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Th e i m p a ct o f cu l t u r e o n e d u c at i o nCan w e in t rodu ce best pract ices in educat ion across coun t r ies?

Hu ib W ursten & Care l Jacobs

As a resu l t o f g lob a l iza t ion , m any peop le a re becom ing in te rested in rank ing system s wh ich

show how th e i r ow n coun t r ies comp are w i t h o th ers on a va r iety o f m easures. The W or ld

Econom ic Forum pub l ishes an annu a l rank ing o f coun t r ies on econom ic com pet i t i veness; the

Un i t ed Na t ion s a rank ing on h um an deve lopm ent ; the OECD pub l ishes com par isons on th e

q u al i t y o f h eal t h care syst em s. E

In th is paper w e w i l l exp lo re th e ou tcom e o f rank ing coun t r ies on th e qua l i t y o f educa t ion . In

Econom ist M agazine

approaches th a t system at ical l y lead t o h igh er qua l i t y educa t ion t he reby enab l ing

o p y t o wa rd s

educa t iona l re fo rm s tha t h ave p roven e f fect ive in ra ising edu ca t iona l ach ievem ent in som e

coun tr ies. The surp r ising conclus ion f rom th is report , how ever, is th at a lm ost no pract ices w ere

fo u n d t h a t co u ld b e im p lem e n te d g lo b a ll y. Th e a u th o rs e xp la in t h a t w h i l e t h e i n p u t s t o

ed ucat io n l ike m o ney, sch oo l ch oice, years in sch oo l , an d t each er - can b e

iden t i f ied ; and ou tpu ts can be com pared look ing a t rank ing system s on m easures o f l i te racy ,

n u m e racy , a n d e d u ca t i o n a l at t a i n m e n t ; wh a t h a p p e n s b e tw e en i n p u t a n d o u t p u t i s very m u ch

a local issue. They describ e th is cou nt ry-

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no system at ic w ay to descr ibe how th e d i f fe rences in t he teach ing / learn ing p rocess t ran sfo rm s

in p u t s in t o o u tp u t s .

W e w i l l show th at w el l -researched system at ic d i f f erences in va lu e preferences across count r ies

are v i ta l fo r un derstand ing t he w ay teach ing / learn ing p rocesses a re hand led . Us ing th e

sem ina l w ork o f Geer t Ho fs tede on cu l t u ra l d i f fe rences, w e w i l l show th a t th e f i ve cu l t u re

d im ensions he fou nd p rov ides an an a lyt i ca l too l fo r u nders tand ing th e loca l d i f fe rences in

educat io nal po l icy and t eachin g m eth ods in scho ol system s. Based on t h is cross-cu l t ura l

f ram ew ork , w e ask a fund am enta l qu est ion : i s i t possib le to f ind b est p ract ices tha t w ork

w orldw ide in sp i t e o f th ese va lue d i f f erences?

In shor t th is a r t i c le a t tem pts to :

Sum m ar ize recen t rank ings o f edu ca t iona l p e r fo rm ance across coun t r ies and th e in f lu ence o f

cu l tu re on t hese rankin g system s.

Descr ibe w ha t cu l tu re is and ho w i t in f luences th e w ay we educa te and learn .

each o th er w h i le be ing so d i f fe ren t?

Enlarg e th e d iscussion of som e key issues in educat ion by incorporat ing a cu l t ura l

perspective.

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I. Rankin g educat ional syst ems w orldw ide

In th e f ie ld o f educat ion th ere are severa l system s used to com pare educat ion al qu al i ty across

coun t ries, in cludin g: Prog ress in In t ern at ion al Readin g Literacy St ud y (PIRLS); Trend s in

In te rna t ion a l M athem at ics and Science Stu dy (TIM M S); and t he Program m e fo r In t e rna t iona l

Stu dent Assessm ent (PISA).(*1) These approaches focus on benchm ark ing th e factor s leading to

ach ievem ent and , m ore speci f i ca l l y, t ry ing to iden t i f y w ha t speci f i c facto rs d i f fe ren t ia te th e

Recen t ly t he Econom ist In te l l igence Un i t o f t he Econom ist M agazine pu b l ished a n ew rank ing

system : the Learn in g Curve Data Bank LCDB: count ry perfo rm ance in edu cat io n.(*3) Th is report

ou t l ines th e m a in f ind in gs f rom a large body o f in te rna t iona l ly com parab le educat ion da ta . In

th e repor t t hey p rov ide an overal l rank ing (co lum n 1) by com par ing cogn i t i ve sk i l ls at t a inm ent

(co lu m n 2) w hich com bin es th e resu l t s f rom th e PIRLS, TIM M S and Pisa system s, and scores of

co u n t r i es o n u ca t io n a l a t t a in m e n t

(colu m n 3) (*4).

