I give Kim Zabel, the author of this article, a lot of credit for keeping her cool. I think the situation she described would have been very difficult for any one of us. As a feminist, I would have been challenged to control my temper (but I may have been challenged even if I weren't a feminist).
Do you think cultural differences excuse the kind of behavior the author discussed? Of course, the Sudanese aren't the only culture that has (what seems to us) a sexist attitude toward women. We see it in our own culture, although it may come across in more subtle ways.
Have any of you experienced this dismissive attitude from any of our students, whether ESL students or native speakers? John, have you observed this? (I would ask you, Brandon, but you've only worked three hours).
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I agree, Frances. I know it would be difficult for me to remain patient with a student like this. Obviously, inappropriate behavior is never okay, but the Sudanese man is not entirely at fault for merely behaving in the manner in which he was raised. We can't hate or judge people like this because they accept the (rather severe) sexist beliefs of their culture, but we do have to make it clear that American culture is much different and that the student must learn appropriate behavior for our culture: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever had to deal with a situation like this--certainly with students who wanted me to do their work for them, but I don't think it was ever because of cultural differences, just laziness. I know Fatima has had to deal with some of this stuff, though.
The first semester I worked here we had an ENG 1000 student who was completely unresponsive to a female tutor. He was Arabic and Liz and myself couldn't get him to work on anything. It took Jeff, a male tutor, to work with him and get any writing out of him at all. I'm fairly sure that part of the problem was a cultural issue.
ReplyDeleteI think that it would have been hard to deal with that sort of situation. Thankfully I have never really experienced anything that extreme in the Writing Center, but if it did occur, I would have to try and look at it as a cultural difference.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many different people who come in to get help and we never really know how they are going to react to us. It seems like most people really appreciate suggestions, which makes life so much easier. However, I am sure there are some tutees who behave like the Sudanese student from the article. I think the best way for the tutor to handle this is to either consult a counselor or advisor (as the article suggested), or to try and approach the student differently. Since I live in the dorms, I tend to see a lot of the international students and I say hello to them whenever I can. I really feel that this helps when they come into the Writing Center for tutoring because they feel more comfortable and are more likely to listen to what I have to say. Maybe the Writing Center could have some sort of event where people can just come and meet with the different tutors, without any papers involved, so that they can feel more comfortable with us and realize that we are (most of us anyways) just students like they are. All of the tutors are awesome and we want the tutees to know this too!
I agree with John. I have had unresponsive students from time to time, but most of them were just being lazy, not acting on different cultural beliefs. Once I worked with a particular student, an Arabic male, who was very resistant to tutoring. It seemed that he did not like taking writing advice from a female. I found that as much as his resistance made me want to prompt him more, it was best to stand firm and force him to do the work himself.
ReplyDeleteI think Kim Zabel, in the article had a great attitude. She did not become personally offended even though it would have been very easy to do so. We can probably all learn some things from the way Kim handled her situation.
You all bring up some important points. But it's important to note that we've worked with plenty of Arabic male students who've been courteous to and appreciative of female tutors. I don't think any of you mean to be disrespectful of Arabic men, but I want to make sure we avoid stereotypes.
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ReplyDeleteAs I write my response/thinking I will keep in mind that this article is a personal account and not a research paper.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I think the most important point made by Zabel is "Self-preservation." I am a strong believer and follower of the belief that cultural understanding and respect of "others" does not necessarily mean we HAVE to accept/justify/embrace some particular cultural practices and values that contradict our cultural practices and values.
Second, I wonder if this particular Sudanese male reaction and "cultural expectations," as describe by our author, was unique to him, or if other Sudanese males would have reacted the same way. In other words, I am not sure that this particular incident can or should be generalized to all Sudanese males.
