CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN BULGARIA, FRANCE, MARTINIQUE, POLAND, SLOVENIA AND TURKEY

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1 Project acronym: Project title: Project number: Sub-programme or KA: CoMeIn Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP Comenius Multilateral Projects CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN BULGARIA, FRANCE, MARTINIQUE, POLAND, SLOVENIA AND TURKEY This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... 3 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND... 4 METHOD... 8 RESPONDENTS RESULTS OF THE EMPIRICAL STUDY OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN BULGARIA, MARTINIQUE, POLAND, SLOVENIA, FRANCE AND TURKEY STUDY RESULTS ABOUT THE STUDENTS VALUE ORIENTATIONS CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS COMPARISON BETWEEN VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES STUDY RESULTS ABOUT THE TEACHERS VALUE ORIENTATIONS CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS CONCLUSION LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 2

3 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools INTRODUCTION Social system can only exist because human behavior is not random, but to some extent predictable. What we can observe is only behavior, words, or dress. What we infer from it is the presence of stable mental programs. This type of inference is not unique to the social sciences it exists, for example, in physics, where the intangible concept of forces is inferred from its manifestations in the movement of objects. Like forces in physics, mental programs are intangibles, and the terms we use to describe them are constructs. Constructs do not exist in an absolute sense: We define them into existence. 3

4 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union THEORETICAL BACKGROUND The key constructs to be used in this survey for describing mental programs are values and culture. Values are an attribute of individuals as well as of collectivities; culture presupposes a collectivity. Geert Hofstede defines a value as a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others. Power Distance indicates the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally among individuals. SMALL Low dependence needs Inequality minimized Hierarchy for convenience Superiors accessible All have equal rights Change by evolution LARGE High dependence needs Inequality accepted Hierarchy needed Superiors often inaccessible Power-holders have privileges Change by revolution Specific behavior in Small Power Distance is characterized as the following: Follow rules, norms and behaviour which conform the least to hierarchy The employees feel free to argue with their managers The manager acts mostly as an initiator who mobilises others Employees respect those managers, who treat them as partners Specific behavior in Large Power Distance is characterized as the following: Formal rituals expressing respect, attention and agreement. Employees do not feel free to argue with their managers Managers that behave friendly and are close to their subordinates may loose their respect The good manager is expected to give detailed instructions Value orientations in PDI have a good working relationship with your direct superior be consulted by your direct superior in his/her decision-making How frequently, in your experience, are subordinates afraid to express disagreement with their superiors? An organization structure in which certain subordinates have two bosses should be avoided at all costs LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 4

5 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools INDIVIDUALISM vs. COLLECTIVISM (IDV) It indicates the extent to which a society is a loosely knit social framework in which people are supposed to take care only of themselves and their immediate families, instead of a tight social framework in which people distinguish between ingroups and out-groups and expect their in-group to look after them. INDIVIDUALISM I conscious Private options Fulfill obligations to self Loss of self-respect, guilt COLLECTIVISM We conscious Relationships over tasks Fulfill obligations to group Loss of face, shame Specific behavior in Individualistic countries is characterized as the following: They need clarity and straightforwardness. Prefer to speak directly. Achieving personal goals and desires is prior to group s goals. Use more often I instead of we. Specific behavior in Collectivistic countries is characterized as the following: Prefer indirect communication. Comply to other people s feelings and try not to hurt anybody. It is important for them to preserve other people s dignity. They try to reach the goals set and to comply with the needs of the team. They are interdependent. Value orientations in IDV have sufficient time for your personal or family life have good physical working conditions (good ventilation and lighting, adequate work space, etc.) have security of employment have an element of variety and adventure in the job 5

6 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE (UAI) It indicates the extent to which a society feels threatened by ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them by providing rules, believing in absolute truths, and refusing to tolerate deviance. STRONG Anxiety, higher stress Inner urge to work hard Showing emotions is accepted Conflict is threatening Need for consensus Need to avoid failure Need for laws and rules WEAK Relaxed, lower stress Hard work not a virtue per se Emotions are not shown Conflict & competition are seen as fair play Acceptance of dissent Willingness to take risks There should be few rules Specific behavior in Weak Uncertainty Avoidance is characterized as the following: Lower tension on work place and low resistance towards change. Take more risks. Think that there is no need for the manager to be a professional in the area. Consider that the hierarchy can be violated when there are reasons for this. Prefer broader limits and less written rules. Rules can be violated when needed. Conflicts in the organisation are natural. Specific behavior in Strong Uncertainty Avoidance is characterized as the following: More stress at work and resistance to change Employees fear failure and take less risks Employees believe the manager should be a specialist Hierarchy structure in the organisation should be clear and respected by all Preference for clear requirements and instructions and specific, written rules Corporate rules should never be violated and conflicts are undesirable Value orientations in UAI How often do you feel nervous or tense at work? One can be a good manager without having precise answers to most questions that subordinates may raise about their work One can be a good manager without having precise answers to most questions that subordinates may raise about their work A company's or organization's rules should not be broken - not even when the employee thinks it is in the company's best interest LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 6

