Tales From A Pacific Educator
A Novelty Act (Fiji)
In Fiji as a Peace
Corps Volunteer I worked at a vocational rehabilitation center for juvenile
delinquents. The students ranged
from 10 to 18 years of age and from simply mischievous to hard-core criminal
types. I was a vocational
instructor and taught welding and sheetmetal-working as well as regular academic subjects
like English, geography and history.
In addition, I built and managed a poultry farm as a training unit for
the boys. In Peace
Corps parlance I was a volunteer who had “gone local” meaning considerable
immersion in the culture and language.
By the end of my first year I was doing a lot my teaching in the Fijian
language. I kept the
teacher-student barrier, but was a little less authoritarian in my disciplinary
practices than was the cultural norm for my Fijian counterparts. I was successful as a teacher and
also as a rehabilitation counselor with the boys. From time to time the local faculty and
staff were resentful of my success teaching and interacting with the students
and would in various ways try to undermine my influence and authority. It annoyed and sometimes even angered
me, but I understood what was going on and tried not let it bother me too much
or affect my overall working relations with them. After all, I was just a guest. One thing that also contributed to
my success with the students was the fact that I was a novelty, as most Peace
Corps Volunteers are in their host country, an American who was somewhat naďve
and idealistic but energetic and committed. I was a person who listened to them and
treated them differently than my Fijian counterparts did and who told them
stories about America and answered their incessant questions about
everything. Novelty status
can be an interesting factor in intercultural interactions with both good and
bad effects. On the one hand,
novelty status can lead to you becoming nothing more than a well-liked token
American mascot whose actual achievements are largely ignored. On the other hand, novelty status can
also lead to a great deal of accomplishment and recognition. A happy medium between the two is
usually the best, being well-liked and making recognized accomplishments.
A Nod Is As
Good As A Wink (Palau)
In Palau I worked at a
community college with one particularly ethnocentric American faculty member who
appeared to suffer from culture shock.
He had the classic symptoms.
He was overly critical of local ways, everything “they” did was wrong and
“his” American way was right. He
had low toleration of difference, ambiguity and uncertainty and was always
frustrated and openly expressing it.
He suffered from anxiety and occasional depression over the loss of his
former identity as a high-powered lawyer back home and his difficulty in
establishing a new identity as an effective college teacher in a very
challenging cross-cultural setting.
One particular thing that bothered him in his interaction with the
Palauan students was a form of nonverbal communication which is common in the
Pacific – moving eyebrows up and down to signify agreement, acknowledgment or
understanding instead of giving a verbal affirmative “yes.” One day in the faculty office while
talking to one of his students he finally became unnerved at this and loudly
scolded the student telling him to speak up and say “yes” or “no” and stop
moving his eyebrows up and down. He
added a flourish of cultural insensitivity to this reprimand by mockingly moving
his own eyebrows up and down with his fingers. This person produced ethnocentric
utterances on a daily basis, but none was more classic than the day he said with
exasperation and resignation – “Palau will never be like America,” as if it
should, and as if Palauans wanted it to be.
The Nail That Sticks Up (American Samoa)
I was teaching world
history at a high school in American Samoa. During my first few weeks of
classes there were several students who were very active and aggressive in
answering questions, contributing to discussions and interacting with me as the
instructor. This pleased
me. But I also noticed some things
going on in the verbal and nonverbal language of the rest of the students who
were more passive and somewhat sullen participants. They were sending negative messages to
the active ones. By the end of the
second week the active students had become quiet and would no longer answer
questions or contribute like they had been doing. What had happened? What cultural factors were at work? What other factors were at work? There is a saying in many group-oriented
or collectivist societies to that effect that “a nail that sticks up gets
hammered down.” This is what had
happened -- the nails that had stood up got hammered down. The students who were active were seen
as showing off, trying to stand out over and above the rest, and pursuing
individual achievement and prestige – very un-collectivist things to do. These students were brought back into
the group through pressure from their peers who made fun of them or criticized
them. Another factor at work
was that I was an outsider and in-group solidarity is always more important in
the face of someone from an out-group.
So the cultural norm of conformity and a standard in-group/out-group
barrier were at work. I understood
and accepted these student behaviors and didn’t let them bother me too much
although I would have preferred they didn’t exist. Instead I developed strategies to
allow the more aggressive high achievers to get what they wanted out of the
class while trying to bring the others along as well. I used more group activities that
allowed a strong sense of group accomplishment as well as allowing for the
active students to become group leaders and thereby gain some implicit
individual ego satisfaction and additional academic stimulation. There were also other individual
sociological and psychological factors at work as well. The socioeconomic status of some
students was an important factor.
