We all have similar emotions in public but different in private. Each ethnic group has emotional expressions that indicate their feelings and they were misinterpreted when it comes to other groups. Emotional expression can cause differences between the two groups and it may lead to misunderstanding. When teaching in the classroom the teacher needs to know what ethnicity the students have in order for him to understand the meaning of their facial expressions.
In the Philippines, there are many facial expressions. One of these that American missionaries do not know what it means with forehead furrowed when they are explaining something to their conversation. In a general emotional expression, it means mad, anger or irritated. But in our expression, it does not agree or sometimes they don’t really understand. This is an example of the challenges that can cause misunderstandings in class. It is best to learn about the various emotional expressions that the student has and what they mean by their facial expression.
Using the knowledge that I have learned from this lesson my own culture can be improved through the knowledge of others’ cultures, that will guide my teaching in the classroom. Identifying the culture of others is a demonstration of a broad understanding of the differences in the emotional expressions of each ethnic group of people in different countries. That I and my student would understand each other within the class when we know the differences of emotional expressions.
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