Differences in how people think can arise from various social, cultural, intellectual, and personal factors. These include economic class, language, emotional characteristics, talents, disabilities, parenting styles, and more. Understanding these differences can help avoid misunderstandings and promote respect between individuals. While people may think differently, each person's perspective has internal logic based on their experiences and background. It is important not to judge others until understanding their unique situation and perspective.

1. Differences and Similarities
Teaching in a Diverse World

2. Differences
• No matter who you are, how you define yourself, or
what culture you came from, you will be teaching
people who are different from you.
• There are many social, experiential, cultural,
physical, intellectual, socio-economic, and so forth
forces active among people such that everyone is
"different." Also, every person within a group that
has been societally defined is different.

3. Every human being thinks...
DIFFERENTLY

4. Logic
Pardon the ancient reference...but Mr. Spock was all about
logic.
What makes sense and is logical varies from person to person
by reason of both outside forces and internal tendencies.

5. An example: Logic and Economic Class
Ruby Payne (A Framework for Understanding Poverty) argues
that each economic class has a culture that is largely invisible to
itself.
Part of the difficulties we face as educators is the potential for
misunderstandings because of economic class differences.
Are people poor because they have a deficient culture? No. The
“culture” of poverty, according to Celano and Neuman, is a
“rational response” [aka logical] to the conditions of poverty—
in other words, people who deal with unmitigated poverty react
in certain ways and these ways are reasonable under the
circumstances.

6. For example, story telling
Payne points out that people from different classes tell stories in
different ways and for different reasons.
In wealthier homes that use the language of schooling, stories are told
chronologically or they move directly toward a point.
In homes that use nonacademic dialects, stories are told for the purpose
of entertainment or to reinforce a relationship between speaker and
listener. When you have little or no money, relationships are your only
security, so you reinforce them all the time. You need friends who will
take you in if you get evicted or who will lend you money when the car
dies. Therefore the stories are told not from “beginning to end”
chronologically but the most emotionally interesting aspect is usually
presented first.

7. Without knowing about different narrative structures
(storytelling conventions) people from different economic
classes might misunderstand each others' stories.

8. Doctor: Patient:
• Uses academic • Uses
language nonacademic
• Expects stories dialect
• Storytelling is
to be told in
chronological primarily about
order relationships, not
• Feels impatient getting across
when patient information
• May not know
appears to talk
without an how the doctor
apparent point wants medical
information to be
presented
Lots of room for
misunderstanding, frustration,
and disrespect. Yet within each
culture their form of storytelling
has logic.

9. Time
Perception of time is another area in which there can be
differences between individuals and groups of people.

10. Two understandings of time...
Clock time Experience time
This is academic time; certain Events end when they are ready
events begin and end at certain to end (emotionally, socially,
times, no matter what is etc.). Don't go onto another thing
happening in terms of people's until this thing has ended. It is
emotions or the time it takes for rude to end an event before
someone to express him or participants are ready to end it.
herself. It is important to stay Clock time is secondary most of
aware of what time it is so you the time. This is logical because
can meet all your obligations. relationships with others is really
This is logical because people important and fundamental to
have responsibilities to meet and survival. Experience time
clock time allows you to expresses respect and caring for
accomplish these efficiently. others.

11. Crossing time boundaries
Individuals are not bound by the approach to time they were
raised with.
Individuals with an experience time background can learn how
to deal with clock time through jobs and other kinds of
interactions with clock time institutions (schools, doctors'
offices, etc.).
Individuals with a clock time background can learn to operate
in experience time in situations where that is the norm. This
could include visits and social interactions with individuals who
are experience time-oriented.

12. Time
Yet, when people from one time form approach people from another
time form, many misunderstandings may arise.
Both sets of people can feel disrespected.
Experience time people feel disrespected when cut off due to time
constraints.
Clock time people feel disrespected when experience time people are
"late" (because they were involved in another event that ended when it
ended).
Both approaches to time have benefits. But in order to avoid feeling
disrespected and reacting negatively because of that perception of
disrespect, it is important to know about these two ways of thinking.

13. Factors significant to thinking
This is not information to
memorize. It is information that
shows you why people may be
doing things that may not make
sense to you.

14. Ability/disability
Ethnicity
Culture People can choose to change how
Political events they understand things,
Historical events
Religion
particularly when they get more
Socioeconomic class information on why something is
Characteristics of inner life (e.g., as it is.
neurological effects on thinking)
Education
Language There are many factors
Dialect Factors that contribute to how a
Parenting
Community person thinks. The
Emotional characteristics following slides will cover
Family a few of them.
Special talents
Local geography
Life events When you initially meet someone and
Hobbies, interests you don't know about that person,
Developmental stage hold off judgment until you
understand their reasons for doing
what they do.

