Culture of Learning What? Why? How?

‘Enhancing the Academic Experience of CHC Students’

Dr Anwei Feng

School of Education, Durham University

Why talk about CHC Students?

Let figures talk.

UK has the most diverse student body in the world (CIHE, 2006)

11% of student body come from overseas 40% of postgraduate population from

overseas 75% HEIs have students from more than

100 countries

HESA 2004/05 statistics show many from CHC countries: Total overseas Ss in the year – 318,410 P. R. of China – 52,675 (Largest overseas group studying

in the UK) Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore (in top ten + others

such as SK and the Chinese from Malaysia) – about 45,000

Have you ever

said or heard someone say any of the following, or something similar?

“They (CHC students) obviously behave differently in- or outside classroom!”

“They are so quiet, rarely participating in discussion. I don’t know if they understand.”

“They sit in the front row(s), looking serious, taking notes, etc. but they seldom say anything.”

“I can’t believe they copy chunks of stuff without any hesitation. Warnings on plagiarism don’t seem to make sense to them. What should I do?”

“His English is OK, but it’s difficult to figure out what he is up to (in the essay). Why can’t he be straightforward?”

“She (PhD student) seems to think I know everything and expects me to guide her step by step. In other words, she wants me to do the thinking for her…”

If the answer is yes, what does it suggest?

The Debate

Some say: Ignore all these! International students come here to receive a British

education, so they should and they do adapt, de-culturate, re-learn, accommodate, acculturate, etc. (i.e. to do things OUR way). So we stick to what we do.

Others say: We need to study their experience here and there and to

internationalise our curriculum, our pedagogy, etc. Both ISs and we teachers need to develop intercultural understanding

and to communicate better with each other. In order to do that, they say: We need to know differences between ‘cultures of learning’

e.g. Confucian culture of learning Socratic culture of learning

We can then explore a common ground, or a space or place where we can celebrate our differences. Etc.

What’s Culture of Learning? Working definition of ‘culture of learning’ (one

form of culture):

Values and beliefs of quality teaching and learning shared by a particular national group and the norms or behaviours that are built on them (cf. Cortazzi & Jin, 1996)

Philosophical assumptions about the nature of teaching and learning, perceptions of the respective roles of and responsibilities of teachers and students, learning strategies encouraged, and qualities valued in teachers and students (Hu, 2002)

How is it studied? Often through comparative or contrastive Studies.

Literature documenting such studies with a focus on East Vs West conceptions of learning includes:

Cortazzi and Jin (1996a; 1996b; 2001) Fullen (2001) Hammond and Gao (2002) Harris (1995) Jin and Cortazzi (1993; 1995; 1998) Kember (1997; 2000) Littlewood (2001; 2003) Tweed and Lehman (2002) Watkins and Biggs (1996; 2001)

Comparative Studies

Socratic versus Confucian Conceptions of Learning

Socratic Conception of quality learning which is widely discussed as learning philosophy for all is a western exemplar that values questioning of accepted knowledge and generate and express own hypotheses on such bases.

Confucian Conception values effortful, respectful, and pragmatic leaning of knowledge as well as behavioral reform. (Tweed and Lehman, 2002)

Socratic conceptions

Main theories of learning Constructivism (Steffe & Gale, 1995; Biggs 1999) Phenomenography (Marton & Booth, 1997)

Core argument:

Learning is a way in which learners interact with the world. Quality learning takes place only when they generate their own knowledge on the basis of the existing and when they engage themselves with higher cognitive-level processes.

“Good teaching is getting most students to use the higher cognitive level processes …” (Biggs, 1999: 4)

HCL Proc.

TheorisingReflectingGeneratingApplyingRelatingRecognisingNote-takingMemorising

LCL Proc.

Passive Ss’ activities Active (e.g. Lectures) (e.g. PBL)

A

B

Teaching Method

Confucian Conceptions 1

Confucian learners consider knowledge to be commodity to be transferable between teacher and student.

