The snow is melted and we are back at it in school, with the opening of finals starting yesterday. Today was actually beautiful, a huge contrast since just one week ago when it was blizzarding. I ran along the Bosporus in shorts and a t-shirt. The Turks, although bundled up (they firmly believe getting chilled will make you sick), were all out fishing, walking the streets. The sun off-set the chill from the wind shooting down the Bosporus from the Black Sea.
Finals time is a slower time for us as teachers, which has allowed me to take a little time to catch up with emails and thoughts which have been flying around my head, unanswered and the most part unacknowledged due to being so busy.
My 1.5 year education from Turkey has been very enlightening. I have learned so much. I would say the majority of it I expected. I have learned how to greet people and order food in Turkish. I have learned how to grade papers, introduce lessons, and work with Turkish students. This is what I expected. Yet, there is another part of my education here, one I didn't foresee during my move over here. The one I want to talk about here is culture.
I just came from education school. I would think I would be an expert on multiculturism. Not to be the case. I am getting the real education here. I always thought I was very open to people from other cultures. I thought I was understanding to those who had moved to the States and were going through. In fact, I remember drifting off into my own dream world while I was in my "multicultural" classes thinking I already had it figured out. I was so wrong. Honestly, though, I really don't think I would have learned anything there either. This is the real education.
I work with an educated group of professionals. This is one of the most prestigious schools in Turkey. People all over the country know of this school. Kids dream of getting into here. About half of the teaching staff here is Turkish, the other half native English speakers. Most of the students' subjects are taught in English. All teachers who instruct those classes speak fluent English. Then, there are the subjects that are taught in Turkish, ordered by the Turkish Ministry (MEB). These teachers don't necessarily speak any English. This creates quite the dynamic. All faculty meetings need to be translated. The lunch room is divided, by those who speak English or Turkish, with those who speak both able to transition between the two. My department is filled with fluent English speakers, since all math is taught in English. About half my math colleagues are Turkish.
About two months ago, we had a professional development day. Instructors came in from Bombay, India International School to lead some workshops. We ended the day together with the panel of instructors. The instructors had a live chat site open for us to talk throughout the meeting. The chat got a little out of hand, with teachers acting past professionals and getting goofy. At some point, a comment went to far. No one knew who it was and people got outraged. Fingers were pointed and the guilty party was sought out. Unfortunately, people divided into their cultural groups. Some Turks accused Americans of having no sense of respect. Some Americans accused Turks of having no idea of professionalism. In this case, as is my point, the guilty party is not important. What I am trying to get at, is the surprise at how quickly a group of highly educated professionals can so easily become prejudice, name-calling children? I thought I was past that. I thought we all were past that. But it's so easy to do. In fact, I find I daily battle this. I can be quick to shove off my little work frustrations with "Turks are so disorganized" or "Turks don't have leadership skills", etc. Anybody working in schools, or probably anywhere, knows how absurd these claims are. You know badly organized coworkers or poor leaders who are not Turks. And most likely, you are not pointing that these apparent poor skills are due to their cultural background. But here, it is so easy to turn that way. And I am not happy with it. I find that I can easily attribute traits that I would usually, as I should, to belong to that individual, but here I attribute to them being Turkish. They're late...so Turkish. Hell, I'm late more than I'm on time! It's not fair to do this.
Back to this professional development, we all were quick to point fingers at an individual and put down their cultural upbringing which brought them to this point. That is ridiculous. From my American acquaintances, I know we all have different qualities, strengths, and weaknesses. We all have our own lines we won't cross and some we will. Where these lines are, even among Americans, are all over. Despite knowing this, we all were quick to jump on each other and start speaking things that were not, what my education program, would have called multicultural.
We naturally categorize our world. It helps us make sense of it. These catogories, though, create this idea of us and them. Once this happens, it's so easy to say, so-and-so has no fill in the blanks, or so-and-so always fill in the blanks. When this happens, it is really hard to see that their way of doing things is just different, not wrong.
We are nowhere close to perfect here. Back home we weren't either. It doesn't take much traveling (or surfing the internet) to realize all locations have their problems. Leave this place, and you are just going to find a new set of problems (or the same old ones with a new set of people). There is no escaping them. You just have to do the best with what you have to solve and deal with them. I have developed a new sense of American pride since moving abroad. I have already stated that the American people are a vast cast of characters, but I find that for the most part, they are a group of passionate individuals who stand up for what they believe is right. I see it in my friends who are seeking careers in education out of their desire to make a difference for the future. I see other friends starting amazing non-profits and passionately campaign for causes they find important. My parents have shown me by example the importance of donating time and money to places and people that are more in need. These are just a few examples of what I see to be a general trend of Americans doing what they can to try to solve the problems they see around them. I am not sure how to solve this problem with prejudice at this school. At the moment, I'm trying to raise my awareness of it and withhold from joining in on it. I am not there yet and honestly, I am not sure I ever fully will be there. I never did think being multicultural would be so hard.
