Last year at school, I once did a craft activity where students made a headdress. When the native-speaker teacher saw it, they told me they felt it was very offensive. I was shocked and confused because I did not understand why. Then they showed me a Washington Post article about the issue. After reading it, I felt genuinely embarrassed and ashamed.
I want to be clear: I had no intention of cultural appropriation. In fact, I believed the activity was an appropriate way to help students learn about other cultures. At the time, I was teaching body parts in Englishhead in particularand I explained that some Indigenous peoples traditionally wear elaborate decorations on the head. I now understand that my explanation was oversimplified and that I failed to recognize the deeper cultural, historical, and spiritual meaning of such items. By turning it into a classroom craft, I unintentionally reduced something sacred and identity-related into a fun object, which can be disrespectful.
This experience led me to a deeper realization about what it means to be bilingual or to teach English responsibly. It is not only about grammar, vocabulary, or code-switching. Language is inseparable from people, history, power, and lived experience. When we teach language, we are also teaching ways of seeing the worldand we must do so with care.
I apologized to the native-speaker teacher for my ignorance, and I am grateful they addressed the issue directly and helped me learn. Since then, whenever I plan lessons involving culture, I try to build background knowledge more carefully, check the cultural context, and reflect on whether an activity could unintentionally stereotype, simplify, or disrespect a community. This incident reminded me that good intentions are not enough; educators have a responsibility to learn continuously and to approach cultures with humility and respect.
