The Earth is the Earth is the Earth.

 Some Things Never Change

Well it's possibly no surprise to learn that kids don't differ that much from one side of the globe to another.

I'm not entirely sure what I was anticipating - to be fair that statement could cover a whole range of things out here - but in this case I was probably not expecting kids to behave... well, like kids. 

They do though!

There are startling similarities in human behaviours it turns out. Now I know, you're probably thinking duh! of course, but let's be honest, we all think that things will be radically different in different places. Even when I moved from one North Eastern school to another a few miles down the road I was taken aback at how 'the same' the kids were, just slightly better fed and with slightly fewer social issues to impact on their behaviour. There were the same characters all behaving in fairly similar ways.

This is true out here in Malaysia. There is really no difference and that is actually very comforting. Kids respond to positive social interactions like kids in the UK and, presumably, kids around the globe.

What is interesting is the cultural politeness reflex that kids here have. They are reflexively polite - it's a Pavlovian response rather than anything 'thoughtful'. That's not to say the kids here aren't thoughtful - they are, they've proven to be lovely and supportive of each other in general, but their attitudes and deference to adults is a learned behaviour. They want to push the boundaries, find the company of their peers more compelling than the company of adults, want to be seen as individuals and appreciate positive feedback just as much as any teenager in the UK. The main difference I would say is that they are culturally more compliant and have grown up in a culture where there is an expectation of hard work. The students put a lot of pressure on themselves and I suspect that there is pressure applied at home too. 

To sum up it you could suggest that you don't have to work hard to get the respect of the students in this context, but I don't think that this is true. They are simply culturally deferential and if you view this as 'respect' then you are deeply mistaken - they are respectful, but that is something very different. You need to (and should damn well want to if you are any kind of teacher) earn the respect of your students by demonstrating your commitment to and respect for them through delivering good learning opportunities, treating them fairly and taking an interest in them. This is something that I have always (with varying degrees of success) tried to do with my students and hopefully it will pay off here too.

I am lucky that in general I have a set of fantastic classes who I look forward to teaching, but the same was true back in the UK. I left behind some of the best students I have ever taught and some of the best classes I've ever encountered, a fact that made is very hard to leave.