The top 20 coun t r ies a re show n be low :

Overall score Cogni t ive Skill s Education al at t ainm ent

F in la n d [Rank 1]1.26 [Rank 1]1.50 [Rank 3]0 .79So u t h Ko re a [Ran k 2]1.23 [Ran k 4] 1.24 [Ran k 1]1.21H o n g K o n g C h i n a [Ran k 3]0 .9 0 [Ran k 3]1.26 [Ran k 17]0 .20 *Japan [Rank 4]0 .89 [Ran k 5]1.0 4 [Ran k 8]0 .59Sin g a p o re [Ran k 5]0 .84 [Ran k 2]1.39 [Ran k 33]-0 .26 *

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U n i t e d Ki n g d o m [Rank 6 ]0 .6 0 [Ran k 12]0 .50 [Ran k 2]0 .81N e t h e r l a n d s [Ran k 7]0 .59 [Ran k 7]0 .72 [Ran k 11]0 .32*N e w Z ea l a n d [Rank 8]0 .56 [Ran k 9 ]0 .6 1 [Ran k 9 ]0 .47*S w i t z e r l a n d [Ran k 9 ]0 .55 [Ran k 8]0 .71 [Ran k 13]0 .22Ca n a d a [Rank 10 ]0 .54 [Ran k 6 ]0 .72 [Ran k 20 ]0 .18I re l a n d [Ran k 11]0 .53 [Ran k 16 ]0 .42 [Ran k 5]0 .74D e n m a r k [Ran k 12]0 .50 [Ran k 17]0 .41 [Ran k 6 ]0 .6 8Au s t ra l i a [Rank 13]0 .46 [Rank 11]0 .54 [Ran k 12]0 .31Po la n d [Rank 14]0 .43 [Ran k 20] 0 .26 [Ran k 4]0 .77G e r m a n y [Rank 15]0 .41 [Ran k 10 ]0 .56 [Ran k 23]0 .12B e l g i u m [Ran k 16 ]0 .35 [Ran k 15]0 .43 [Ran k 17]0 .20 *U n i t e d St a t e s [Rank 17]0 .35 [Ran k 14] 0 .44 [Ran k 21]0 .16H u n g a r y [Ran k 18] 0 .33 [Ran k 13]0 .46 [Ran k 25]0 .0 7Slovak ia [Ran k 19 ]0 .32 [Ran k 25]0 .16 [Ran k 7]0 .65Russia [Rank 20] 0 .26 [Ran k 19 ]0 .29 [Ran k 19 ]0 .20*

e rva t i o n i s t h a t i n a n y n u m b e r o f

surveys researchers m easure w hat is m easurab le. Usual ly inp ut s are ident i f ied m ore th an

educa t ion tend to b e lef t ou t . The au t hors con

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The qual i t y and ap proach o f t eachers p lays a b ig ro le in t h is . Teachers are key

ru les t

The how and w ha t o f educat ion is very m uch conn ected t o th e cu l t u re o f th e coun t ry a t h and . A

lo t o f d i f fe ren t ideas ex ist abou t th e ro le and p osi t ion o f th e teacher as we l l as expecta t ions

nt s. These key e lem ent s again are h ig h ly l inked t o cu l tu ra l

va lues. In th e Econom ist report cu l tu re is d iscussed on ly in a very generic way. Edu cat ion

a black bo x (*5) i n w h i ch i n p u t s are t u rn e d i n t o

ou t pu t s in w ays th a t a re d i f f i cu l t to p red ict o r q uan t i f y cons isten t ly .

Look ing a t t he b lack box above, w e bel ieve tha t i t can be opened . W e w i l l ou t l ine how cu l t u re

can be used as th e key. Cul t ure, how ever, is a vague t erm and is used in very d i f f erent w ays.

Inpu t ----> ? --- -> Outp u t

Spend ing per pu p i l

The

Black Box

of Edu cat ion is

Cul tu re

PIRLS

class size TIM M S

star t ag e PISA

scho ol choice Graduat ion ra tes

years in school Li teracy, em ploym ent , e tc .

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II . W hat is cult ure? How does cultu re inf luence the learni ng pro cess?a. Abou t cu l t ure: th e research of Geert H ofstede

resul t s o f th e sc ient i f ic research b y prof essor Geert Hof stede. Hof stede is w ide ly recog nized as

th e one w ho d id t he m ost fu ndam enta l research on cu l t u ra l d i f f e rences(*6 ,7,8 ,9 ) . He de f ines

ndam enta l research in t o th e

dom inan t va lues o f coun t r ies and t he w ay in w h ich they in f luen ce behav io r in o rgan iza t ions .

Or ig ina l da ta w ere based on an ex t ensive IBM da tabase fo r w h ich 116 ,0 0 0 quest ion na i res w ere

used in 72 count r ies and in 20 lan gu ages.

The resu l t s o f h is research w ere va l idated again st abo ut 40 cross-cu l tu ra l stu d ies f rom a var iety

t h e m o st f u n d a m e n ta l i n u n d e rsta n d in g a n d e xp lain i n g t h e d i f f e ren ces in a n swe rs t o t h e

sing le qu est io ns in h is quest io nn aires. He m easured t he d i f ferences and ca lcu la t ed scores for

56 count r ies on t hese 5 d im ensions. Later research, part ly done by ot hers have ext ended t h is to

abou t a 10 0 count r ies. The com bin ed scores for each count ry exp la in var ia t ion s in beh avior o f

people an d org anizat ion s. The scores ind icate t he re la t ive d i f ferences betw een cu l tu res.

