No two countries are the same. No society behaves exactly the same as another. And that is the beauty of the world; its diversity, differences, individuality.
All those things mean well. However, one might feel uneasy when put into a different social and cultural setting. You might not know how to act, or react to things that happen in the classroom. That is how I felt when I started teaching in Spain.
Let me provide you with a little bit of background, so that you can position yourself better in this story. I grew up in London, which is absolutely multi-cultural, and has more nationalities than the colours of the rainbow. If you have lived or visited London, hopefully you can relate. If you haven’t, then just take my word for it. It’s awesome. There are so many different religions and cultures, so many things to see and experience. Because of this, there are also lots of rules put in place, especially for teachers. We have to promote diversity and remind students of our key values.
As of Spain, I can only speak of my experience in the Canary Islands, which might drastically differ from experiences from the rest of Spain. I have also experienced that schools and teachers alike, place a lot of stress on key values, promoting equality and diversity and freedom of expression in schools. On that note, there were no differences.
However, what shocked me the most, was the easy-going attitude of the teachers, and their friendliness towards students. Specifically speaking, the physical contact between teachers and students. In England, we have a strictly no-touch policy, which means that under no circumstance should a member of staff come in physical contact with another student. We should also refrain from being alone in the same vicinity with a student, especially with a closed door. These are essential safety measures which have a lot of reason behind them. I grew up seeing this as the base-line.
So, when the time came that all 12 of my 5-year-old students rushed to hug me, I didn’t know what to do. Should I hug them back, should I not? I also noticed a lot of head touching, hand holding, and other small physical contacts, which are completely normal and acceptable. However, to a person like me who has been programmed to stay 6 feet away, it was hard getting used to. And I'm still not used to it.
Whether this is a serious cultural difference, I don’t know. Does it impact learning? Most likely not. This has just been one example of how a cultural difference might make you feel out of place as a teacher. Therefore, it is super important to be adaptable, and to familiarise yourself with the rules.
I hope this little blog gave you some information on what I found challenging in terms of cultural differences between the UK and Spain.