7 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools MASCULINITY vs. FEMININITY (MAS) It indicates the extent to which the dominant values in a society tend toward assertiveness and the acquisition of things, and away from concern for people and the quality of life. MASCULINITY Ambitious and a need to excel Tendency to polarize Live in order to work Big and fast are beautiful Admiration for the achiever Decisiveness FEMININITY Quality of life-serving others Striving for consensus Work in order to live Small and slow are beautiful Sympathy for the unfortunate Intuition Specific behavior in Masculinity is characterized as the following: Work, material welfare, assertiveness and ability to compete take central place in their lives. Roles, played by each gender are clearly distinguished. More agressive type of communication. Task-oriented. Specific behavior in Femininity is characterized as the following: Accept more easily the roles of each gender. Interpret more easily non-verbal communication. Deal better with unknown. Relationship oriented. Value orientations in MAS work with people who cooperate well with one another have an opportunity for advancement to higher-level jobs Most people can be trusted When people have failed in life it is often their own fault 7

8 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union METHOD The personality is based on traits, which are partially inherited by the unique gene pool, and partially learnt. Learnt means personal experiences both unique and changed by the influence of culture. The core of the culture is formed by the values. They are the common bias to prefer a particular state of things to other. Values are feeling with a particular direction there is a plus and a minus. Values are among the first things that children learn not consciously, but subconsciously. Most psychologists share the view, that by the age of 10 the majority of the children already have an established basic value system, and after that age it can be changed hardly. As values are adopted at such an early age, many of them become unconditional reflexes. Therefore, they cannot be discussed, nor directly observed by outsiders. They can be only derived by the way people behave under different circumstances. Different questionnaires, developed to study the value orientations, aim at determining what people would choose between particular options. This is also one of the main motives, underlying the empirical study. In our survey we use two questionnaires. We use the same questionnaires both for students and teachers. The first questionnaire involves 20 pairs of items which describe common behavior in different situations. The items are grouped in pairs at the both ends of a scale from 1 to 5. The second questionnaire involves 20 statements of an ideal job (VALUES SURVEY MODULE). Scale of evaluation is Likert type: 1 = of utmost importance 2 = very important 3 = of moderate importance 4 = of little importance 5 = of very little or no importance For each dimension the index range from 0 to 100 as follows: Power Distance: Small from 0 to 50; Large from 51 to 100; LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 8

9 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools Uncertainty avoidance: Weak from 0 to 50; Strong from 51 to 100; Collectivism (from 0 to 50) versus Individualism (from 51 to 100); Femininity (from 0 to 50) versus Masculinity (from 51 to 100); Short term orientation (from 0 to 50) versus Long term orientation (from 51 to 100). In the end of survey we ask respondents about some demographic data: gender; age; class / for students/; type of school; level of education; total work experience / for teachers/; experience in this area / for teachers/; specialty/occupation / for teachers/; position / for teachers/; nationality. 9

10 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union RESPONDENTS The study was conducted in 2012 among 962 students and teachers in schools in Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, Turkey and France. There are a total of 962 respondents who took part /681 students and 281 teachers/, distributed by demographic characteristics. Fig. 1. DISTRIBUTION BY GENDER IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS (IN %) Fig. 2. DISTRIBUTION BY AGE IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS (IN %) Fig. 3. DISTRIBUTION BY NATION IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS (IN %) LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 10

11 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools Fig. 4. DISTRIBUTION BY GENDER IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS (IN %) Fig. 5. DISTRIBUTION BY AGE IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS (IN %) (FROM 20 TO 61 years; average - 44 years) Fig. 6. DISTRIBUTION BY TOTAL EXPERIENCE IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS (IN %) (FROM 1 TO 40 years, average 18 years) 11