The f i ve d imens ions o f na t ion a l cu l t u re iden t i f ied b y Ho fs tede a re:Pow er Distan ce Ind ex (PDI)

Ind iv idu al ism vs. co l lect iv ism (IDV)

M ascu l in i t y vs. femin in i t y (M AS)

Un certa in ty Avoidan ce Index (UAI)

Lon g Term Orient at ion (LTO)

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Coun t ry scores on each d im ension a re ranked f rom low to h igh , i .e . f rom 0 to 10 0 .

Please no t e tha t th e score o f a coun t ry i s no t m ean t t o im p ly th a t everyone in a par t i cu la r

socie ty is prog ram m ed in exact ly t he sam e w ay. There are con siderable ind iv idu al

d i f f erences. But w hen fu nd am ent a l va lues of var ious socie t ies are com pared, m ajor i t y

r aga in and aga in as a resu l t o f t he w ay ch i ld ren

a re b ro u g h t u p b y t h e i r p aren t s a n d t h e e d u ca t i o n a l syste m . An d w h e n w e exa m in e h o w

soc ie t ies o rgan ize them se lves, these m a jo r i t y p re fe rences tu rn ou t to have a m od i fy ing

in f luen ce at a l l leve ls. They have an in f lu ence on t he w ays teacher and stu dent s are

expected to b ehave. Even th e ideas of t he ob ject ives of edu cat ion are sta t ed in d i f f erent

w ays. For exam ple in som e cou nt r ies th e ob ject ive of edu cat ion is : to develop a cr i t ica l

m ind , w hich in o t her cu l tu res is v iew ed as absurd. In th ese cou nt r ies stu dent s are sup posed

to t ry to lea rn as m uch as possib le f rom th e o lder genera t ion and on ly w hen you a re fu l l y

in i t ia ted you m ay com m un ica te to h ave ideas o f yoursel f .

III. The fiv e dim ensions and th eir inf luence on Education

a. Pow er Distan ce Ind ex (PDI)

Pow er dist ancei s th e ex ten t to w h ich less pow er fu l m em bers o f a socie ty accep t t ha t pow er is

d ist r ibu ted u nequa l ly . In h igh pow er-d istan ce cu l tu res everybody h as h is /h e r r igh t f u l p lace in

socie ty . Old age is respected, and sta t us is im port ant . In low pow er-d istan ce cu l tu res people t ry

to lo ok youn ger and po w erfu l people t ry to loo k less pow erfu l . People in count r ies l ike th e US,

Canad a, th e UK , a l l Scandinavian coun tr ies and t he Neth erlands score low on t he pow er-

d istan ce index and a re m ore l ike ly to accep t ideas l i ke em pow erm ent , m at r ix m anagem ent and

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f la t o rg an izat ion s. Bus iness schoo ls a round th e w or ld t end t o base the i r t each ings on low

pow er-d istance values. Ye t , m ost coun t r ies in th e w or ld have a h igh pow er-d istan ce index .

b. Ind ividu al ism vs. Collect ivi sm (IDV)

In individualist iccul tu res, l ike alm ost a l l the r ich W estern count r ies, people look af t erth em se lves and t he i r imm ed ia te fam i ly on ly ; in collectivist cul tu res like Asia and Afr ica peoplebe long t o " in -g roups" wh o look a f te r t hem in exchange fo r loya lty . In in d iv idua l ist cu l tu res,

Im pl icat ion s of Pow er Distan ce on Teachin g

L o w H ig h

Stu dent cent ered.Prem ium on in i t ia t i ve Teacher cent ered. Prem iu m o n o rd e r

Teacher expects s tuden t to in i t ia te

co mmu n ica t i o n

Stu den t expects teacher to in i t ia te

co mmu n ica t i o n

Teacher expects stu den ts to f ind ow n pa ths Stu den t expects teacher to ou t l ine pa th s

Stu dent s a l low ed to cont rad ic t & cr i t icize Teacher never cont rad ic ted nor cr i t ic ized

Ef f ect iveness of learn ing is a fu nct io n t he

a m o u n t o f t w o -w a y co m m u n i ca t i on

Ef f ect iveness of learn in g is a fun ct ion of t he

excellence of t eachers

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values are in th e person , w hereas in co l lect iv is t cu l tu res, ident i ty is based on t he socia l net w ork

to w h ich on e be longs . In ind iv idua l ist cu l tu res th e re is m ore exp l ici t , verba l com m un ica t ion . In

co llect iv ist cu l tu res com m un ica t ion is more im p l ici t .