Quality learning is accomplished through successive repetitions and iterations, each of which drills deeper and deeper into the knowledge transmitted. One questions it only

when s/he understands it properly (Pratt, 1992b) Memorisation (the lowest cognitive level activity) and

hard work are strongly emphasised!

Confucian Conceptions 2

In exploring the “paradox of Chinese learners” – rote learning, large classes, expository methods, relentless norm-referenced assessment, etc. but good academic performance – Watkins and Biggs (1996) summarise features of Chinese learners as follows:

1. Understanding through the process of memorising

2. Success attributable to hard work, not ability

3. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation mutually inclusive

4. Respect for seniority and conformation to group norms

5. Individual success tied to family face

6. Collaborative learning outside classroom

Confucian Conceptions 3

Authors in Watkins and Biggs (2001) characterise Chinese teachers as follows:

1. Teachers promote learning and moral behaviour by setting themselves up as models both academically and socially (Chapter 2)

2. Teachers are authoritarian in class but also play a pastoral role outside class (Chapters 5 and 12)

3. Orchestrated teacher-centred teaching is welcomed and can be effective in large classes (Chapter 6)

4. Good teachers are perceived as those who have deep knowledge, friendly and good moral examples (Chapter 6)

Chinese Perceptions

N = 135 (Cortazzi and Jin, 1996)

A good teacher A good student

Has a deep knowledge Is hard working

Is patient Learns from each other

Is humorous Pays attention to teacher

Is a good moral example

Respects and obeys teacher

Contrastive Studies (cotazzi & Jin, 1996)

China (Cult. of Learn.) UK (Cult. of Learn.)Knowledge from authority Skills in learning

Collective consciousness Individual orientation

Teaching and learning as performance

Teaching and learning as organisation

Learning through practice and memorisation

Learning through interaction and construction

Listener/reader responsibility for communication

Speaker/writer responsibility for communication

Hierarchy, face, respect Equality, informality

Teacher as model and centre Teacher as organiser

Contrastive Studies - Hammond & Gao (2002)

Dialectic(Asian)

Dialogic(Western)

Teacher Holds power, knows all, controls space

Shares power and exp.ce, creates space

Student Listens, follows instr.s, just a student

Contributes, make proposals, a scholar

Learning focus

Fixed, fragmented, transmitted

Emergent, connected to whole, constructed

Education systems

Protect status quo, encourage compet.n,

Create future, encourage collab.n

Contrastive Writing

Styles

Kaplan (1966) – Thought patterns of textual organisation

English Semitic Romance Oriental

Oriental students follow the “indirect thought pattern” in writing of “turning and spiralling in a widening gyre”

Chinese Style of Writing (1)

Hu and Gao’s (1997) three observations

1. Authors write in “reader-responsibility language” (it is the writer’s job to show profound knowledge but the reader’s job to understand it), so writers don’t have to

define specialised terminology justify statements with facts or evidence acknowledge sources of arguments analyse the purpose of writing

Chinese Style of Writing (2)

2. Authors often: • prefer low-frequency vocabulary and lengthy sentences, taking

them as real academic writing; • take idioms and proverbs as truth;

“Practice makes perfect” “No pain, no gain”

• use strong wording and model verbs to conclude “It is important (crucial, essential) to …”, “We should (not)”, “ We must …” “In short, there is no such thing as …”

Chinese Style of Writing (3)

3. “Pangzheng Boying” (Citing copiously from many sources (without acknowledging them) – virtue of writers in China but taken as ‘plagiarism’ in West.

Argument:• Well-known ideas• Well-known people

If in-text referencing is used, it may appear like:• ‘A famous scientist once said, …’• ‘according to latest studies, …’• ‘some researches [sic] show that …’

So, models.

Based on the contrastive view of cultures of learning, effective approaches or models are believed to derive from awareness of differences to be developed by all stakeholders and from efforts to bridge the gaps through education or training.