12 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Fig. 7. DISTRIBUTION BY EXPERIENCE IN THE SCHOOL IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS (IN %) (FROM 1 TO 36 years, average 14 years) Fig. 8. DISTRIBUTION BY TYPE OF THE SCHOOL IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS (IN %) Fig. 9. DISTRIBUTION BY NATION IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS (IN %) LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 12

13 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools RESULTS OF THE EMPIRICAL STUDY OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN BULGARIA, MARTINIQUE, POLAND, SLOVENIA, FRANCE AND TURKEY STUDY RESULTS ABOUT THE STUDENTS VALUE ORIENTATIONS Respondents answers should not be accepted literally, however, data from the questionnaires provide useful information, as they show differences in the answers between groups or categories. When interpreting the claims of the respondents about their values, it is important to make difference between desirable and desired i.e. what should be a job according to us and what we want for ourselves. The questions related to the desirable target people by referencing of true/false. The desired is formulated to refer to you or me and what we consider important, what we want for ourselves. To a small extent the desirable overlaps with the actual behavior, but even the claims about the desired, although closer to the actual behavior, do not necessarily correspond with people s behavior in a situation of choice. The received results of the preferences study about the perfect job for students show high power distance (PDI=51), high uncertainty avoidance (UAI=59), masculinity (MAS=50) and collectivistic (IDV=41) orientations, as well as short-termed orientation (LTO=40). The data are shown in Figure 10. Fig. 10. INDICES ABOUT ALL DIMENSIONS IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS 13

14 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union These results show that the surveyed students from the five countries prefer to have a good relationship on their workplace with their manager and expect from him to keep things on a leash. In this regard, that expresses their need for many written and unwritten rules. They prefer not to change the rules even if one of them does not work. Thus, they avoid increasing the stress level, caused by the dominant perception of change as a threat rather than opportunity. At the same time, they believe that in their work it is more likely to compete, rather than to cooperate, and because of that tend not to trust others very much. Students share the conviction that success to large extent depends on them, which is in the basis of their expressed desire to grow in the organizational hierarchy. At the same time, however, preferences for the job to allow sufficient time for personal and family life dominate, as well as greater security on the workplace, i.e. work in familiar situations and with fewer challenges. Single-factor dispersion analyses are applied to check the differences (One-Way ANOVA). Significant differences in value orientations appear according to the gender of the surveyed students in the Individualism vs. Collectivism dimension (see Fig. 11). Fig. 11. DIFFERENCIES IN THE DIMENSION INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM BY GENDER (STUDENTS) As seen on Figure 11, both in boys and girls collectivist orientations dominate. However, the index is higher for boys. These results show that boys prefer job, which is challenging and diverse, in which they can compete and grow. In contrast, girls prefer more a job in which they rather cooperate, which provides good labor conditions and to have sufficient time for personal and family life. These results, probably, could be LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 14

15 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools explained by the sex-role stereotypes women are concerned in greater extent for the quality of life, and men are oriented in pursuing and achieving material success. The gender also differentiates considerably value preferences in Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. As it is shown in Figure 12, orientations to avoid indefinite situations are stronger in girls. That comes to show that in girls the stress level is higher, the need for many rules is stronger, as well as the conviction that even one of the rules is not effective it must not be changed. These results are expected and logical, since in most studies it is found relatively higher stress and anxiety level in women. Fig. 12. DIFFERENCIES IN THE DIMENSION UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE BY GENDER (STUDENTS) Age is also an important factor that differentiates value preferences in the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. Data is displayed in Figure 13. Results show that with the age increasing certain preferences for particular and structured situations in which people feel more secure and experience lower stress level grow. Preferences for a job, in which people would not compete, are stated clearly and categorically. In addition, work must be characterized with very detailed and formalized rules and procedures. The probable explanation can be associated with the dominant beliefs and convictions in the sociocultural context of the studied societies, which determine the culture of these societies mostly as highly uncertainty avoiding. In such a culture people would rather follow the changes and would not initiate them. Similar data are reported by G.Hofstede. 15

