10/28/2021; Week 7: Response to Culture and Psychology

 

Culture and Psychology

BY Aranza Garza 

Our Culture is part of who we are, how we act, and it can also influence our minds and how we think of ourselves and the world that surrounds us. 

There are moments when we start believing the stereotypes that the world puts in our culture, such as Asian people have to be smart, Latin people are good dancers, or like spicy food. When I was young, I even believed all of these stereotypes and thought that if I wasn't what the world expected of me as a Mexican woman, then I was not really a Mexican. This mentality is no longer in my head because I learn that even though my culture and race are part of who I'm they do not define me. 

Knowing this helped me grow and see the world differently. In the video Culture and Psychology Video, professor Ivers says something interesting, he says that what we believe right now in science and in our society might not be right 20 years from now. In Mexico, it was not until 1953 that women were allowed to vote, before that, the thought of even allowing it was preposterous and wrong, but now in 2021, we think it was absurd that they denied us of that right. With these I want to show that society is growing, so maybe in fifty or twenty years all of the stereotypes that define each one of our cultures may change, or hopefully, they will be erased, so why should we let them define what we are, and affect the opportunities we can get. 

Students can be affected by this cultural psychology in their academic paths. In the previous video, Ivers mentions a few studies that because students were reminded of their race, they did better or worse in different challenges.

TESOL and ESL teachers have the challenge of having many students of many cultures in one classroom, teachers have to learn to not believe in these stereotypes, and teach their students that they are unique individuals with different strengths and weaknesses and that they don't have to be what the world says to be part of their cultures.  

Cultural stereotypes 

Questions to reflect:

• What are some stereotypes that people think of your culture?
• What would say to one of your students if they started letting the stereotypes of their cultures affect their academic paths?

REFERENCES:

Culture and Psychology, BYU Idaho, uploaded by Tim Tanner (March 12th, 2015) LINK