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Field Experience Interview 1

 The purpose of the field interview

Culture is the accumulation of human activities. Every race has its own cultural

features and activities. With the wave of globalization, the impacts on different cultures are

inevitable. No matter it is the United States or even other countries in the world, they have

begun to aware of the importance to multicultural education. Through this interview, I would

like to know the difference between the interviewee Kimberly, who is from Taiwan, whether

she share identical culture as mine or not. Although we are all Taiwanese, we grew up in a

different environment and family, somethings must be different between each other.

 Summary

Q1. Though Taiwan does not have many ethnicities as the United States, it has been

colonized by many nations throughout history, such as the Dutch, and Spanish for four

hundred years ago, the Qing Dynasty, Japan. What colonial culture do you think you

are deeply affected?

Kimberly believed that she was influenced by Japanese culture the most among these

colonial culture, because Japan had contributed to Taiwan’s infrastructure development a lot.

The era of Taiwan colonized by Japan was the beginning of leading Taiwan to the society

ruled by law, passing on the positive concepts of punctuality and medical care to the public.

In addition, one of the Japanization's educational measures is to educate Japanese and

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Taiwanese separately, and even advocated the "name changing program", which replaced

Taiwanese's names with Japanese names, in order to assimilate Taiwanese. She said that her

grandmother not only changed her surname to Japanese surname, but also spoke Japanese and

Chinese. However, she doesn’t hate Japan at all. Due to political issues in China and Taiwan,

the relationship between Taiwan and Japan has become more friendly, and closer.

Q2. Taiwan belongs to the East Asian cultural circle, what is your identity as a

Taiwanese?

She takes herself as a Taiwanese, instead of Chinese. Although she was born and

raised in Taiwan, she learned English at the age of six, influenced by the Western culture a

lot, particularly the American literature, which made her become more open and democratic.

Q3. As you mentioned that you used to be a high school English teacher in Taiwan. How

did you make students understand American culture?

Some Taiwanese students worshiped all things foreign, they believed that Western

culture is more advanced than their own culture. However, Kimberly always tell students they

must identify with their own culture, before they can learn from other cultures. In her class,

culture will be introduced through reading, films, and students will be given group

discussions, so they can understand various issues, for instance gun violence, race issues in

America.
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Q4. Are there any foreign students, new immigrants, or aboriginals in your class? What

changes will happen to the way you were teaching these students with different

backgrounds?

Kimberly has three years teaching experience in two different kind of high schools.

One of the schools is located in the center Taipei City, there is no new immigrants and

aboriginal students, and the students’ family financial level here are higher than the average.

Another school she has taught was non-urban school, there are more new immigrants and

aboriginals. Therefore, it has racial and urban-rural differences in education. Besides, she

mentioned that there will be no different changes in teaching just because they are new

immigrants or aboriginals. Every students were treated equally, for not to make them feel that

they are different and discriminated in class.

 Reflection & connection

Countries often formulate overall social systems in a single ethnic way of thinking,

dominate mainstream culture, resulted in forming cultural hegemony, and ignore or even

suppress individual characteristics, languages, customs between other ethnic groups.

Therefore, multicultural education becomes one of the most important issues today. Making

the connection with the reading and this interview, I noticed that culture is learned, in other

words, it is not handed down through our genes. Culture is learned through interactions with
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families and communities (Nieto, S, 1999). Kimberly’s grandmother was Taiwanese, she

lived in the time that Taiwan was colonized by Japan, immersed in Japanese culture, and it

forced her to become half Japanese, with a Japanese surname, and even spoke Japanese. Back

to interviewee Kimberly herself, she was an English teacher in Taiwan, which was not only

teach students how to speak English, but also bring the American culture to the class by

reading the literature, and some well-known speeches, especially “I have a dream”, given by

Martin Luther King. I agree with her saying that we should identify with our own culture,

before we can learn from other cultures. Students who are allowed to identify with their

native languages and cultures in their schools and communities can improve their learning

(Nieto, S, 1999). Teacher plays a big part in promoting student learning from their own

culture and foreign cultures as cultural accommodator. Recognizing your own culture and

appreciating foreign cultures are the process of learning. A true diversity is based on mutual

understanding and respect. The entire society level must be improved, so that we can create a

friendly environment for multiple cultures and truly become a diverse, tolerant and respectful

society. Thus, education must take the responsibility of the confrontation between cultures. A

culture is neither “good” nor “bad” in general, but rather embodies values that have grown

out of historical and social conditions and necessities (Nieto, S, 1999). Likewise, it should not

have an urban-rural gap in education. No matter what race, gender, or age, everyone has the

right to receive the same quality of education. Although it still takes time to see the change, I
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believe we are all doing the right thing, and head for the better future.