16 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Fig. 13. DIFFERENCIES IN THE DIMENSION UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE BY AGE (STUDENTS) Significant differences are also found in terms of surveyed students nationality. Data are displayed in Figure 14. Fig. 14. DIFFERENCIES IN ALL DIMENSIONS BY NATION (STUDENTS) It is discovered that in Power Distance dimension only in surveyed students from Turkey are found preferences which support low power distance, while with all other students stand out orientations, which characterize high power distance. The results for Turkey are unexpected, but the index values are very close to the average for that dimension and it is possible that they are result of situational factor. The data for the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension by all respondents show high uncertainty avoidance. For the Individualism vs. Collectivism only the surveyed students from Slovenia show index values, which do not determine clearly whether the preferences are individualistic or collectivistic. Data, found for the Masculinity vs. Femininity dimension show that in Bulgaria, Poland and Turkey dominate preferences, which support feminine culture, while in France and Martinique, as well as in Slovenia are LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 16

17 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools supported masculine orientations. These results are confirmed by other studies, as well as by the G.Hofstede s data, and perhaps could be interpreted by the relevant sociocultural context. Analogical results are registered also for the Long Term Orientation vs. Short Term Orientation dimension. In Bulgaria, Poland and Turkey short term orientations clearly stand out, in Slovenia long term perspective, and in France and Martinique are found boundary values. These data are also expected and logical. CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS In studies of cultural practices the following tendencies stand out: in general, cultural practices, which dominate in the surveyed schools, show that high power distance (PDI=58), high uncertainty avoidance (UAI=65), individualistic (IDV=65) and masculine (MAS=61) are supported. Data are presented in Figure 8. These results are logical and expected, as cultural practices are actually a result of value beliefs and convictions, which shape the value-motivational sphere of the personality and reflect in everyday behavior of people. Fig. 15. INDICES OF CULTURAL PRACTICES IN ALL DIMENSIONS IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS In the study additionally is prepared a research on responses frequency distribution for each pair of statements on the individual dimensions. In Table 1 are 17

18 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union presented data for the statements, which shape the cultural practices in the Power Distance dimension. Table 1. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION POWER OISTANCE (PDI) - STUDENTS N LOW PDI MIDDLE HIGH PDI students in a school are taught that their opinion counts as much as the teachers student in a school are encouraged to learn that nothing is to be taken for granted students continually challenge their teachers and where it is sometimes difficult to make out who is in charge and who should be told what to do students are told when they have done their job well changes are implemented after consulting with students or teachers students in a school are taught that the authority of the teachers is not to be questioned student in a school are taught that statements from older or more important persons are to be accepted the teacher decides and closely leads and controls his/her students and the students accept this because they respect him/her and consider this to be his responsibility students are shown only the mistakes they make changes are implemented on order from management As seen from Table 1, surveyed students do not have a clearly defined opinion about the four out of the five statements, which shape the Power Distance dimension. Results show that students equally share the opinion that in school they will be taught, that the authority of the teachers must not be questioned, as well as that their opinion is as important as their teachers. Similar are the data for the statement that students are encouraged to adopt opinions of the older and more important people, or are encouraged not to take anything on faith. Attitude towards the statements is the same: elders and more important people s opinion must be accepted / things should not be taken on faith. Indefinite is the opinion of the surveyed students whether the teacher should keep things on a leash or should treat them as equals, as well as for the way changes are introduced. Clearer and stronger is the position that students are shown not only the mistakes that they make, but the positive results as well. Presented in such a way, cultural practices show that school environment does not add to a competitive behavior, aimed at achieving higher results and strong desire for achievements. Dominant cultural practices combined with leading value preferences reflect a strong need of dependence and expectation for a more imperative management style. Perhaps LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 18

19 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools for this reason surveyed students show stronger preferences towards a job where all the responsibility lies with the direct manager, and he is seen as caregiving father. He is expected to be competent and narrow specialist in the respective field and for that he is respected. These cultural practices are in strong correlation with the practices, which shape the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension (see Table 2). There is again an indefinite opinion about what dominates in school to equal extent students learn that they should respect and honor both people sharing the common culture who know how to handle every situation, and competent leaders and specialists. There is an explicit view that a lot of rules should be to be followed in school, however, in the same time it is stated that if a rule is ineffective it has to be changed. Clearly expressed is also the view that dominant practices in school teach students to create clear structures and avoid ambiguous situations, which determines to some extent the stronger resistance towards changes and their slow introduction. At the same time, students register great differences between generations. These dominant practices actually show why surveyed students preferences are related to a job in which people feel secure, less stressed, with defined and strictly structured situations for which they have experience relevant to the new information. Table 2. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE (UAI) - STUDENTS N WEEK UNCERTANTY AVOIDANCE MIDDLE STRONG UNCERTANTY AVOIDANCE student are taught in school to live in chaos and uncertainty people with a general knowledge are admired because they know how to deal with most every situation there are only a few rules to be obeyed in society rules may be broken for pragmatic reasons smaller generation gap student are taught in school to create clear structures and to avoid ambivalent situations specialists and competent leaders are admired there are many rules to be obeyed in society school rules should not be broken greater generation gap Analogical results are found for the statements which shape the cultural practices for the Individualism vs. Collectivism dimension. Surveyed students share that in school they are taught to choose their friends based on similar interests. The practice that encouragement is received upon results and achievements, as well the 19

