What tools can we use to become open-minded?
Unfortunately I couldn't participate in this challenge due to the problems with my visa for Denmark.
I talked with my classmates and asked them for help to be able to answer this challenge, in which we have to think about tools to become "open-minded."
I think that the first step to become open-minded is to be aware of your own culture and related customs.
You have to know who you are and where you come from to be able to compare your culture and features to other cultures and traditions.
To give an example to this fact I want to talk about myself a little bit. My parents are both Turkish and were raised up with the Turkish culture and traditions. After my father married my mother they moved to Germany and raised me up in Dortmund. I lived 19 years in Germany before I went back to Turkey in 2007.
I grew up as a bilingual child in a Turkish family who was actually more interested in German customs and culture. My parents tried to teach me the Turkish way of life as good as they could. It was sometimes very strange and confusing when people in Turkey asked me as a kid which country I liked more and if I'm feeling more Turkish or German.
I had sometimes difficulties in expressing myself in Turkish and felt that I'm not fully accepted by my Turkish friends, but I understood after primary school that my roots are in Turkey and that my identity and the fact that I grew up in a totally different society and culture were actually points which helped me in my life.
Germany is full of immigrant families from all over the world, so that I came at an early age in contact with children from other countries and cultures. I had a lot of friends from different countries, who taught me a lot about their cultures and my own culture as well. I always compared their customs to the Turkish ones.
One of the things that suprised me a lot was the way people are introducing themselves in Germany and Turkey. In Germany we use to shake hands or greet each other with a certain distance in saying our names, but in Turkey people are giving kisses on every cheek and do not hesitate to do so.
There are a lot of other differences among these two nations and cultures, which were sometimes a problem for me when I went for vacation to Turkey, because some customs which are very normal in Germany, like cleaning your nose with a tissue are considered as unpolite in Turkey.
These differences challenged and educated me, because I always compared the German way of life to the Turkish way of life.
I think that one of the most important things to become open-minded is to be curious. Asking questions and trying to find answers is a major step to learn new things in school, but isn't learning a lifelong process? How can it be that two families, a Turkish and a German one, who live side to side don't know know anything about the other culture? I think its essential to communicate and interact to learn as much as possible about others humans and cultures, so that we can work together for a better world. We have to leave our prejudices behind us and we have to focus on the fact that we are all human beings.
As a future educator and teacher, I have the responsibility to teach my pupils that we are all equal and that we all have the right for a good life. I have to teach my pupils about other countries and their customs. I have to tell them how delicious Italian spaghetti is, how beautiful German cars are, how wonderful Belgian chocolate is, how beautiful Denmark (Copenhagen) is etc.
