Chapter 4 of Misaligned Minds
mixing individualism and communitarianism in schools
This is the second of four chapters that each include nineteen stories illustrating how cross-cultural differences can complicate teaching. The stories in this chapter describe actual cases of misaligned minds that occurred when students and parents who regulate their relationships and learning according to communitarian norms and values come face-to-face with individualistic teachers.
4.01
The class whose members couldn’t learn without collaborating
Place: U.S. Midwest
Level: adult English class
People: Hmong students, U.S. teacher
Summary: Teacher frustrated by constant student collaboration.
4.02
How best to discipline Native Alaskan students
Place: Alaska
Level: high school
People: Native teacher and boys, Anglo principal
Summary Using Native ways, teacher disciplines boys; principal disciplines her.
4.03
American parents reject instructional methods from abroad
Place: United States
Level: middle school
People: American parents and principal
Summary: Principal mandates European-style group projects; parents revolt.
4.04
Non-Inuit teachers undermine their Inuit pupils’ learning
Place: Quebec
Level: primary
People: Inuit pupils and teachers, non-Inuit teachers
Summary: Inuit teachers allow pupil collaboration; non-Inuits do not.
4.05
American mother startled by Japanese classroom procedure
Place: Japan
Level: primary
People: American mother, Japanese pupils
Summary: Allowed to observe in classrooms, mother is astonished by what she sees.
4.06
African students lose interest in a British business course
Place: United Kingdom
Level: business school
People: African students, British course administrator
Summary: Students gradually lose interest in a four-week course.
4.07
A student’s dilemma: Help a colleague or refuse to cheat?
Place: Germany
Level: adult German class
People: American and Eastern European students
Summary: Europeans critical of Americans’ refusal to cheat.
4.08
Responding to a misprint on a major exam in Zimbabwe
Place: Zimbabwe
Level: middle school
People: Canadian teacher, local students
Summary: Misprint on practice exam raises question of how to respond.
4.09
Communitarian values reign in a Berlin ice cream parlor
Place: Germany
Level: adult German class
People: German teacher, Eastern European students
Summary: Teacher treats students, is perplexed by their behavior.
4.10
Native American propriety affects students’ writing ability
Place: United States
Level: community college
People: Native American students, Anglo teacher
Summary: Due to a Native norm, students are unable to summarize.
4.11
A second look at the capabilities of inner-city pupils
Place: United States
Level: upper primary
People: Black pupils, white teacher
Summary: Teacher asks pupils to write about their lives, understands them much better.
4.12
University student from Kuwait objects to American-style grading
Place: Middle East
Level: university
People: Kuwaiti student, U.S. teachers
Summary: Design student objects to teachers’ preference for innovative ideas.
4.13
A misunderstanding with international teaching assistants
Place: United States
Level: graduate school
People: U.S. math teachers, Chinese students
Summary: Teachers shocked to learn that Chinese are not grasping advanced math.
4.14
Anglo teacher laments Native American students’ timidity
Place: U.S. Southwest
Level: middle school
People: Anglo teacher, Native and Anglo students
Summary: Teacher ascribes Natives’ classroom passivity to “timidity.”
4.15
University student from Bahrain hates to cite his sources
Place: Middle East
Level: university
People: Student from Bahrain, teachers from the U.S.
Summary: Student rails against requirement to cite sources in his papers.
4.16
Differing levels of international students’ commitment
Place: United States
Level: undergraduate
People: U.S. teacher, students from many nations
Summary: Perplexed by differing levels of commitment, teacher finds answer.
4.17
Trainee teacher decides between two contrasting districts
Place: Southeastern U.S.
Level: district
People: trainee teacher juggling job offers
Summary: After choosing district similar to where she grew up, teacher struggles to be accepted.
4.18
Shocking wall chart discovered in a Chinese classroom
Place: China
Level: high school
People: American researcher
Summary: Researcher shocked by huge chart listing each student’s name, test scores, class rank.
4.19
Eighth-grade students found digging a trench in Zimbabwe
Place: Zimbabwe
Level: middle school
People: Canadian teacher, local students
Summary: Teacher finds girls digging a trench, apparently for no reason.