Yes, John I had to deal with a very "peculiar" and "special" student with a highly stressed patriarchal system background. I think that my background knowledge of how this system is structured helped me provide the services we are expected and required to provide in our writing center to this student. For instance, the Arabic community in general value education and knowledge; not only the education and knowledge one acquires in school/university, but also through life experiences (ex. travel, reading, public speaking) or age. An eloquent person is highly respected and admired. Finally, because to show eloquence and knowledge is a developed skill (some say is biological), ex. writing and speaking, competition for that valued label is not uncommon; and thus, an eloquent and knowledgeable person has to gain/win an authority position as a knowledgeable and eloquent individual. Believe it or not this is true for both Arabic male and female (except, Saudi Arabia, and some small communities in the Arabian Gulf may have gender segregation).
In my case, I asserted my authority with this student, and as a result, he kept coming to the WC for my help, considered my suggestions, and shared his thinking/ideas with me. He did not resist my tutoring because I was a woman, in fact, an Arabic-Muslim woman; he wanted to make sure, in a few words: I knew what I was doing.
I strongly believe cultural differences excuse the kind of behavior Kim Zabel discussed. The Sudanese man is raised in an environment where females do everything. The Sudanese man came to the female writing tutor for help on his paper. He expected the female tutor to do everything. He wasn't use to having a female tell him to do his own work. He obviously isn't aware of the American culture.
ReplyDeleteI haven't experienced any dismissive attitude from any students yet. I do know if I did have a problem with a student's attitude, I would make sure I would tell Frances, Jeri, or Susan. I'm sure they will know how to handle it better.
As an ESL writing tutor I encounter many students from countless cultural backgrounds, and while I acknowledge that this history can affect our sessions the individual is always in the forefront of my mind. This particular tutor was very patient with a difficult situation that could have been caused by a number of factors. The traditional Sudanese role of women may have played into the situation, while we must acknowledge cultural difference we can not make the mistake of generalizing.
ReplyDeleteWe are making a lot of assumptions in this instance.
We ASSUME that the student's advisor correctly diagnosed the root of the problem as preconceived notions of a woman's role.(Though how the advisor came to this conclusion is unclear.)
We ASSUME that the student is being uncooperative because of this. (Though we encounter reluctant mainstream students daily)
Then we ASSUME it is the job of the tutee to alter their behavior to continue using our services.
In these cases it seems cut and dry and we try to then apply our solution for this student to the next Sudanese male student that enters the writing center regardless of educational, linguistic, and personal background.
Personal note: My worst tutoring session was with an Arabic male. SO was my BEST tutoring session.
I think we see plenty of students who, like the man in this article, just want us to proofread and "fix" the paper. Sometimes it can be hard to get students to do their own work, whether their are underlying cultural issues or not. My favorite students to tutor are the ones who add their own thoughts and actually try to come up with more ideas for their paper. It's frustrating when people expect you to care more about their paper than they do. Why would I want to take my time to fix the paper if they are barely even willing to take the time to come into the writing center, let alone actually think while they are there?
ReplyDeleteAs for the cultural issues...
I think we need to be aware and sensitive of other cultures. I try not to treat people differently when they come in, but it can be helpful to know a little about the cultures to make sure you do not offend anyone. I also agree with Frances; we have to avoid generalizing people. It is never a good idea to assume that someone might be difficult to work with just based on their nationality...everyone needs to be given a fair chance to show who they really are.
I would like to add to Frances’s warning statement about avoiding stereotypes. Prejudice (and most likely discrimination, after that) is reinforced by negative stereotypes such as “insensitive to women’s opinion.” It is easier for us, WC tutors, when conflict arise (such as, a tutee resistance to tutoring) to first, claim the power position that being a “writing tutor,” (or ESL writing tutor) gives us, and then allocate the cause of conflict to stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteQolette used an important word in her post: ASSUME. It is easier to ASSUME stereotypes that provide a description of members of group, as the sole cause of conflict when dealing with individuals that are "different." I wonder, what would happen if a tutee’s; for instance, an Arab ESL student; resistance to tutoring is grounded in stereotypes of Americans, specifically, stereotypes of White American females.
Going back to the tutee I mention in my previous post, I strongly believe that this student has a low level of literacy in his first language which is transferred to the second language; he has not developed writing skills in both his first and second language, I think due to lack of motivation, most likely as result of continuous failure.