Im pl icat ion s of Col lect iv ism vs. Ind iv idu al ism on Teachin g

Col lect iv is t Ind iv idual is t

Stu den t s on ly speak up w hen ca l led on by th e

teacher

Stu dent s speak up in respon se to genera l

inv i ta t ion b y the teacher

Ind iv idu als on ly speak up in smal l grou ps Ind iv idu als w i l l speak up in large grou ps

Form a l ha rm ony in learn ing s i tua t ions shou ld

be m a in ta in ed a t al l t im es

Conf ron t a t ion an d cha l lenge in lea rn ing

si tu a t ions can be b rough t in t o th e open

Ne i the r t eacher no r s tu den t shou ld ever be

m ade to lose face

Teachers expected to g ive preferent ia l

t rea tm ent to som e, e .g . based on e thn ic

a f f i l ia t i o n o r re co m m e n d a t i o n

Teachers expected t o be st r ic t ly im part ia l

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c. M ascul in i t y vs. Fem in in i ty (M AS)

In m asculinecu l tu res l ike USA, UK, Germ any, Japan and I ta ly th e dom inan t va lues are

achievem ent and success. The dom inan t va lu es in femin inecult ur es are consensus seeking ,

car ing fo r o t he rs and qua l i t y o f l i fe . Sym path y is fo r t he un derdog . Peop le t ry to avo id

si tu a t ions d ist in gu ish ing c lea r w inners and losers. In m ascu l ine cu l tu res per fo rm ance and

ach ievem ent a re im por tan t . The sym path y is fo r th e w in ners. Sta t us is im por tan t t o show

success. Fem in in e cu l t ures l ike th e Scandin avian coun tr ies and t he N eth erlands have a people

or ien ta t ion . Sm a l l i s beau t i fu l and s ta tu s is no t so imp or tan t .

Im pl icat ion s of Fem in in i ty vs. M ascul in i t y on Teachin g

Fem in ine M ascu l ine

Teachers use average stu dent s as nor m Teachers use best stu den ts as no rm

System rew ards academ ic per fo rm ance

acc iden t stu den t se l f im age

stu den ts t ry to behave m odest ly stu den ts t ry to m ake th em se lves v isib le

Stu dent s choose subjects out o f in t erest Stu dent s choose subjects for career reason s

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d. Uncerta in t y Avoidance Ind ex (UAI)

Uncertaint y avoidance (or un certaint y control) stand s fo r t he ex ten t t o w h ich peop le feel

th rea tened by uncer ta in t y and am b igu i t y . In cu l t u res w i th st ron g un cer ta in ty avo idance ,

peop le have a st ron g em ot ion a l need fo r ru les and fo r m a l i t y to s t ruc tu re l i fe . The w ay peop le

th ink an d learn is in f luen ced b y th is va lue. In H igh UAI coun tr ies l ike Korea, Germ any, Russia ,

France, I ran an d Brasi l , th e need is to know abou t w ha t peop le in th e past and p resen t a l ready

said ab ou t a cert a in sub ject . It is a pre- gh s ta tu s o f

expert s, as opp osed t o w eak uncerta in ty-avoidan ce cu l t ur es, l ike the UK, th e USA, and D enm ark

in w h ich th e v iew s o f p ract i t ioners are m ore h igh ly respected .

Imp l ica t ions o f Uncer ta in ty Avo idance on Teach ing

L o w H ig h

Stu den ts com for t ab le in Un s t ruc tu red

learn ing s i tuat ions:

Broad assignm ents

No t im e tab les

Stu den ts com for t ab le in s t ruc tu red lea rn ing

si tuat ions:

Precise inst ru ct ions

De ta i led assignm ents

St r i c t t im e tab les

Teachers expected to have a l l t he an sw ers

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Imp l ica t ions o f Uncer ta in ty Avo idance on Teach ing

Good teachers use p la in langu age Good teachers use academ ic lang uag e

Stu den ts rew arded fo r inn ova t ive approaches Stu den ts rew arded fo r accuracy

Teachers v iew in t e l lectu a l d isagreem ent as

s t imu la t i n g

Teachers v iew in t e l lectu a l d isagreem ent as

personal d is loya l ty

e. Lon g Term Orientat ion (LTO)

The last e lem ent o f cu l tu re is th e Long Term Orient ati on w h ich is th e ex ten t to w h ich a socie ty

exh ib i t s a fu tu re -o r ien ta ted perspect ive ra ther th an a near te rm po in t o f v iew . Low scor ing

coun t r ies l i ke the USA and W est European coun t r ies a re usua l ly those under t he in f luence o f

m on ot heist ic re l ig ious system s, such as th e Chris t ian , Is lam ic or Jew ish system s. People in

th ese cou nt r ies be l ieve th ere is an absolut e and ind iv isib le t ru th . In h igh scor in g coun tr ies such

as Hong Kong , Ta iwan , Ch ina , fo r exam p le th ose p ract ic ing Buddh ism , Sh in t o ism o r H in du ism ,

peop le be lieve t ru t h d epends on t im e , con t ex t and si tu a t ion .

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Imp l ica t ions o f Long Term Or ien t a t ion on Teach ing

L o w H ig h

Stu d e n t s w a n t t o f i n d t h e o n e a n d o n l y

so lu t ion

St ron g em phas is on edu ca t ion as ob l iga t ion t o

parent s and socie ty

Stab i l i t y ra ted as th e most im por tan t v i r tue Perseverance ra ted as th e m ost im por tan t

v i r tue

IV. Best practices: can w e learn f rom each ot her?

a. Best pr act ices

In ana lyzing t he resu l t s o f educa t iona l m easures, a te rm be ing u sed f requen t ly in th e last f ew

best practices ew ork just exp la ined, even

th is term and ap proach for coun try com parison is cu l tu ra l ly boun d. Focus on "best pract ices" is

a very Anglo-Saxon approach. Al l Ang lo Saxon cu l tu res score low on Un certa in ty Avoidan ce.