20 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union students should defend their interests themselves, is also supported. These practices support individualistic orientations. In contrast, however, it is shared that at school community spirit and social solidarity are encouraged, which characterizes collectivistic orientations. Perhaps, it is these results that contribute to the not that high dimension index. Another thing worth to pay attention to is the fact that value orientations are more collectivistic and probably because of that dominant cultural practices are not clearly defined. Table 3. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM (IDV) - STUDENTS N COLLECTIVISM MIDDLE INDIVIDUALISM students in their groups have strong and lasting relationships communal spirit and social solidarity predominate promotion is granted because of loyalty, appropriate family and age a teacher who does not make use of his/her power in order to get a good evaluation for a member of the family in need is regarded as immoral students expect school to defend their interests students choose their friends because of similar interests or sympathy loneliness and freedom predominate promotion is granted because of performance and not because of loyalty, appropriate family and age a teacher who makes use of his/her power in order to get a good evaluation for a member of the family in need is regarded as immoral students are expected to defend their own interests In Table 4 are presented the results for the individual statements which shape the Masculinity vs. Femininity dimension. Categorically stated is the view that students learn that motivation is a result of clearly defined goals and great responsibility, as well as that confrontations are something positive leading to success. Sharing this perspective is also the view that students are also encouraged to recognition and rewards, as well as that boys are much more oriented towards the material success and girls are more concerned about the relationships between people. These practices are associated with masculine orientations. Opposite to these data is the view that students are encouraged to express sympathy towards the less successful ones. This statement defines cultural practices as more feminine. The ambiguity of the cultural practices could be associated with the domination of mostly feminine value preferences LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 20

21 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools Table 4. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION MASCULINITY VERSUS FEMININTY (MAS) STUDENTS N FEMININTY MIDDLE MASCULINITY people express their sympathy with the less successful and the successful are envied motivation at a school results from a pleasant environment, warmth and friendliness people at a place of work endeavor to accomplish agreement and colleagues do not compete with each other both men and women can be modest and understanding, thinking about the quality of life students less interested in recognition people adore the successful and blame the less successful motivation at a school results from clearly defined goals and a great deal of responsibility as responsibility is a proof for success confrontations are valued as something positive and leading to achievement: either you face competition or you perish men pursue material success and women are rather modest and understanding, thinking about the quality of life students aspire to recognition In examining the differences in cultural practices dimensions were found the following results: gender differentiates cultural practices in the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension and Individualism vs. Collectivism dimension (see Figure 16). Fig. 16. DIFFERENCIES IN THE CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE DIMENSIONS UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE AND INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM BY GENDER (STUDENTS) As seen on Figure 16, in both dimensions girls score higher. These results are expected and logical for the cultural practices in the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. For the Individualism vs. Collectivism dimension, however, they are unexpected. Perhaps, however, they can be interpreted in terms of changing the gender- 21

22 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union role stereotypes. Women, as well as men, are oriented towards pursuit of material success; they are ambitious and do well in managerial positions. Age differentiates cultural practices in the Power Distance and Masculinity vs. Femininity dimensions (see Figure 17). It is found that with the age increasing, the significance of the practices, that support high power distance and masculine orientations, is increasing as well. That means that people will expect an imperative style of behavior and management and they will be embarrassed to express their opinion in front of their superiors, especially if it is contrary, they will oppose changes and probably will be more conservative in their own behavior. However, in the same time, they will aim to achieve recognition, adopt competitive behavior and will be willing take on more responsibility as s proof of success. Fig. 17. DIFFERENCIES IN THE CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE DIMENSIONS POWER DISTANCE AND MASCULINITY VERSUS FEMININITY BY AGE (STUDENTS) Significant differences are found according to nationality (see Figure 18). In general, it is registered that, according to the surveyed students, cultural practices support high power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, individualistic and masculine orientations. It is found, that students from Turkey have the lowest index values LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 22

