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Activity 18, Missing the Point

Case Study 1

Jane Smithers was a teacher.  Her first job took her to a Navajo (Indian) reservation school in New Mexico.  Jane was excited about the job.  Being white and also from a northern city, she knew little of Indian ways.  But she was eager to learn and to help improve education in the Navajo schools.

But from the very first day, things went wrong.  The children never did well in tests.  They were eager to learn and they did their work.  But when test results were tallied, she was always disappointed.  Ms. Smithers tried everything she could think of.  She talked to her best students and urged them to do better.  She offered prizes to the person with the highest score.

Still, when the next test came, the same thing happened.  It was as though no one wanted to do well.  She began to think the Navajo were lazy or didn't care.  She had heard that kind of thing a lot.  Indians are lazy," people said.  "They don't want to work."

What was wrong?  What kind of judgment was Ms. Smithers making about the Navajo?  Was her judgment right?  One day she talked to one of the parents.  She told the man her problem.  She said, "Your son could be a good student.  But he doesn't try.  Would you talk to him and see what the trouble is?" The father shook his head and smiled: "I don't need to question him," he said.  "I know what the trouble is." And then he explained: "Among the Navajo it is wrong to try to push ahead of others.  Only a showoff would do that.  We believe it is more important to help each other.  So, if some are not getting good tests, others will not try to beat them in the scores.  That would be showing them up.

Questions for Discussion

• What lesson did the teacher learn?
• What harm could have been done if she had not learned this lesson?
• Suppose someone said to you: "I've been to Greece.  I know those people.  They were loud and rude." Would you believe this judgment?  Why or why not?

Case Study 2

Harvey Brown was a high school student.  As part of a special program, he was sent to Brazil to study for a year.  He would be staying with a family named Vargas.

Mr. Vargas met Harvey at the airport.  Immediately something happened that bothered Harvey.  When they talked, Mr. Vargas stood with his face almost touching Harvey's.  Harvey took a step backward.  It was not very comfortable to be that close and talk.  But no sooner did Harvey step back than Mr. Vargas stepped forward.  They were nose-to-nose again.

If people were watching, they must have thought it was a strange sight.  Harvey kept backing up so he could talk to the man.  And Mr. Vargas kept edging forward.  They went down the whole airport hallway like that, Harvey backing and Mr. Vargas advancing.

Questions for Discussion

• How do you suppose Harvey would have described this in a letter to his parents?
• Do you think he might be making false judgements about Mr. Vargas-or all Brazilians?
• Can you think of some custom that might be common in Brazil that Harvey didn't know about?  (The custom, of course, is to stand very close to the person you're speaking with.  Many Americans find this unsettling in Latin American countries.)

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