Th is m eans th a t t he focus is no t on t heore t ica l approaches and exper t know ledge bu t on

pract ices and th e experience of p ract i t ioners, and th e th ink in g sty le is ind uct ive. As a

consequ ence handb ooks on a l l sub jects in t hese cu l tu res begin w i th a descr ip t ion of cases

taken f ro m pract ice. These cases are analyzed an d lead t o a s ta t em ent abou t b est p ract ices.

This approach va lues pract ical ap pl icat ion over "academ ic" research.

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Th is Ang lo Saxon b ran d o f indu c t ive reason ing can be fu r th e r und erstood by add ing t he

in f lu ence o f a h igh score on M AS: st ron g ac t ion - and ach ievem ent o r ien ta t ion . Th is w ay o f

th ink ing is ca l led p ragm at ism . Pragm at is ts a re un w i l l ing t o be invo lved in t oo m uch

specu la t ion on w ha t i s go ing on in t he m inds o f peop le . Abst rac t a rgum enta t ion is som eth ing

w het her speci f ic act io ns lead to desi red observable behavior:

f ine . I t m ay

he lp . I f no t t

In con t ras t , deduc t ive th ink ing is th e norm in h igh U AI cu l t u res. These cu l tu res t ry f i rs t t o ge t

an un derstan d ing o f w ha t i s know n abou t a sub jec t . The f i rst s tep is a lw ays to look in t o w ha t

ot hers, especia l ly experts f rom th e past an d t he present , have a l ready sa id on a sub ject . Then a

p h i l o s

fo rm u la ted . The last step is app l ica t ion . In t h is approach ph i losophy and t h ink ing is more

h igh ly regarded t han th e act ion s o f p ract i t ion ers th a t f o l low . As a resu l t , peop le o f t hese

cu l tu

th at led t o successfu l app roaches.

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b . Can w e lea rn f rom ano th er cu l t u re?

cip ients and

crea to rs o f cu l tu ra l pa t te rns : over the long t e rm th ey he lp to shape norm s fo r t he nex t

to create a "cu l t ure f ree" best scho ol system w hich ot her coun tr ies can s im ply "copy and p aste"

w hat has been successfu l in anot her count ry?

The answ er is th at cu l t ura l va lues are deeply rooted an d are very consis tent over t im e. The

born . They learn

f rom th e i r pa ren t s to obey abso lu t e ly o r to speak up . Th is p rogram m ing con t in ues at schoo l as

w as descr ibed above how th e f i ve d im ensions app ly to lea rn ing s i tua t ions . Are stu den ts

expected t o f ind t he i r ow n pa t h and a re th ey a l lowed t o con t rad ict t he teacher? Are th ey

expected to com pete w i th each ot her in c lass? This a l l depends on t he count ry cu l t ur e. I t is th is

coun t ry and w he th er o r how th ose approaches can be app l ied to an o th er coun t ry . It i s

shor t sigh t ed to expect coun t r ies to be e f fect ive in in t roduc ing n ew ideas i f t hese ideas a re no t

l i kely to f i t in t he con tex t o f t he i r va lues.

These com m ents a re no t sugg est in g th a t w e canno t learn f rom o th ers. O f course w e shou ld

keep an open m ind abou t w ha t i s happen ing e lsew here . Bu t i t i s na ve to th ink tha t a best

pract ices in a cert a in speci f ic cu l t ure can be auto m at ica l ly copied an d pasted in an ot her cu l tu re

w i th d i f fe ren t basic p refe rences. Wh at i s

to an o th er to m ake i t w ork . Pro fessiona ls w ork ing in an in t e rna t iona l env i ronm ent shou ld

un derstan d t he d i f fe ren t expec ta t ions o f co l leagues and s tud en ts in th e teach in g- learn ing

pr ocess. They shou ld b

accord ing to t he d i f fe ren t n o rm s o f t he soc ie ty a t hand .

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V Analyz ing som e key issues in educat io n,w i th in a cu l t u ra l f ra me w o rk

issues w ere g lobal ly r ecogn ized as t he core

o f un derstan d ing educa t iona l qua l i t y :

a . a supp or t i ve cu l t u re fo r educat ion and

b. th e need for a h igh sta t us of t eachers.

These tw o fea tu res o f educa t ion a re h igh ly in f luenced by cu l t u re and t he re fo re im p lem ented in

d i f fe ren t w ays in d i f fe ren t coun t r ies. Som e exam p les a re p rov ided be low .

a. Sup port ive cu l tu re for educat ion

In exp la in in g t he success of Korea and Fin land, The Econom ist con cludes th at in bot h t hese

coun t r ies th e re is a supp or t i ve cu l t u re fo r educat ion .How ever, w hat t ran sla tes as "sup port " isve ry d i f fe ren t in t hese tw o s i tua t ion s. In th e f i rst instan ce, Korea is a h igh pow er d istan ce

coun try, wh ere people accept t op d ow n p ol icy decisions by a governm ent . In fact i t is seen as

th e task and p r iv i lege o f a g overnm ent . For exam p le , Sou t h Korea m ade a " top -dow n" dec ision

da t in g back 30 years to m ake th e coun t ry m ore com pet i t i ve in th e g loba l marke t . To do so they

focused on t he educa t ion o f th e fu t u re w ork fo rce . A lo t o f resources w ere al loca ted t o m ake use

of t he fu l l avai lab le poten t ia l . By com parison, low pow er d istan ce cu l tu res such as Fin lan d,

have a d i f feren t app roach to edu cat ion p o l icy. Because of th e low PDI ra t in g, pow er is

decent ra l ized in th ese cu l t ures, so i t is a necessi ty t o in vo lve a l l the stakehold ers and to

a p p ro a ch i n f l u e n cin g f ro m th e b o t t o m u p ..