Finals time is a slower time for us as teachers, which has allowed me to take a little time to catch up with emails and thoughts which have been flying around my head, unanswered and the most part unacknowledged due to being so busy.
My 1.5 year education from Turkey has been very enlightening. I have learned so much. I would say the majority of it I expected. I have learned how to greet people and order food in Turkish. I have learned how to grade papers, introduce lessons, and work with Turkish students. This is what I expected. Yet, there is another part of my education here, one I didn't foresee during my move over here. The one I want to talk about here is culture.
I just came from education school. I would think I would be an expert on multiculturism. Not to be the case. I am getting the real education here. I always thought I was very open to people from other cultures. I thought I was understanding to those who had moved to the States and were going through. In fact, I remember drifting off into my own dream world while I was in my "multicultural" classes thinking I already had it figured out. I was so wrong. Honestly, though, I really don't think I would have learned anything there either. This is the real education.
I work with an educated group of professionals. This is one of the most prestigious schools in Turkey. People all over the country know of this school. Kids dream of getting into here. About half of the teaching staff here is Turkish, the other half native English speakers. Most of the students' subjects are taught in English. All teachers who instruct those classes speak fluent English. Then, there are the subjects that are taught in Turkish, ordered by the Turkish Ministry (MEB). These teachers don't necessarily speak any English. This creates quite the dynamic. All faculty meetings need to be translated. The lunch room is divided, by those who speak English or Turkish, with those who speak both able to transition between the two. My department is filled with fluent English speakers, since all math is taught in English. About half my math colleagues are Turkish.
About two months ago, we had a professional development day. Instructors came in from Bombay, India International School to lead some workshops. We ended the day together with the panel of instructors. The instructors had a live chat site open for us to talk throughout the meeting. The chat got a little out of hand, with teachers acting past professionals and getting goofy. At some point, a comment went to far. No one knew who it was and people got outraged. Fingers were pointed and the guilty party was sought out. Unfortunately, people divided into their cultural groups. Some Turks accused Americans of having no sense of respect. Some Americans accused Turks of having no idea of professionalism. In this case, as is my point, the guilty party is not important. What I am trying to get at, is the surprise at how quickly a group of highly educated professionals can so easily become prejudice, name-calling children? I thought I was past that. I thought we all were past that. But it's so easy to do. In fact, I find I daily battle this. I can be quick to shove off my little work frustrations with "Turks are so disorganized" or "Turks don't have leadership skills", etc. Anybody working in schools, or probably anywhere, knows how absurd these claims are. You know badly organized coworkers or poor leaders who are not Turks. And most likely, you are not pointing that these apparent poor skills are due to their cultural background. But here, it is so easy to turn that way. And I am not happy with it. I find that I can easily attribute traits that I would usually, as I should, to belong to that individual, but here I attribute to them being Turkish. They're late...so Turkish. Hell, I'm late more than I'm on time! It's not fair to do this.
Back to this professional development, we all were quick to point fingers at an individual and put down their cultural upbringing which brought them to this point. That is ridiculous. From my American acquaintances, I know we all have different qualities, strengths, and weaknesses. We all have our own lines we won't cross and some we will. Where these lines are, even among Americans, are all over. Despite knowing this, we all were quick to jump on each other and start speaking things that were not, what my education program, would have called multicultural.
We naturally categorize our world. It helps us make sense of it. These catogories, though, create this idea of us and them. Once this happens, it's so easy to say, so-and-so has no fill in the blanks, or so-and-so always fill in the blanks. When this happens, it is really hard to see that their way of doing things is just different, not wrong.
We are nowhere close to perfect here. Back home we weren't either. It doesn't take much traveling (or surfing the internet) to realize all locations have their problems. Leave this place, and you are just going to find a new set of problems (or the same old ones with a new set of people). There is no escaping them. You just have to do the best with what you have to solve and deal with them. I have developed a new sense of American pride since moving abroad. I have already stated that the American people are a vast cast of characters, but I find that for the most part, they are a group of passionate individuals who stand up for what they believe is right. I see it in my friends who are seeking careers in education out of their desire to make a difference for the future. I see other friends starting amazing non-profits and passionately campaign for causes they find important. My parents have shown me by example the importance of donating time and money to places and people that are more in need. These are just a few examples of what I see to be a general trend of Americans doing what they can to try to solve the problems they see around them. I am not sure how to solve this problem with prejudice at this school. At the moment, I'm trying to raise my awareness of it and withhold from joining in on it. I am not there yet and honestly, I am not sure I ever fully will be there. I never did think being multicultural would be so hard.