The more active, aggressive, competitive high achievers who were more
responsive to me were invariably from the elite social class of American
Samoa. Various factors in
their home environment and lifestyle had made them more proficient in English,
better readers, more familiar with American styles of thought and behavior, and
in general more bicultural. They
came from titled or otherwise well-to-do families, their parents had good
government jobs and placed a higher value on educational achievement, they had
more media technology in their homes, they traveled abroad more often to places
like Hawaii and California where they had many relatives who were well
socialized into Hawaiian or mainland society and culture. These types of sociocultural factors are
important considerations for all teachers whether they are teaching in their own
culture or someone else’s.
During my first few
months as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji I enjoyed going to the local movie
theaters for Sunday matinees and most of the time I was the only non-Fijian in
the theatre. Whenever there was a
scene in the film that was touching and emotional the Fijian audience would
giggle, laugh and make funny remarks.
I was a little confused at this disconfirmed expectancy. I had expected them to be as touched at
these scenes as I was, but obviously they were not. What was going on here? Fortunately, due to my Peace Corps
training in cross-cultural communications I had learned to deal with
disconfirmed expectancies by suspending judgment, thinking about possible
explanations, consulting a cultural informant and otherwise waiting for insight
to come. I had the benefit of a
good cultural informant who later explained that Fijian culture values emotional
self-control and that Fijians don’t normally display their feelings as openly as
Americans. Therefore, Fijians think
such displays are not only somewhat amusing but they also laugh as a cathartic
expression -- a way of dealing with the uneasiness or embarrassment that viewing
such emotional displays may cause.
Some other Peace Corps Volunteers did not like this Fijian habit of
laughing at the serious parts of the movies. They let it bother them and they passed
judgment and criticized Fijians for being insensitive. The Japanese also value
emotional self-control and they also laugh out of embarrassment, sometimes
causing misunderstandings. For
example, an American working in Japan openly expresses their anger and this
anger embarrasses the Japanese counterpart, who then expresses embarrassment by
laughing, thus further angering the American who feels that they are being
laughed at. While one
universal or culture-general meaning of laughter is related to humor and ease,
other culture-specific meanings of laughter can be related to uneasiness or
embarrassment.
Living in a Fishbowl (Pacific Wide)
Living in a small
society, like a Pacific island, has sometimes been likened to living in a
fishbowl. The individual person in
such a society is like the goldfish in a bowl with nowhere to hide and is thus
always being observed by everyone on the outside. Whether it is a small Pacific island or
a small town in rural America, you have a situation where everybody knows
everybody else’s business, and quite typically at the end of the day in the
evening when people sit around and talk, they discuss the events of the day and
delve into other people’s business.
In small
Pacific island societies news travels fast. Storytelling and gossip, important
methods of news dissemination in all societies, are particularly effective news
networks on Pacific islands. In the
evenings people sit around and recount the days events in considerably more
detail than Americans are typically accustomed to. An American’s version of the day’s
events would be more brief and general.
Not so in Pacific island and collectivist oral cultures in general. Here people recount the finer details
and nuances of what the people they encountered did and said that day. And with each person mentioned there is
additional commentary about that person and that person’s family as well. Pacific islanders love to tell stories
and gossip and I don’t mean this in a negative sense. I have already mentioned the
social bonding and control functions of gossip. People may be less likely to engage in a
deviant act or to otherwise do something that might bring shame to their family
for fear of the speed in which news travels via word of mouth gossip on the
island.
For expatriates living
and working in the Pacific this particular cultural dynamic is an important
consideration. Americans are used
to living in a large mass society that is more impersonal than Pacific island
societies and in which the average individual is somewhat anonymous. We have a lot of privacy and anonymity
in America. And although we do our
share of gossiping, we also do and equal amount of minding our own
business.
In small Pacific
island societies you can be pretty sure that many of the things you said and did
in the classroom will be recounted by your students as they talk with fellow
students at school and as they talk with their family members at home. And sometimes, especially if something
you said was particularly provocative or controversial, there is a very good
chance that it will be recounted to influential and important people in the
school administration and to community leaders such as titled chiefs, government
leaders and religious priests and ministers. For example, when I teach about the
natural history of the world and the evolution of life on earth and I tell
students that the creation story in Genesis is only a myth, I can be certain
that parents and church leaders will hear about it. Therefore I always make sure that I put
it in more palatable terms by telling them that a person can actually know the
Creator best by studying science wherein lie the details of God’s handiwork.
. When I teach about the
actual creation of the universe and the earth and the evolution and complexity
of life on earth I tell my students that this just shows us how truly awesome
the Supreme Being is.
Excessively
ethnocentric, insensitive or downright obnoxious expatriate teachers have
sometimes drawn complaints by school administrators, parents or community
leaders because of something they said in the classroom. You can also be assured that school
administrators will hear from the students about whether or not they think you
are a good and effective instructor.
Teachers need to be
considerate of this particular sociocultural dynamic. It doesn’t mean that they should not be
provocative or that they should avoid using controversy for teaching, and it
doesn’t mean that they should water down scientific truths. But it does mean that they should be
careful not to be disrespectful and insensitive and keep in mind that the matter
of respect can be culturally relative. Another thing to keep in mind is
that what an American might consider a justified, fair and constructive
criticism of a school or government policy or practice might be considered an
insult by the local people involved.
