Respond to the following questions after a close reading of the article and a revisit of CH 2.
1. What is your opinion of this article? What stuck out to you? Were you able to relate to its contents?
2. Why do you think the authors choose to compare two cultures that are similar as opposed to comparing cultures that differ greatly (or fall on either end of the individualistic to collectivistic I-We spectrum)?
3. Are there ways of speaking and acting (norms: spoken and unspoken) that are specific to the American classroom? *If you have no experience as a student in another country, consider different states, towns, schools or disciplines when responding to this question.
4. Where/how did you learn these norms?
5. How did you prepare to live and attend school America? What steps did you take to understand American culture before you arrived? Please be specific. (For example, some students have mentioned watching American TV shows like Friends or reading articles about American culture.)
6. How would adopting a more Israeli cultural perspective impact or change the American classroom experience?
7. Generally speaking, where do you locate yourself/culture on the individualistic à collectivistic (I-We) cultural spectrum?
8. How does your position on the I-We spectrum influence your definition of what it means to participate in the college classroom?
9. What is your opinion of the assertion that "American individualism is expressed in the pursuit of individual rather than common or collective interests ... [They] usually view the world from the point of view of the self. One's loyalty is primarily to oneself and one's immediate family, and attachments to groups are relatively loose"?
10. What example(s) or practices can you cite that support/exemplify this cultural norm? For example: Macaroni and cheese "for one", the phrase "look out for #1", or the concept of the American Dream.
11. The article notes that, "Americans also possess a positive approach to risk taking [embracing uncertainty], but the quality expresses itself differently in the two cultures." How does this quality manifest in America?