Field Experience Interview 2

 The purpose of the field interview

I have always been interested in understanding and appreciating different cultures, and

races. That’s why I choose to come to study at University of Pennsylvania. UPenn is located

in Philadelphia, which is known as the cradle of American democracy, rich in historical

culture, which fascinates me. Besides, the murder of George Floyd in 2020 brought the issue

of “Black lives matter” back again not only in the US, but also spread it all over the world,

which has aroused my attention to the culture of African Americans. Luckily I found a

classmate, Christina, who is an immigrant from Jamaica. She also shared a similar culture as

African American. Through interviews with her, I will be able to have a deeper understanding

of black culture, especially the black education in her country.

 Summary

Q1. Could you tell me where are you from, and your background?

Christina was born and raised in Jamaica, and she emigrated to America when she was

seven years old. She has been living in New Jersey ever since she moved from Jamaica. She

heavily involved in the church. Her father is a minister, her mother served as a missionary.

Church is the center of their family life.

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Q2. What do you think of your own identity in the United States?

She would say that she is a black, Caribbean, Jamaican. Both of her parents were born

in Jamaica, so her root is definitely in Jamaica. Although she is an immigrant, she still holds

on to the place where she comes from.

Q3. What’s your mother tongue in your country?

English is her mother tongue in Jamaica, it is the standard language she learned in

school. However, there is a dialect, called Patois, including different versions of Patois, and it

is based on the region where you’re from. The English she learned in school is British

English, because Jamaica used to be a possession of Great Britain in 1670, it was deeply

influenced by the British in terms of language and culture. Christina also mentioned that her

mother spells the word “colour”, instead of “color”, that is the way her mother was taught in

school.

Q4. What culture influenced you the most?

Church culture influenced her the most. She was been taught to look proper, speak

proper, and wear skirts in school, even in the church, because you need to act as a girl.

Disciplinary is important. If she did something wrong, anyone outside of her family, even

neighbor has right to discipline her.

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Q5. Are there any Latino, Asian, or immigrants in your class? What changes will

happen to the way you were teaching these students with different backgrounds?

Yes, there are several students who are Asian and Latino. She will try to introduce

different cultures in the classroom by showing the narratives form stories with different

perspectives, and making sure the characters in the book represent those cultures. There will

be a huge aspect of representation, not just a single narrative. Furthermore, she held online

events for students’ parents to share their cultures, traditions, and some interesting things

about their children.

 Key learnings and insights from the interview

Identify your own culture, before you understand others. Christina is an immigrant from

Jamaica, and she moved to New Jersey when she was 7 years old. Christina has never

forgotten her root, since she immigrated to the United States. She strongly identified herself

as a Jamaican, even though she moved to the United States at such a young age. Preserving

and passing on her own culture and traditional values are one of her responsibilities,

especially the dialect, Patois, which is considered as intangible cultural heritage for her.

 Reflection & connection

Christina’s response to the last question gives me the connection to Nieto’s reading.

Effective pedagogy needs to take into account how students' languages, cultures, and other

differences exist within and are influenced by mainstream U.S. culture as well as by other

subcultures with which they come into contact (Nieto, S, 1999). America is often described as
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a “melting pot,” in which diverse cultures and ethnicities come together to form this nation.

