2/15/20; Week 6: Response to Personal Space Differences

In my Culture and Diversity class, we are working on group semester projects. Four of our group members are from the United States, and two are from a South American country. For these projects, we are to create a diverse classroom scenario to be addressed. One of our classroom management actions in response to the scenario we created is to remind the students to stay in their own bubble. Interestingly enough, the group members from South America told us they have no problems with people entering their personal space. As such, they don’t use the “stay in your own bubble” concept. We decided to focus more on appropriate personal space for the classroom.

This was enlightening for me. I had not thought about personal space differences much until this group planning conversation. Then I was reminded of visiting another country and having people walk right into or through me instead of going around. In the United States, we do everything we possibly can to avoid contact with another person.

How can this apply in classroom and life in general? We can be aware of personal space differences between cultures. Body language is probably a good gauge to determine if someone is comfortable or not. If we are in another country, it is a good idea to pay attention to what others are doing so we can follow suit. Teachers should help students learn and remember the established classroom culture for personal space. As I learned in my Culture and Diversity group this week, not everyone has the same interpretation for “bubble.”