15. Special talents
Whether a student is excellent in gymnastics, playing a musical
instrument, doing advanced math, doing advanced scientific
research, etc., these students think differently from those who
do not have an all-consuming special talent.
Students with a strong talent are going to be spending most of
their free time practicing and/or working in the area of their
talent. As a result, school work may seem irrelevant... unless...
the teacher decides to have this student learn the curriculum
using the talent as a spring board.
It is logical in the minds of these people to spend hours and
hours doing one thing and it may be difficult for them to
understand people who don't do this.

16. Emotional characteristics
Mood variances can dramatically affect people's thought content:
For people with anxiety, safety tends to be a major priority. Ignoring, or worse,
denigrating, this priority creates a huge emotional barrier to learning.
Depression makes most activities seem uninteresting or as if they are too much
effort. They may have a difficult time choosing to engage in something. They may
also have a sense of helplessness--"nothing I do ever works."
People in a manic phase tend to overestimate their abilities and capacities. In this
phase, they feel capable of doing anything and everything.
People with anger issues tend to interpret other peoples' actions in relation to
themselves, assuming that other people intend to do wrong/insensitive/rude
things when the person with anger is not even part of another person's thought
process. They believe that they have a right to control others. Therefore when
someone doesn't do what this type of person wants, it is logical for this person to
force the issue.

17. Inner Life
The characteristics of a person's brain can have a profound effect on one's
thinking. Here are a couple of examples:
People on the autism spectrum are often very sensitive to how clothing feels.
Something that might be mildly annoying or not even noticeable to those not on
the autism spectrum may be impossible to live with for those on the spectrum.
For example, cotton clothing is very soft, but clothing that has other fibers
(spandex, polyester) has a rougher feel. It is logical, therefore, for anyone who
has this kind of sensitivity to feel completely frustrated if the clothing does not
feel right.
People with dyslexia often have normal eyesight and hearing but then the brain
processes communication-related information from the eyes and ears in an
untrustworthy manner--letters jump back and forth and sounds don't sort out
into meaning all that easily. They can experience huge frustration when they
don't have clues in advance about what to expect or when they are made to feel
dumb because they have to keep asking questions in order to understand what is
being said. When others are aware of this and they are willing to give the person
some cues as to the topics being discussed and are willing to try two or three
different ways of explaining something without making it obvious why they are
doing this, the person with dyslexia will feel more comfortable.

18. Developmental stage
Abstract stuff, such as mathematical algorithms that have not
been experienced concretely, is complete nonsense to a person
who has not reached formal operations (Piaget).
It's normal to be extremely interested in one's peers and their
reactions during adolescence. And it is therefore logical to
consider what one's peers would think when contemplating
doing something.
Sometime during the middle of life, people often get much less
interested in doing things for no apparent reason, such as
busywork or letting someone else control their learning. It is
logical for these folks to resist something that feels like b.s.

19. Parenting
There are four types of parenting: authoritarian, permissive, neglectful, and authoritative.
Authoritarian parents attempt to control their kids excessively. Children often respond by
becoming fearful and unsure or by being rebellious. What makes sense to a person with
this background is either to avoid making people in authority angry or to exercise control
in the way of one's parents.
Permissive parents want their kids to love them, so they don't say "no." It's logical, then,
for kids raised by permissive parents to assume that they have the right to do what they
want regardless of others. They may not be able to set and complete goals for themselves.
Neglectful parents might not provide basic needs (food, shelter, etc.) and/or they are not
emotionally involved in their children's lives. Neglectful parents do not know what is
happening in their children's lives--even things that are potentially devastating. Therefore,
they don't protect their children. Children raised in this type of home may feel angry as
adults because they did not get what they needed as a youngster.
Authoritative parents provide their children with love and limits. These parents are fair
and they acknowledge their children's feelings. Children from this kind of family are often
successful as adults because of this strong background.

20. Parenting
The idea of learning about the four types of parenting is not to excuse
people from bad behavior.
Instead, people raised in the various types of households may need
more information in certain areas. For example, children raised in a
permissive home probably need more information and support in the
area of goal setting and achievement. Children raised in a neglectful
home may not realize that other people can help them accomplish tasks
and may not feel worthy of others' help. Children raised in an
authoritative home may assume that other people have been raised in a
similar type home and then expect other people to be successful and
confident. Children raised in an authoritarian home may try to control
others inappropriately or may not be able to stand up for themselves.

21. The upshot
Many factors contribute to how a person understands the
world. Most of us have a combination of factors both inward
and outward that help to create our basic thinking.
Being aware that all people think differently can help you to
understand your students and your colleagues better. If you
know that another person thinks differently than you, then you
can get the clues you need to "walk in their shoes" in order to
understand why a person does what he/she does. To keep
relationships positive, it is really important to assume that
every person has reasons for what he/she is doing and that
those reasons are sensible to that person. Hold off judgment
until you understand what is happening and why.