Thus, one classroom shares more than one culture, one race in this country. It highlights

whether teachers understand the importance of multicultural education will greatly affect

students’ learning. Here is the example that happened on Christina. There was a student who

was from Korea last year, and Christina was writing out the Korean student’s name on the

whiteboard, using a red marker. Korean student seemed extremely concerned and said “ Miss

Levy, could you use a different color to write my name?” In oriental culture, writing

somebody’s name in red color signifies death or you are cursing others. Since that happened,

she started to be very aware of her students’ beliefs, and background. Then, she came up with

a brilliant idea, holding online events for students’ parents to share their cultures, and

traditions. Not only does it helps teacher to know different cultures deeply, but it also allows

parents and student to do a cultural exchange. It surely can prevent teachers who are

unfamiliar with the culture of students with different backgrounds from doing something that

offend students, based on their limited knowledge and experience. The more distant a child’s

culture and language are from the culture and language of school, the more at risk that child

is (Nieto, S, 1999). Therefore, the teacher should be the one to support these children, and let

them know who they are and identify with their own culture.

Comparative Analysis
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 Key learnings and insights from the interview

1. Culture is both learned and inherited, instead of handing down through genes. It is learned

through interactions with families and communities. Kimberly’s grandmother isn’t Japanese,

but she had her own Japanese surname, and spoke Japanese. It is because she grew up in the

time that Taiwan was colonized by Japan. Even though her grandmother is Taiwanese, she

had no choice but to grow up in that environment, learning the Japanese and culture.

2. Identify with your own culture, before you understand others. Christina is an immigrant

from Jamaica, and she moved to New Jersey when she was 7 years old. Christina has never

forgotten her root, since she immigrated to the United States. She strongly identified herself

as a Jamaican, even though she moved to the United States at such a young age. Preserving

and passing on her own culture and traditional values are one of her responsibilities,

especially the dialect, Patois, which is considered as intangible cultural heritage for her.

 Similarity and differences

In these two interviews, one interviewee was from Taiwan, representing the East

Asian culture, and the other interviewee was an immigrant from Jamaica. They all came from

different countries, with different backgrounds, speaking different languages.

(1) Similarity: Both of their countries have a history of colonization. Taiwan was colonized

by the Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese, while Jamaica was also colonized by the Spanish and

the British. In the first interview, Kimberly’s grandmother was influenced by Japanese culture
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the most among these colonial culture, and she mentioned that her grandmother not only

changed her surname to Japanese surname, but also spoke Japanese. Christina’s mother was

deeply influenced by the British in terms of language and culture, so her spelling is partial to

British English.

(2) Differences: Church culture is not common in Taiwan, only a small number of Taiwanese

people go to church, unlike in the United States, church is the center of a family or

community that enhances the connection between people. Moreover, there is not right for

neighbors to discipline other neighbors’ children, only the family members can discipline

their children.

 Reflection & Assumptions

Before I came here, my assumption to the United States is this is a country that

embraces freedom, culture with high tolerance towards diversity. Unfortunately, because of

the diverse races, belief, and the differences in values. It has become more difficult for every

person in the US, regardless of ethnicity, sex, language, religion to share and live in the same

space fairly and peacefully. It is not only happening in employment, but also in education.

In a study of 364 elementary and middle schools, Russell Skiba and his colleagues

(2011) found that children from African American is more likely than their White peers to be

expelled or given out-of-school suspensions as consequences for the same or similar behavior

(Gadsden, 2017, p. 18). Poverty, cultural mismatch, and racial stereotyping are the possible
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reasons that make African American children study at risk. Although we always saw the

slogan “Black lives matter!” on the street, the situation is still the same. In my opinion,

today’s social system and policies failed to make blacks be treated equally, even we clash

with the system will not improve the conditions. However, in order to ameliorate those

inequalities must first start with education. As an educator, what we can do is create a

classroom climate in which all students feel that they have good ideas, that they have a right

to learn, and that they are important and worthwhile is not an easy task (Nieto, S, 1999).

Thus, cultural competence is essential to teacher, including understanding students’

background, language, culture, and value children's different capacities and abilities, all of

which are the basics of being a teacher. I always believe that education is the first step to

alleviate poverty. Plenty of social problems stem from poverty. How to ensure that everyone

receives equal education is not only the responsibility of the government and society, but also

schools and educators. These problems cannot be solved within a few years, and it will take

decades to see the results.