b . Hig h sta t us of t eachers

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Anot her a rea wh ere cu l t u re p lays an essen t ia l ro le in de f in ing th e how and w ha t o f "sta t us ." For

ins tance, in Fin land a c r i t i ca l m om ent in educat ion po l i cy occurred w hen t he Governm ent

decided th a t t eachers shou ld on ly be recru i ted f rom Un ive rsi t ies to g ive the p ro f ession "h igh

statu s." In o t her cu l t ures an academ ic credent ia l is no t as h igh ly va lued. For exam ple, in a M ay

2013 speech b y th e edu cat ion secretary in t he UK, M r. Gove to ld h is audien ce th at h e w ant s

th em se lves shou ld conduc t research in to w ha t p roduces g rea t t each ing and lea rn ing , ra the r

th an leaving such stud ies to un iversi t ies, w hich h e be l ieves have of f ered l i t t le o f pract ica l value

in t e rm s o f im prov ing schoo ls . Leaders shou ld be t ra ined w i th in schoo ls ra ther th an b e ing sen t

aw ay to acqu i re abs t ract d ip lom as. Teachers shou ld equa l ly be t ra ined w i th in th e schoo ls

Here w e see cred ib i l i t y and sta t us of academ ics conferred very d i f ferent ly betw een Fin lan d, a

coun try scor ing 59 on UAI, and th e UK, w hich scores 35.

VI

a . Au ton om y o f schoo ls , test in g an d accoun tab i l i t y

au t onom y in t he teach ing p rocess w h i le a lso m ak ing t hem m ore accoun t ab le fo r ach iev ing

th e UK,

educa t ion secre ta ry in th e m odern e ra has m atched h is vision o f a la rgely au ton om ous

educat io n system in w hich ind iv idual schoo ls, heads and teachers are g iven back th e i r

independence and c reat iv i t y . On ly by re leasing dynam ism in th is way does he be l ieve tha t

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Bri t ish schools wi l l be ab le to com pe

(*10 ). The aut ono m y he be l ieves sho uld b e accom pan ied by account ab i l i t y . To be ab le to h o ld

teachers accoun tab le t he re is a need fo r test in g t o see i f t he s tuden t s are ge t t in g t he qu a l i t y

t h ey deserve.

In som e coun t r ies the au th or i t ies t ry t o estab l i sh and adm in is te r stand ard ized test t o a l l

in sch ool year20 13/ 14

m ore th an one m i l l ion s tud en ts in 22 sta t es a re expected t o t ake the tes ts, in an e f fo r t t o he lp

develop a na t iona l exam m ode led on t he new s tand ards, know n as th e Com m on Core . The b ig

th e p ressure com ing f rom show ing im provem ents th rou gh t hese tests cause teachers and

stud ent s to d iscuss and stu dy w hat is necessary to p ass these tests? There are al ready

in t he USA soun ded an a la rm.

Padrn , a com m ission m em ber . Bu t w i thou t th e hum an i t ies and socia l sc iences, he added ,

as i f t

co -

m ost successfu l an d creat ive p eople h ad exact ly th is k ind o f educat ion ." (*11)

I t i s no t su rp r is ing t ha t th is " reduc t ion is t " approach is com m on in m ascu l ine coun t r ies wh ere

th e m ot iva t ion to com pete and t o ach ieve is h igh . In m ore fem in ine coun t r ies, how ever , th e

focus on "qu a l i t y o f l i fe " p reven t s schoo ls f rom on ly o f f e r ing sub jects th a t a re d i rect ly re la ted t o

m easurab le resu l t s tha t lead t o em p loyab i l it y . These coun t r ies reta in an em phas is on a

broad er curr icu lu m , th at re t a ins th e hum ani t ies, arts and socia l sc iences as essent ia l e lem ent s

o f educa t ion and p repara t ion fo r adu l t l i fe .