23 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools Fig. 18. DIFFERENCIES IN THE CULTURAL PRACTICES IN ALL DIMENSIONS IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS COMPARISON BETWEEN VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES To check differences between value orientations and cultural practices a T-test was used for dependent samples. Results from the test show that significant differences are found only in the Individualism vs. Collectivism and Masculinity vs. Femininity dimensions. In terms of value preferences collectivistic and feminine orientations are registered, while in terms of cultural practices the result is categorically for individualism and masculinity. This result could be related with the age of the respondents, who are in a period of search for their identity. It is clear from Figure 19 that in Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance dimensions both indices show high power distance and strong uncertainty avoidance, with cultural practices having higher values. Fig. 19. INDICES OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE STUDENTS 23

24 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union From the surveyed students obtained results it can be concluded that value orientations and cultural practices support high power distance, strict subordination in relations, combined with relatively low motivation and striving for achievements, more competitive behaviour and collectivistic orientation. In this sense, it is important to apply practices which are more likely supporting low power distance students to be trained and taught, that their opinion is as important as their teachers and not to accept anything on faith, because they lead to strong need of independence. In the everyday behavior this reflects in strong need and striving to take on more responsibility, greater flexibility, adaptability and initiative. It is also important for students to be trained and taught in unstructured situations, to accept change as an opportunity and not as a threat, to be open to new things. That leads to a strong need to frame a few rules, which would be followed and that in the everyday behavior reflects in lower levels of stress and anxiety, higher initiative and activity. Registered data about the cultural practices support individualistic and masculine orientations which are expressed in a more competitive behavior, strong motivation for achievements and defending personality s interests and goals. Such behavioral model is more effective, both on individual and organizational level, and leads to increased prosperity. It is important to compare value orientations results of the students and their opinions for the practices in school with those of the teachers in order to determine the degree of consistency and to provide an opportunity to draw conclusions, which would be useful for the consulting and implementing the new coaching methods LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 24

25 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools STUDY RESULTS ABOUT THE TEACHERS VALUE ORIENTATIONS From the study of value orientations for teachers the following results were found (see Figure 20): dominant preferences support mostly high power distance, which suggests more authoritarian behavioral style, orientation towards cooperation and avoiding conflict situations. At the same time, strong uncertainty avoidance is clearly outlined which associates more with the search for structured situations, a lot of written and unwritten rules, higher stress levels and insecurity at the work place. However, a strong desire for achievements, search for various and challenging tasks and taking on responsibility for success or failure of the behavior is registered. Preferences associated with collectivistic values are found search for a job which would leave sufficient time for personal or family life, better labor conditions. A short-term orientation is also clearly defined in value preferences. These results have strong consistency with those received from the surveyed students, and are probably related to the whole picture, dominant beliefs and convictions in society in the surveyed countries and are comparable with those in other studies. Fig. 20. INDICES OF THE VALUE OREINTATIONS IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS To check the differences in value preferences of individual dimensions were conducted dispersion analyses (ONE-WAY ANOVA), which results show the following trends: significant differences are found in the Individualism vs. Collectivism and 25

26 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Masculinity vs. Femininity dimensions in terms of nationality of the surveyed teachers. Data are presented successively in Figure 21 and Figure 22. Fig. 21. INDICES OF THE VALUE OREINTATIONS IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS IN THE DIMENSION INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM As shown in Figure 21, only the surveyed teachers from France and Martinique support preferences connected to individualistic culture, while in all other teachers dominate collectivistic value orientations. In terms of socio-cultural environment in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Poland and Turkey these results are expected. Analogical are the results for value preferences in the Masculinity vs. Femininity dimension. For Bulgaria and Poland are registered feminine value orientations, for Turkey index values are close to the limit, and for Poland and Slovenia the masculine orientations are dominant. Fig. 22. INDICES OF THE VALUE OREINTATIONS IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS IN THE DIMENSION MASCULINITY VERSUS FEMININITY LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 26

