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Cultural Tunnel Vision
July 24, 2015
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
-Thomas Edison
-Thomas Edison
"We all have tunnel vision, or at least blind spots, when it comes to equity and to cultural issues. We don't see everything there is to see, and we don't even realize what we aren't seeing. Sometimes children arrive in our programs to find a culturally assaultive environment, and we don't even realize it." Janet Gonzalez-Mena makes this observation in her Exchange article, "Do You Have Cultural Tunnel Vision?" in which she gives examples such as the following:
"The mainstream way is to provide each person, no matter how young, a bed of his or her own (except for couples). This value starts early — in infancy — as each individual is considered to have the need for private space. The word individual is downplayed in some cultures, and the word private is practically nonexistent. Some people in these cultures have only negative connotations associated with the word alone. They equate being alone with being lonely. Sleeping in a separate bed is not the norm, no matter what age. When a child arrives in child care and is expected to put himself or herself to sleep in a crib or cot alone, this child may have a very hard time. The sleeping dialogue is in a foreign language."
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Comments (3)
Displaying All 3 CommentsAlbany, NY, United States
Your article brings up more questions than answers. Sleeping is a solitare activity. Research supports the fact that people sleep more soundly when they sleep alone. I would ask the question regarding children sleeping together with other family members, is it a cultural decision or a financial decison, perhaps both. Or is a family member just afraid to sleep by themselves as they are afraid of the dark, a thunderstrom or something under their bed. As a child who slept with a sibling and had to share most of what came into our home with 5 other siblings and two parents, I grew up knowing that I did not come first and I as an individual I was not important. Thats called low self-esteem.
Albany, NY, United States
Once again child care providers are expected to know all their is about all other cultures on top of everything esle they need to know to provide quality care. Your example of Tunnel Vision regarding children who come from a culture where they share sleeping spaces is interesting at best. Quality programs ask parents key questions about the child and her/his home environment and in some cases actually make home visits prior to enrollment. Also your short article assumes that the child is not intersted or needs his/her own space or is welcoming the fact that he/she does not have to share space. As the oldest child of six children, I would have loved to have had my own sleeping space., and also not to have shared my clothing and other items all the time. What that teaches you is that you don't matter as an individual.
CSBC
Denver, CO, United States
While it is very true that in traditional American culture, children are expected to sleep in their own bed and room, this is no longer really a mainstream view: there are many middle class couples who have their children sleep in their room, or even the family bed. However, there is very powerful resistance against this practice from the medical and social service establishment. There is also good research that shows this view of privacy/communal living is not as black and white as some make it out to be.
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