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Aga in : au ton om y and test in g a re ve ry m uch cu l tu ra l i ssues. Au to nom y, th e bo t tom up

appr oach, is acceptab le on ly in Low Pow er Distan ce cu l tu res. Like em pow erm ent in

m a n a g em e n t t h e o r ie s i t im p l i es t h a t a u th o r i t i e s/ m a n a g ers d a re t o g i ve t h e p o w e r t o t h e

low est p ossib le level w i thou t t oo m any ins t ruc t ions and st ru ctu ra l l im i ts , a lso im p l ies a low

score for UAI . Th is com binat ion, low PDI and low UAI, is in pr in c ip le on ly fo un d in t he Ang lo-

Saxon count r ies, in Scandinavia and th e Neth erlands. Th is edu cat io nal s t ra tegy can be adapt ed

to f i t o t her coun tr ies l ike Germ any, Austr ia , Hu ng ary and t he Czech Repub l ic , by addin g m ore

exp l ici t ru les and p rocedures w hen t he au t onom y is g iven . In H igh pow er d istance cu l t u res,

e mp o w e rme n t a n d a u to n o m y i s n o t im p o ssib le, b u t i t m u st t a ke t h e f o rm o f c le ar l y-d ef i n e d

de lega t ion . The level o f au t onom y w ou ld be c lea r ly de f ined and l im i ted w i th in a ve ry st r i c t set

o f m anda tes . I f th in gs happen th a t a re no t fo reseen by t he i r m anda t e , schoo ls wo u ld n o t b e

a l lowed t o act independen t ly to respond to t he new si tu a t ion . They w ou ld be requ i red to go

back up th e cha in o f au t hor i t y and ask fo r ins t ruc t ions f i rst .

Stan dard ized tests and q uan t i f iab le ob ject ives w i th consequ ences for p ass/ f a i l decisions and

v isib le rank ing is an approach su i ted t o cu l tu res w i th th e m ascu l ine t h ink ing sty le . In o th er

cu l tu res peop le a re more h esi tan t to focus so h eavi ly on ach ieving top scores and com par ing

stud ent s and schools on stan dard ized tests. Fin lan d, for exam ple, w i th th e top ran king in TLC, is

a h igh ly femin ine coun t ry and d oes no t use th is kind o f h igh ly com pet i t i ve o r ien t a t ion . Pasi

Sah lberg , d i recto r genera l o f t he Cen t re fo r In t e rna t iona l M ob i l i t y and Coopera t ion (CIM O)

in Fin land h as st ron g op in ion s on w hy Fin land s tands ou t in comp ar ison w i th coun t r ies l i ke th e

Sahlb erg says th at f ive aspects o f t he Finn ish system sets i t apart . At t he foref ron t , th e Finn ish

syste m w a s b u i l t w i t h o u t t r y i n g t o b e n u m b e r o n e. He e mp h a si ze d t h a t co m p e t i t i o n w a s n e ver

part o f t he system . Instead th e focus has a im ed at creat ing g ood scho ols for a l l ch i ld ren.

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comp et i t ion . The im pact o f comp et i t ion h as resu l ted in s tand ard iza t ion and crea ted im m ense

has st r essed person al izat ion of edu cat ion w here every school sets i ts ow n stan dards based on

a n a t i o

com pet i t or is h im or herse lf . A d i rect resu l t o f s tan dard s in t ests in coun tr ies l ike Am erica is

s l ef t w h e n

-

based responsibility.(*12)

Beyond t he lack o f em phas is on comp et i t ion , Fin land a lso has a cu l tu re tha t t ru lyvalues

educat io n. The Finn ish a lso trust pu b l ic educa t ion . It i s th e second m ost t rus ted ins t i tu t ions in

th e cou nt ry, next to po l ice, earn in g 89 percent . Th is is in s tark cont rast to t he Un i ted Stat es,

Sahlb erg asserts , w here on ly 29 percent t rust t he pu bl ic edu cat ion system . A fa i r lyequal

w ealth distr ibut ion w ith in Fin lan d a lso im pacts the educat ion system . As a resu l t , Fin lan d

techn olog ica l advances, ch i ld w el l -be ing, and prosperi ty .

Con clusion: th e d iscussions on au to nom y of schools, test in g, and account ab i l i ty is very m uch

b. Perform ance leve ls in East Asian coun tr ies. Str engt hs an d w eaknesses

Anot her in t erest in g resu l t to an alyze f rom a cu l t ura l perspect ive is th e successfu l perform ance

of s tu dent s in East Asian count r ies. The cu l t ura l s ide of th is resu l t can be un derstood b y th e 5t h

D im ension o f cu l t u re LTO:: the s t rong em phas is on edu ca t ion as ob l iga t ion to pa ren ts and

society.:

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Ana lysis o f t he i r educat ion system s has po in ted ou t h ow ever th a t t hese a re steeped in

d iscip l in e, ro t e learn ing an d ob sessive test preparat ion. M any educato rs say how ever th a t t h isst reng t h is in educat ion is also a w eakness. In th e i r op in ion th e educat ion system is too t est -

or ient ed, scho ols st i f le creat iv i t y and paren ta l pr essures of t en deprive ch i ldren of th e joys of

ch i ldhood.

Jiang Xueqin, a deput y pr inc ipa l a t Peking U nivers i ty High School in Bei j ing sa id in The W al l

St reet Jou rn a

too m uch , and p roduced stu den ts w ho lacked cu r iosi t y and th e ab i li t y to th ink c r it i cal l y o r

o ls are very good a t p repar ing t he i r

stu den ts fo r s tandard ized t ests . Bu t fo r t he sam e reason t hey fa i l to p repare them fo r h igher

One m ore issue of con cern is that th e st r ess to succeed m akes th at su ic ide ra tes am on g

stud ent s are very h ig h in count r ies l ike Sou th Korea, Chin a and Japan .

