"Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another."
- Hofstede, G.
We have often relate cultural differences to individuals from different countries whom had different life experiences. I would, however, like to challenge this motion that cultural differences can also be seen in the local setting, at times even in the nuclear family.
The events that I am about to relate happened to me during my term as a relief teacher in one of the schools in Singapore.
To tackle disciplinary problems seemed to be the bulk of a teacher's responsibility rather than the primary role of imparting academic knowledge. As a relief teacher, one would be often warned of the few notorious individuals who are out just to make your day look dull.
Nigel (not the individual's real identity) was one of them. Nigel does not outwardly disrupts the class, but creates attention from the teachers by vandalising school properties and not fulfilling his academic responsibilities. Due to his unnormal behaviour, Nigel would be scheduled to undergo some counselling with the school counsellor.
I happened to be observing one of the counselling session that Nigel underwent as I was then one of his subject teachers. Nigel was an outspoken individual, but during the session he was unusually quiet. Upon closer observation, I realised that the counsellor did not directly communicated with Nigel. Instead of talking with the student, she was asking questions similar to that of a survey without understanding the psychological mindset of the student at that point in time.
Upon reflection of the whole session, I started reflecting of how the student would have felt that the session was a waste of time. Firstly, there was a breakdown in the mutual understanding of what both parties expect out of each other. During the counselling session, the counsellor was trying to dictate the child that academic excellence and going through university is the only route to succeed. However, Nigel knew what he wanted to achieve after graduating from secondary school; which is to pursue a career in music, in which he has a talent in the field of creative arts. With an intial clash in ideologies, the effectiveness of communication was thus conpromised.
As mentioned in the quote earlier, culture distinguishes one category of people from another. For the counsellor, academic excellence was the route to being successful. As for Nigel, pursuing his passion was what motivates him to live each day.
A clash in culture within a local community? You decide.
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