Essay On Cultural Field Experience

My cultural field experience was attending a Buddhist Meditation meeting. This was out of my typical culture for two reasons; first, I am Christian, not Buddhist, and two, I have not ever meditated or even witnessed someone meditating to my knowledge. I will admit that I generally look on meditation as a waste of time that can be used to complete something constructive. I was a bit nervous about attending as it was an experience I was completely unfamiliar with and I had no idea of what to expect. As part of my perceived understanding of Buddhism and meditation, I was expecting young people and different ethnicities, maybe what we called hippies growing up. I was surprised when I walked in and all attendees were white, and middle-aged, apart from one person. I …show more content…
It made me think about how students may feel when they walk into a class that is very different from what they are used to culturally. I can now imagine how a student feels when they are the minority of a group or when the experiences their peers discuss are not like their experiences. Walking in and feeling completely out of my element left me feeling nervous and apprehensive and I could walk right back out if I chose. For our students, even if they feel uneasy when they walk into a classroom, they do not have the option of leaving. I can now see how this might be scary for them, which may affect their performance in the classroom. I can also envision how uncomfortable they may feel if everyone else in the class knows a certain way to perform a procedure and they do not. When we started to meditate the first time, I watched the other group members to see what type of position I should take. For the final session of meditation, Ben instructed the group on positioning. I feel this will help me help my students. Being aware of how they may be feeling by experiencing it firsthand gives me a tool to help my students feel more comfortable in my