Chapter 9 Cultural Influences on the Educational Setting

1. Chapter 9 Cultural Influences on the Educational Setting

2. functions of schools • Schools provide a context for socialization and learning. • Schools teach the formal knowledge cultures deem necessary. Basis of survival in U.S. versus South American rain forest. • Schools help fashion the individual and shape beliefs and values.

3. What 2 things are having a major impact on education in America? Globalization and Multiculturalism We are having to revise and reform educational practices to accommodate new cultural dynamics in the classroom. “…dealing with the world means dealing with people from backgrounds and orientations other than our own.”

4. The unique cultural characteristics must be integrated into the American education system. Our democratic perspective recognizes the personal worth and dignity of every individual regardless of culture, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, or national origin.

5. Name One practical example of Globalization in Education…. • Outsourcing of tutoring to other countries.

6. Formal education in each culture may teach the same subjects, yet significant differences may be found in…. • What cultures teach and • How cultures teach

7. What Cultures Teach Cultures impress upon each generation theirown worldview, values, and perceptual filters. “A nation writes its history in the image of its ideal.” —Abba Eban When school children are taught a culture’s history and language, a society is passing on its culture and reinforcing its beliefs and values—as well as its prejudices.

8. How do schools impart Ethnocentrism? Every culture tends to glorify its own historical, scientific, economic, and artistic accomplishments while minimizing the achievements of other cultures. Minimizing their failings too! World Map—Who’s in the center? Depends on where the map was made!

9. What a culture teaches provides insight into the culture’s character • Spanish students are taught the 3 Rs, PLUS formative skills (religious education) and national spirit (pride in country). • Chinese education emphasizes the goals of the group or society, fosters in-group belonging, demands cooperation and interdependence, stresses moral behavior, and pursues harmony.

10. Japanese Educational System…. • Teaches cooperation, harmony, and interdependence. Proper decorum and social behavior brings social harmony. • Characterized by a high degree of uniformity. National curriculum standards for all public schools, from K-12. Classroom all on same “page” throughout the country.

11. What is one key way the Japanese education differs from the US? • Japanese education pays little attention to oral communication. • Thus, Japanese students who come to study in the U.S. have major problems, because here oral communication is encouraged and expected.

12. Mexican Educational System • 12th grade mandated, but in the poor rural areas, often not possible. Rural students often must share textbooks. • Emphasizes strong family ties, reinforce cooperation over competition.

13. How Cultures Teach…Spain • Spanish classrooms are characterized by a lack of competition. Students don’t compete for grades. Ideas and information are shared. “Three helping one another will do as much as six men singly.”—Spanish proverb. • Spanish schools do not emphasize extracurricular activities so students spend 2x more time on academic subjects than do American students. • Culture has high level of uncertainty so classrooms tend to be very structured to reduce that uncertainty and make students feel comfortable. • Teachers are the experts; students are expected to agree with teacher or be viewed as disloyal. No room for creativity.

14. How Cultures Teach…Japan • Rote memorization of factual knowledge. • Instructors give lectures and write on black-boards while students copy down what teachers say and memorize facts and figures. • In a history class, students might memorize important facts about the U.S. such as the Civil War, but they do not analyze the causes or social implications of the events.

15. How Cultures Teach…Korea • Parents hold teachers responsible for disciplining their children, and children are often told that their teachers will be notified if they misbehave at home! • Group solidarity and conformity are important goals in Korean educational system. • Students take all their classes together • Wear uniforms • Specific hair length for boys • No makeup for girls!

16. What is the goal of multicultural education? To prepare students to become useful, functioning members of society.

17. 3 Cultural Styles of Learning(each reflects “deep structure” cultural beliefs, values, and worldviews)

18. 1. Linear-Active Cultures (USA and Europe) • Value facts & figures • Respect highly organized planners • Think linearly • Use a straightforward, direct communication style • Take task-oriented approaches • Prefer rationalism & science over religion

19. 2. Multi-Active Cultures (African-Americans, Arabs, Latinos) • Value emotions, close relationships, compassion, warmth, and feelings • Act more impulsively than people from linear-active or reactive cultures • Prefer face-to-face interaction • Use direct & animated communication style • Feel uncomfortable with silence

20. 3. Reactive Cultures (Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, & Native Americans) • Value subtle communication: listen first, then respond • Honor harmony, humility, and agreement • Use indirect communication style • Tolerate silence and find it meaningful

21. Ambiguity in Education…. • U.S.A.– Though the U.S. has a high tolerance for ambiguity (high toleration for uncertainty), the classroom is an exception! • School day is structured • Correct/incorrect yes/no answers, with emphasis on logic, rationalism, and cause and effect relationships. • Non-Western cultures are less tied to logic and rationalism. Native American cultures give little regard to seeking truth in absolute terms.

22. Aural (hearing), Visual, and Verbal Preferences • Native Americans=Visual and oral learners • How do you prefer to learn?

23. Cultural Interaction Styles • Passive-Receptive style: • listen quietly while teacher expounds. (Mainstream USA) • Participatory-Interactive style: • Speakers expect listeners to engage them actively through vocalized, motion, and movement responses as they are speaking. Both speakers and listeners are action-provoking partners in the construction of the conversation. (African Americans)

24. Conclusion An education system that fails to understand cultural diversity will lose the richness of values, worldviews, lifestyles, and perspectives of the diverse American co-cultures.