him back the whole time, just followed him around the class always tapping on hos arm. Eventually he got really upset and said I was annoying him. Then I just said now you know how we all feel when you do it, so please do your best to cut down on it. Lesson was learnt and personal space invasions were sharply reduced.
ReplyDeleteHi Aranza, like you said, personal space changes with our circumstances, when I was growing up, I always had to share not just a room, but also a bed with my siblings. So you don`t have much of a personal space. I think that made me like even more to have my own space when I got to my adult years.
ReplyDeleteGood job Aranza! I know, though in Mexico it is something normal, I don't like not to have my personal space either!
ReplyDeleteWe should be respectful with each other :)
Nice post Aranza! I love how you explained the personal space and also I love how you represented it with pictures. To answer the second question, I love to have my personal space because this is when I can ponder or think about something.
ReplyDeleteHello, Aranza I loved your article. First of all, I agree with you, the photo you shared about public transport is very familiar to me. Here in Peru, we have the same problem, even when the culture tells us a different idea of personal space. Public transport does not respect everyone's personal space. Talking personally is something I have to deal with because I don't like my bubble being invaded.
ReplyDelete-Angelica Conde
I appreciate the fact that you said Personal space is different for everyone.
ReplyDelete