Today has me reflecting once again on a personal struggle I attribute to cultural differences in how we view & treat time.
Causes of Reflection I’m writing today’s post while sitting in a staff meeting. I was planning to be teaching Health Education to 7th graders right now, but for the second week in a row we’ve had to cancel class due to a mandatory meeting for all teachers being scheduled at the same time. There are ten classes that are supposed to be held during this time (three classes of 6th graders in Religion, six classes having Homeroom, and my Health Education class). My understanding is that this meeting was called this morning. A staff member walked the halls and announced to each teacher that it would be happening. Then, teachers and students knew that their 7th period class is cancelled – the students headed home early knowing they may make up the class another time. Another situation from today: I realized that yesterday was Mihai Eminescu Day when I came into school and saw a lovely display about the poet. I began asking people whether there would be an event at school for this holiday. Each person I asked said, “yes, there will be.” Early in the morning, the response to my inquiry “when?” was, “Maybe today, I’ll tell you when I know.” A few hours later the response was, “Tomorrow, but we don’t know what time exactly.” Now, the response is, “Wednesday, definitely Wednesday, after 6th period, in the auditorium.” “After 6th period” means during 7th period. There are nine classes scheduled 7th period on Wednesdays: Three have Health Education, four have Homeroom hour, one has IT/Computers, and one has an advanced math class. We all just deduce that we will have these cancelled and may have to be rescheduled. A third moment from today: With my 11th grade Health Education class, our lesson today centers around showing a video. I wanted to use a classroom that is usually empty that has a SmartBoard. I went the period before to try to stake a claim, but our PE teacher was already there with a class. I asked and he said he planned to use it the next period as well. So, I went to another teacher who usually has a projector we carry from room to room. She’s planning to use it the next period. So, I went to a teacher who has a SmartBoard and asked if we could swap classrooms. She’s planning to use it the next period, but reminded me that another teacher has just received a SmartBoard. So, I went to this teacher – she was NOT planning to use it the next period so we could swap classrooms for our respective classes. We announced this to students only as they were arriving at their usual classrooms at the start of classtime. I can’t “book” a room in advance or schedule to have a projector because a process of making reservations doesn’t exist. I simply must find what I need when I need it, moving materials or students around or changing plans at that moment as needed. Cultural Perceptions of Time One of the many ways in which cultures differ is how people understand and use time, how our concepts of time affect our interpersonal interactions. Below is a description from Culture Matters of the two extremes of this dimension: Monochronic and polychronic. As with the individualism/collectivism spectrum, no culture is exclusively monochronic or polychronic – neither are individuals – but most cultures tend to be more one than the other. "Monochronic — Time is the given and people are the variable. The needs of people are adjusted to suit the demands of time—schedules, deadlines, etc. Time is quantifiable, and a limited amount of it is available. People do one thing at a time and finish it before starting something else, regardless of circumstances. Polychronic — Time is the servant and tool of people. Time is adjusted to suit the needs of people. More time is always available, and you are never too busy. People often have to do several things simultaneously, as required by circumstances. It’s not necessary to finish one thing before starting another, nor to finish your business with one person before starting in with another." I was raised to have a much more monochronic view of time than a polychronic one. While my ability to be flexible around time has developed over the years (and has been further developed here through days like today and more), my internal default is to perceive time as quantifiable & limited and to expect myself and others to adapt to set plans rather than the inverse. My experience of Moldovan schools, trainings, outings, projects, and social interactions is that people generally view time through a more polychronic lens than a monochronic one. Everything can be adapted to, interruptions are normal and take priority over current tasks, and people should adapt to changes in ”planned” time. I attribute times where I feel challenged like this to my monochronic default: I focus on the specific amount of time allotted to my class and the plans I had for that time, rather than on the importance of the item that has come up to take its place. For my colleagues, today’s circumstances changed so we simply have to do something else – there’s always more time for that class we missed. Additional note... I would be remiss to not mention that my poor language skills affect this situation – I speak Romanian at an Intermediate High/Advanced Low level. I also speak awkwardly formally due to learning all my language skills from older teachers who taught me “literary” Romanian, without slang, without the ease of flow of someone who spends much time talking with a host family. I understand that I am difficult to talk with, that I don’t understand everything that is said around me. Even with that, though, I often find that my colleagues for whom the language of school is their primary language of communication, they also don’t know about what is happening when with what I (with my monochronic worldview) consider to be much advance notice.
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Rebecca LehmanHealth Education volunteer serving at Boris Dînga Middle & High School in Criuleni, Moldova. Archives
May 2017
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