C1 C2

The ‘Bridge’ Metaphor

Counter Arguments

Against the claims of contrasts: Biggs (1999) Kember (1997; 2000) Littlewood (2001; 2003) Stephens (1997)

Against ‘essentialist’ conceptions that lead to models based on the bridge metaphor: Holliday, et al. (2004) Keesing (1994) Bhabha (1994)

Binary contrasts challenged

(Biggs 1999; Kember, 2000; Littlewood, 2001)

“Myths”, “misconceptions”, or only “partially true” (Littlewood, 2001) Sample size: 2656 students in eleven

countries (8 Asian and 3 European) Research tool: 12-item questionnaire on perceptions and

attitudes in learning (similar to Cortazzi and Jin) Major finding

No significant difference in perceptions and attitudes

Contrasts such as those given before are criticised as an essentialist or reductionist approach to theorising culture (Holiday, et al. 2004)

Reconceptualising Culture

Culture should not be limited to essential features of a particular social group, i.e., to ‘shared values, established norms and patterned behaviours’. Bhabha (1994) argues that:

On the one hand, culture is “heimlich” with its seriality, generalisability and coherence.

On the other hand, it is “unheimlich” , heterogeneous and ambivalent, with its openness: permeable by otherness, susceptible to context and even self-contradictory.

Cultural differences, thus, “should not be understood as the free play of polarities and pluralities in the homogeneous empty time of the national community.” (p. 162).

Third Space Perspective

Bhabha, H. (1990; 1994) All forms of culture are subject to hybridity which

leads to a third space that “constitutes the discursive conditions of enunciation that ensure that the meaning and symbols of culture have no primordial unity or fixity; that even the same signs can be appropriated, translated, rehistoricised and read anew.”

This space “displaces the histories” and “gives rise to something different, something new and unrecognisable, a new area of negotiation of meaning and representation.” (1990: 211)

Discussion

Culture of learning is elusive and extremely hard to pin down. No form of culture, e.g. Socratic or Confucian culture of learning,

is homogeneous, fixed or unified as it is subject to cultural hybridity (Bhabha, 1994) and depends on the context in which individuals negotiate their cultural identities.

Therefore, a culture of learning can never be over-generalised.

However, few disagree that the notion of culture of learning is useful because:

individuals including us lecturers and ISs themselves rely on their perceptions of the cultures in interaction to make sense of specific contexts and to ADJUST accordingly

institutions that host ISs depend on their perceptions of the differences between cultures of learning to make pedagogical decisions.

The Gaps – Study Shocks!

Academic Roles (McClure, 2005) Student expects supervisor to give precise

guidance; supervisor expects student to work and think independently. As a result, student feels unsupported.

Research International postgraduate students lack

research skills as few were trained at home, but the training courses may be cast solely in terms of research culture in the host country (Trice, 2007)

The Gaps – Study Shocks! Writing (Ryan, 2007)

Very difficult for students who use English as an additional language

Difficulty in writing extensive pieces of work even in exams

Reproductive writing vs independent and critical writing

Access to academic cultures International postgraduate students are less likely to

integrate into the departmental research culture (Trice, 2005)

‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ Responses

What should we do to respond to issues that arise from internationalisation of education?

Beware of Eurocentric mentality ‘There is no need to do anything because they come for our

British education’ ‘Why should I adjust? They should!’

Make teaching and learning relevant to them ‘Do the theories and concepts I’m talking about make sense to

them?’ Be aware of the differences in cultures of learning

‘There seems to be lack of communication between us. Are they caused by different values and beliefs such as face, respect?’

‘There is something odd in his/her learning behaviour. Is it the result of internalised beliefs through early socialisation?’

‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ Responses

What should we do to respond to issues such as plagiarism and passive learning?

Improve practice to deal with issues in classroom participation, language, plagiarism, etc.

Intercultural communication module (Singapore) Academic writing to deal directly with plagiarism by

learning referencing skills (Hong Kong) Tandem learning (Sheffield) Intercultural Forum and BildungKaffe (Durham) Other institutional or individual actions …

Comments and Questions

Thanks!