27 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools The found results show that in Bulgaria and Poland teachers prefer mostly a job in which they would collaborate and would not compete. They also strive for a job which would bring them greater sense of security, which probably is related to the relevant socioeconomic context. CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS Cultural practices at school outline high power distance, strong uncertainty avoidance, individualistic and masculine orientations. Data are presented in Figure 23. Fig. 23. INDICES OF THE CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS For a clearer understanding is prepared a frequency distribution of the individual statements in each dimension of the cultural practices. For the Power Distance dimension data are presented in Table 5. Table 5. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION POWER DISTANCE TEACHERS N LOW PDI MIDDLE HIGH PDI 1 students in a school are taught that their opinion counts as much as the teachers students in a school are taught that the authority of the teachers is not to be questioned student in a school are encouraged to learn that nothing is to be taken for granted students continually challenge their teachers and where it is sometimes difficult to make out who is in charge and who should be told what to do students are told when they have done their job well changes are implemented after consulting with students or teachers student in a school are taught that statements from older or more important persons are to be accepted the teacher decides and closely leads and controls his/her students and the students accept this because they respect him/her and consider this to be his responsibility students are shown only the mistakes they make changes are implemented on order from management 27

28 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Unlike the data from the students, results received from teachers show a clearly defined opinion about the cultural practices in that dimension. Teachers believe that students are taught and learnt that opinion of the latter is as important as teachers and they should not accept anything for granted, positive results are also shown to students. Similar is the attitude towards changes they are introduced after consultations with those whom they refer to. These practices stimulate children to have a more independent behavior that is characterized by higher initiative and activity, stronger desire for taking on responsibility and calculated risk. Such a behavior can contribute for a greater success, both in personal and professional relationships, and add to increasing the effectiveness and welfare. In Table 6 are presented results for statements in the Uncertainty Avoidance dimension. According to data, the view that practices support uncertainty avoidance is categorically verified. Surveyed teachers believe that students are taught to respect and honor only the competent specialists. Students are also encouraged to create clear structures and avoid uncertain situations. Furthermore, it is found that there are a lot of rules, however, even if there is an ineffective one it is not changed. The view that there are great differences between generations is categorically affirmed. Table 6. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE TEACHERS N WEEK UNCERTANTY AVOIDANCE MIDDLE STRONG UNCERTANTY AVOIDANCE student are taught in school to live in chaos and uncertainty people with a general knowledge are admired because they know how to deal with most every situation there are only a few rules to be obeyed in society rules may be broken for pragmatic reasons smaller generation gap student are taught in school to create clear structures and to avoid ambivalent situations specialists and competent leaders are admired there are many rules to be obeyed in society school rules should not be broken greater generation gap Data about cultural practices in the Individualism vs. Collectivism dimension are presented in Table 7. Results show, that students are encouraged to choose their friends based on similar interests or sympathy, as well as that encouragement is received upon achievements. These practices support individualistic orientations. At the LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 28

29 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools same time, however, it is registered that students support community spirit and social solidarity, and also that they expect the school to protect their interests. Unlike dominant beliefs and convictions, which support the collectivistic culture, individualistic practices are strongly backed as well. Table 7. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS COLLECTIVISM TEACHERS N COLLECTIVISM MIDDLE INDIVIDUALISM students in their groups have strong and lasting relationships communal spirit and social solidarity predominate promotion is granted because of loyalty, appropriate family and age a teacher who does not make use of his/her power in order to get a good evaluation for a member of the family in need is regarded as immoral students expect school to defend their interests students choose their friends because of similar interests or sympathy loneliness and freedom predominate promotion is granted because of performance and not because of loyalty, appropriate family and age a teacher who makes use of his/her power in order to get a good evaluation for a member of the family in need is regarded as immoral students are expected to defend their own interests From data presented in Table 8 could be traced the view of the surveyed teachers about the cultural practices which shape the Masculinity vs. Femininity dimension. Results show indefinite opinion about what must be supported as a practice in students education to admire the successful and prosperous or to care about the weaker and even to envy the prosperous. However, the shared view is that students are mostly encouraged towards collaboration and consent rather than competition, as well as that both boys and girls could be equally oriented towards results or relationships. These practices support feminine orientations. At the same time students are taught be motivated by clearly defined goals and higher responsibility as a proof of success, as well as to seek recognition and rewards. Such practices support mostly masculine value orientations. 29

