Name: Derek Martin

Title: Principal of London Campus, CultureWorks

Best Canadian TV show: The Red Green Show (http://www.redgreen.com/)  or Rick Mercer Report (http://www.rickmercer.com/)

Q. The idiom ‘as cool as a cucumber’ is an appropriate one for you, Derek.  You always look calm and collected, ready for your many responsibilities as Principal.  Could you describe a few ways that you help students along their academic path? 

A. A significant number of the students I see in my office come because of issues with their studies and their cultural experiences in Canada. My number one message to students is to stay focused on their purpose for studying at CultureWorks. At 19 or 20 years old, students are really in transition. They are learning about taking responsibility for their actions, accepting the consequences of those actions, and learning to reach out to resources on campus and in the community for other extra needs they may have. I reinforce our teacher’s work inside the classroom, and remind students to take charge of their life, inside and outside school.  So I guess I am a little like their ‘Canadian parent’ to these students when they come to my office.

Q. You have a degree in Anthropology.  What attracted you to this field?  Are there aspects of our students’ cultures you would like Canada to adopt?  Why?

A. I specialized in Social-Cultural Anthropology, which is the study of human culture – its development, its diversity, etc. I did not grow up in mainstream Canadian culture, so I was conscious of the influence of culture from an early age. When I studied Anthropology in first year university, I loved it, so I decided to major in it. My studies helped me a lot after university when I lived in Japan, and in my work at CultureWorks.

I think Canadians can learn from the cultures of our students, which often place more emphasis on the interests of the group.  One thing that I’ve noticed among our students is that family is very important to them. They tend to be good at cooperating with one another.  Family is also important to many Canadians too, but I think we may place too much emphasis on the individual.

Courtesy of http://www.cbc.ca

Q. What is culture shock? Have you ever experienced it?  Imagine a student is struggling with culture shock, what advice would you give him or her?

Courtesy of http://www.studyabroad.universiablogs.net

A. Culture shock is the discomfort, stress, or anxiety that results from living in a different culture.  I definitely experienced it several times in Japan. I also experienced it when I first moved from my hometown to Toronto after high school. To deal with culture shock, it is important to deal with the stress. Do something that you enjoy. For me, it means playing music, going outside, exercising, or reading. It is also important to stay connected with people from your home culture. At the same time, it is important to reach out and try to learn about the new culture and make friends from that culture. These people will help you to understand the new culture. The key here is “learn”. This means you need to have an attitude of curiosity about the culture.

Q. Lastly, for fun, if you could have any Canadian celebrity over for dinner, who would you be?  Why?

A. Bruce Cockburn. He’s still my favorite Canadian musician – colourful lyrics, challenging messages, and a great guitar player!  Also someone who is interested in many cultures!

Courtesy of http://www.last.fm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1-DI_ZeG0s

Thanks for your time Derek, we hope to have you back on the Hotspot soon!

If you are interested in learning more about Canadian Family statistics, this CBC news piece is very interesting! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/19/census-data-families-households.html