The Impact of Culture on Education- Huib Wursten & Carel Jacobs

Transcription

1 The Impact of Culture on Education- Huib Wursten & Carel Jacobs This is a stream-lined explanation of Wursten and Jacobs work on the Impact of Culture on Education. If you have time, I d recommend for you to read the actual paper which goes into much more detail into the purpose and implications of their study. The Impact of Culture on Education by Huib Wursten & Carel Jacobs lays out a framework for understanding culture, and how it influences the way teaching/learning processes are approached in different countries. To see the implications of culture on teaching, Wursten and Jacobs refer to Geert Hofstede research, which identifies and categorizes the dominant value preferences across countries from around the world into five value clusters (i.e cultural dimensions): Power Distance Index (PDI) Individualism vs Collectivism (IDV) Masculinity vs Femininity (MAS) Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) Long Term Orientation (LTO) (pg.6 Wursten & Jacobs) Scores on each value cluster are ranked from low to high i.e from Before taking a look at how each country rank among each other, I`d like to say to take the country rankings with a grain of salt. Wursten and Jacobs analysis relies on Hofstede s research, which was published in 1984 (34 years ago!). We can assume that the value preferences of each country have slightly or significantly changed since then. Although the rankings may not reflect today s reality, understanding the value clusters give us, as ALTs, an analytical tool to understand our own observations and experiences from teaching in the Japanese education system.

2 Power Distance Index (PDI) pg.7,8 Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of a society accept that power is distributed unequally. In high power-distance cultures everybody has his/her rightful place in society. Old age is respected, and status is important. In low powerdistance cultures people try to look younger and powerful people try to look less powerful. People in countries like the US, Canada, the UK, all Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands score low on the power distance index and are more likely to accept ideas like empowerment, matrix management and flat organizations. Business schools around the world tend to base their teachings on low power-distance values. Yet, most countries in the world have a high power-distance index. Japan PDI score: 54 Lowest score; Denmark- 18 Highest score: Slovakia- 104 Implications of Power Distance on Teaching Low High Student centered. Premium on initiative Teacher centered. Premium on order Teachers expect student to initiate Student excepts teacher to initiate communication communication Teachers expects students to find own Student expects teacher to outline paths paths Students allowed to contradict & criticize Teachers never contradicted nor criticized Effectiveness of learning is a function of the amount of two-way communication. Effectiveness of learning is a function of the excellence of teachers

3 Individual vs. Collectivism (IDV) pg.8,9 In individualist cultures, like almost all the rich Western countries, people look after themselves and their immediate family only; in collectivist cultures like Asia and Africa people belong to in-groups who look after them in exchange for loyalty. In individualist cultures values are in the person, whereas in collectivist cultures, identity is based on social network to which one belongs. In individualistic cultures there is more explicit, verbal communication. In collectivist cultures communication is more implicit. Japan IDV score: 46 Lowest score: South Korea- 18 Highest score: USA- 91 Implications of Collectivism vs. Individualism on Teaching Collectivist Individualistic Students only speak up when called on by Students speak up in response to general the teacher invitation by the teacher Individuals only speak up in small groups. Individuals will speak up in large groups. Formal harmony in learning situations Confrontation and challenge in learning should be maintained at all times. situations can be brought into the open Neither teacher nor student should ever face consciousness is weak be made to lose face Teachers expect to give preferential Teachers expected to be strictly impartial treatment to some, e.g. based on ethnic affiliation or recommendation

4 Masculinity vs Femininity (MAS) pg.10 In masculine cultures like USA, UK, Germany, Japan and Italy the dominant values are achievement and success. The dominant values in feminine cultures are consensus seeking, caring for others and quality of life. Sympathy is for the underdog. People try to avoid situations distinguishing clear winners and losers. In masculine cultures performance and achievement are important. The sympathy is for the winners. Status is important to show success. Feminine cultures like the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands have a people orientation. Small is beautiful and status is not so important. Japan s MAS score: 95 Lowest score: Netherlands 14 Highest score: Slovakia Implications of Femininity vs Masculinity on Teaching Feminine Masculine Teachers use average students as norm. Teachers use best students as norm. System rewards students social System rewards academic performance. adaptation. Student s failure in school a relatively minor accident. Student s failure in school a severe blow to student self image. Students try to behave modestly. Students try to make themselves visible. Students choose subjects out of interest. Students choose subjects for career reasons Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) pg.11,12

5 Uncertainty avoidance (or uncertainty control) stands for the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity. In cultures with strong uncertainty avoidance, people have a strong emotional need for rules and formality to structure life. The way people think and learn is influenced by this value. In High UAI countries like Korea, Germany, Russia, France, Iran and Brasil, the need is to know about what people in the past and present already said about a certain subject. It is a pre-requisite for competence. This results in high status of experts, as opposed to weak uncertaintyavoidance cultures, like the UK, the USA, and Denmark in which the views of practitioners are more highly respected. Japan s UAI score: 92 Lowest score: Singapore- 8 Highest score: Russia- 95 Implications of Uncertainty Avoidance on Teaching Low High Students comfortable in Unstructured Students comfortable in structured learning situations learning situations Broad assignments Precise instructions No timetables Detailed assignments Strict timetables Teachers allowed to say I don t know Teachers expected to have all the answers. Good teachers use plain language Good teacher use academic language Students rewarded for innovative Students rewarded for accuracy approaches Teachers view intellectual disagreement as stimulating Teachers view intellectual disagreement as personal disloyalty.

6 Long Term Orientation (LTO) pg.12,13 The last element of culture is the Long Term Orientation which is the extent to which a society exhibits a future-orientated perspective rather than a near term point of view. Low scoring countries like the USA and West European countries are usually those under the influence of monotheistic religious systems, such as the Christian, Islamic or Jewish systems. People in these countries believe there is an absolute and indivisible truth. In high scoring countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, for example those practicing Buddhism, Shintoism or Hinduism, people believe truth depends on time, context and situation. (pg. 12 Japan s LTO score: 80 Lowest score: Canada - 23 Highest score: China Implications of Long Term Orientation on Teaching Low High Focus on asking Why? Focus on asking How? Students want to find the one and only Different answers possible. Many truths solution Strong emphasis on education as an obligation to parents and society Stability rated as the most important virtue Perseverance rated as the most important virtue