30 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union Table 8. DISTRIBUTION BY ITEMS IN THE DIMENSION MASCULINITY VERSUS FEMININTY TEACHERS N FEMININTY MIDDLE MASCULINITY people express their sympathy with the less successful and the successful are envied motivation at a school results from a pleasant environment, warmth and friendliness people at a place of work endeavor to accomplish agreement and colleagues do not compete with each other both men and women can be modest and understanding, thinking about the quality of life students less interested in recognition people adore the successful and blame the less successful motivation at a school results from clearly defined goals and a great deal of responsibility as responsibility is a proof for success confrontations are valued as something positive and leading to achievement: either you face competition or you perish men pursue material success and women are rather modest and understanding, thinking about the quality of life students aspire to recognition In order to study the differences in individual dimensions of cultural practices dispersion analysis (ANOVA) is used, results of which show that only nationality differentiates significantly cultural practices in individual dimensions. Data are presented in Figure 24. Fig. 24. DIFFERENCIES BETWEEN TEACHERS IN THE CULTURAL PRACTICES OF THE ALL DIMENSIONS As it is shown in Figure 24 in Power Distance dimension are registered the following differences: in Bulgaria, Slovenia, France and Martinique cultural practices support high power distance imperative management style, strict control and subordination in interactions, opposition to changes. In Poland and Turkey, however, LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 30

31 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools are supported practices which characterize low power distance consultative management style, rapid introduction to changes, which leads to higher effectiveness and prosperity. For the Individualism vs. Collectivism, Masculinity vs. Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance dimensions index values show practices which support individualistic and masculine orientations, as well as strong uncertainty avoidance. To study differences in value orientations and cultural practices in teachers a T- test for dependent samples was used, results of which are presented in Figure 25. The most significant differences are found between the value orientations and cultural practices in the Individualism vs. Collectivism and Masculinity vs. Femininity dimensions. Value preferences support collectivistic and feminine culture, while cultural practices stay mainly at individualism and masculinity poles. Fig.25. DIFFERENCIES BETWEEN VALUE ORIENTAIONS AND CULTURAL PRACTICES IN THE GROUP OF THE TEACHERS In other dimensions Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance no significant differences are found. Received results show that it is important to support practices and orientations which encourage students towards strong desire to attain results and achievements, to assert their interests, to be more confident in themselves, to be flexible and adaptive to constantly changing conditions. 31

32 With the support of the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union CONCLUSION The conducted research on the value orientations and culture practices does not pretend for representativeness, however, its results allow explaining the everyday behavior of teachers and students in the surveyed schools. Dominant beliefs and convictions shape value preferences and reflect in the everyday practices and relations between people. It is found that, dominant preferences and practices in the surveyed schools in Bulgaria, Poland, Slovenia, France, Martinique and Turkey support high power distance, which is characterized by an imperative management style, low motivation for achievements, accepting change as a threat and not as an opportunity. At the same time, orientations and practices support high uncertainty avoidance, which is associated with the need of written and unwritten rules and procedures and, concurrently, even if a rule is ineffective, it should not be changed. That is associated with even higher stress level, with the search for clear and defined structures and avoiding unknown situations. These dominant preferences and practices actually do not lead to increase of the effectiveness and prosperity. In terms of the Masculinity vs. Femininity dimension the found results categorically put the preferences at the femininity side and practices at the masculinity scale. The masculine culture is characterized by admiration for the successful and prosperous ones, with a search for and taking on more responsibilities and calculated risk, with pursuit of material success and accepting confrontations as something positive. For the Individualism vs. Collectivism dimension are registered significant differences. Value preferences support collectivistic orientations, while cultural practices support individualistic orientations. In that sense, it is important to find the balance between these differences, so that students education and training to be results oriented, towards self-realization, to defend own interests with the clear idea that achieving own results is positive not only to the individual person, but also to the group in which he participates. In that sense, students must be encouraged to be more confident when defending their own view and position, to be oriented towards achievements, since that is in the basis of successful realization and for achieving respect and recognition from others. Teachers are expected to be highly committed to students problems, to motivate and stimulate students to continue their education. For teachers it is important to comply LLP BG-COMENIUS-CMP 32

33 CoMeIn: Coaching Methodology for Teachers in Secondary Schools with what is leading in cultural practices at school, and also with students preferences in order to support a behavior which may result in taking on responsibility and solving problems. Concurrently it is important to work directly and indirectly, to reduce the uncertainty, to increase the desire for achievements by introducing practices that contribute to understanding of the difficulties which have to be overcome, so the students themselves would solve the problems successfully. In this way, by encouraging young people to develop and improve their competence, it is possible to reduce the number of students who abandon school education. Survey results give ground to expect that by providing a coaching methodology to the teachers, they will have an effective tool to meet the prevailing attitudes and expectations of the students to be led by the authorities in school. At the same time the essence of the method is such, that teachers will do that in a non-imperative manner, which creates prerequisites for developing students own potential and encourages towards taking on more responsibility for their decisions and behavior. 33