Americans are proud of their right to free speech and enjoy the freedom
of being to have vocal and public opinions on just about everything. An American working overseas doesn’t
have to stop having opinions, they just need to be more sensitive to the effect
their opinions will have on certain people or groups of people. Sometimes it’s best to keep your
opinions to yourself until you are sure of the possible effect of expressing
them.
And while this
particular dynamic can place constraints on the work of a teacher, it can also
assist them. If they are an
effective and culturally sensitive instructor, then everybody will know this and
the teacher’s reputation will be enhanced.
This can also help to facilitate the dissemination of useful information
to the students’ families and the community in general. When I lecture I always keep this in
mind. I use controversy as a way of
gaining and keeping student interest.
I regularly challenge sacred cows and unscientific thinking in an effort
to promote critical and scientific thinking. However I do these things in a
respectful way designed to demonstrate that I really care about the student’s
education and let them know that being better educated will contribute to a
better future for their country.
I let my students know that I am only trying to help them to deal with
the realities of a complex and rapidly changing world. And by letting them know these things I
am also letting their families and the community know them too.
A Pacific Island Myth
One common stereotype
about Pacific islanders (and their societies) is that they are all completely
laid back with relaxed attitudes toward everything including important matters
that require much attention and effort.
This is a great Pacific island myth.
Pacific Islanders may
have more relaxed attitudes toward things that Americans take more seriously
such as personal and career/job-related achievements, material possessions, time
management, expression of personal opinions and emotions, and, in general,
obligations to oneself. We see the
individualist/collectivist dichotomy at work here and collectivists value
different things than individualists.
Pacific Islanders are
more concerned in areas that Americans have more relaxed attitudes toward such
as social hierarchies and the related rules of interaction and protocol,
restraint of personal opinions and emotions, the importance of extended family
obligations, and a general emphasis on face saving and smooth interpersonal
relationships. Pacific islanders
are serious about these things and are not relaxed when cultural rules in these
domains are not followed. After
all, their culture prepares them to expect certain thought, emotion and behavior
patterns from people they interact with.
Expatriates who are new to the Pacific often make mistakes with
interactions or else just fail to realize the importance of some cultural way of
thinking, feeling and behaving.
For example, Americans may
be just trying to be their normal informal and friendly sincere selves but they
end up unwittingly violating Pacific island cultural norms of social interaction
that may call for more formality and less familiarity at first. Or it could be a case where it’s just
the other way around and the American expects more formality in the way of
respect and deference to their station and they encounter informality,
familiarity and confusing humor on the part of a Pacific islander. Pacific islanders do have a great sense
of humor.
It has always
been my experience that Pacific islanders are very forgiving as long as one
makes a sincere effort to understand their culture and gradually adjust some of
their behavior accordingly.
This also brings to mind an additional cross-cultural communication
concept worthy of consideration.
Pacific islanders and collectivists in general tend to judge people more
on a situational basis and tend not to make broad generalizations about people’s
personality based upon a person’s behavior in one situation. Americans, on the other hand, quite
often tend to judge a person’s entire personality based upon an observation of
that person’s behavior or performance in one particular situation; needless to
say many mistakes in judgement are made this way. The collectivist approach is actually
fairer toward the person being judged.
While working in a Pacific island context we might be grouchy or
obnoxious one day in one situation, but luckily we may not be judged as a person
who has a sour personality in general.
One value that it is
sometimes initially difficult for a non-Pacific islander to understand relates
to funerals. Funerals are big
events throughout the Pacific islands and islanders are very serious about
them. People spend lots of money on
funerals and devote a lot of time and effort to them. Funerals are very important
demonstrations of extended family solidarity and commitment and are occasions
for considerable exchange of wealth among clan members. People will take out loans to cover the
costs of funeral exchange and the feeding of people who attend. People also will take out loans to
purchase airline tickets to fly from half way around the world to attend a
funeral. People will also sometimes
miss several days of work or school in order to attend to funeral
activities. As an outsider you
might think that Pacific island funerals are a bit excessive with regard to the
amount of time and money expended upon them, but to an islander they are like
the glue that binds a clan, and ultimately a society, together. People keep meticulous track of which
family brings what and how much they bring and this accounting will be used to
measure the reputation of a family and kept for future reference. A family that brings a lot and makes a
good show will be rewarded in the future when they have a funeral of their
own. Nobody likes the prospect that
someday their family might have a poorly attended funeral, especially their
own.
Funeral practices vary
throughout the Pacific with regard to what exactly must be brought, but in
general people bring food like pork, beef, fish, taro, yams, bags of rice, cases
of canned goods and various cultural items like sakau (kava), woven mats and
tapa cloth. In American Samoa they
also bring 50 gallon drums of kerosene.
Pacific islanders are serious about funerals and if you are a teacher or
an employer you will sometimes have students and workers missing when their
families have a funeral.