M r. Zhang Chu n f rom th e Nan j ing Su ic ide Rescue H o t l ine sa id : "Ch i ld ren n ow adays a re und er

too m uch p ressure f rom m idd le schoo l to h igh schoo l . They don ' t have mu ch t im e to go ou t and

exper ience being in soc ie ty . They have no o t her w ay o f lea rn ing , and h ave no w ay o f b low ing

In Sou t h Korea the m ost com m on cause o f you th su ic ide is p ressure re la ted to th e Co l lege

Scholast ic Abi l i t y Test .

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VII Conclusion

W e have show n th at w el l researched system at ic d i f feren ces in va lue preferences per coun tr y

a re fun dam enta l in u nderstan d ing th e w ay the t each ing lea rn ing p rocesses a re hand led . The 5

cu l tu re d im ensions found b y Geer t H o fs tede p rovide an ana ly t i ca l too l fo r un derstan d ing th e

loca l d i f feren ces in t he edu cat ion al po l icy and schoo l system s.

This br in gs us to con clude th at :

1. A t ru ly in t e rna t iona l approach t o rank ing coun t r ies on edu ca t ion shou ld t ake cu l t u ra le character is t ics o f good

scho ol system s and g ood teachers.

2. W e can and shou ld lea rn f rom each o t her . Bu t w e shou ld a lso un derstan d th a t t o m ake a.

Exam ple : Fin land is seen by som e Am er ican edu ca t iona l ists as the exam p le o f h ow to

im prove th e edu cat ional system . Analyz ing t he d i f f erences Pahlb erg (12) concluded th at t he

b ig d i f f e rence is th a t in th e USA th e d r iv ing fac to r i s comp et i t ion w h i le in Fin land i t i s

cooperat ion . Th is is not a co inc idence, som eth ing th at can b e chan ged easi ly. No i t is a

basic cu l tu ra l d i f ference betw een M ascul ine cu l t ures and Fem in in e cu l tu res. To be

e f fect ive in looking fo r im provem ent t h is d i f fe rence shou ld be a lead ing e lem ent in t he

plan nin g o f chang e. (see 16)

The sam e app l ies to th e d iscussion on th e au ton om y o f schoo ls . In h igh pow er d istan ce

coun t r ies (by fa r th e m a jo r i t y o f coun t r ies in t he w or ld ) Au t onom y w i l l on ly be possib le in a

c lea r ly de f ined and l im i ted m anda te t ha t i s g iven by t he cen t ra l pow er ho lders. I t shou ld be

d e f i n ed t o p d o w n .

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3. The 5 d im ensions o f cu l tu re p rov ide a gu ide l ine fo r th e t rans lat ion

4 . The qua l i t y o f t eachers is re lated t o how coun t ry cu l tu res a re de f in ing t he ro le o f t eachersin t he edu cat ion process. I t isa m at t e r o f e f fect iveness to accep t t h is and t o un derstan dth a t resu l ts can be ob t a ined in d i f fe ren t w ays. Look a t th e d i f fe rences be tw een t he f i rs t

tw o coun t r ies in t he rank ing system Fin land and Sou t h Korea .:

Fin lan d Sou th Korea

Stu dent cent ered educat ion Teacher cent ered educat io n

Ef fec t iveness o f lea rn ing re la ted to am oun t o f

t w o -w a y co m m u n i ca t io n

Ef f ect iven ess of learn ing re la ted to excel lence

of teacher

Teacher expects s tud ent s take in i t ia t ive Stu dent s expect in i t ia t ive f rom teacher

Teacher expects stu den ts f ind the i r ow n pa th Stu den ts expect teacher to ou t l ine pa th s

A good teacher uses p la in lang uag e A good teacher uses academ ic lang uag e

Teachers in t erpret in t e l lectua l d isagreem ent as

s t imu la t i n g

Teachers in t erpret in t e l lectua l d isagreem ent

as personal d isloya l ty

Face consciousness w eak Nei th er teacher nor stu dent sho uld ever be

m ade to lose face

.

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5. Plann ing an d im p lem enta t ion o f change in the educa t iona l f ie ld shou ld take th e coun t rycu l tu re in t o accoun t . For ins tance in h igh PDI coun t r ies i t shou ld be don e top dow n,

comm i t t ing f i rs t th e top o f th e educa t iona l f ie ld . In low PDI coun t r ies w i th a h igh score on

UAI it i s a mu st t o com m i t f i rs t th e recogn ized exper ts in th e f ield , w h i le in coun t r ies w i th

low PDI and Fem in i t y a l l stake ho ld ers m ust be invo lved f r om scratch .

6. About t he aut hor s (*17)

Hu ib W u rste n (hu ib@i t im.o rg)

Un t i l 20 0 7 Hu ib w a s co -o wn e r a n d M D o f t h e I n st i t u t e f o r Tra in i n g i n In t e rcu l t u ra l

m anagem ent IT IM . He is exper ienced in t ran sla t ing in te rna t iona l and g lob a l st ra t eg ies and

pol ic ies in t o pract ica l consequ ences for m anag em ent . He has been w ork ing in t h is f ie ld since

1989 w i th For tu ne 10 0 0 com pan ies, as we l l as w i th pub l ic and p o l i t i ca l o rgan iza t ions in 85

coun tr ies in a l l con t in ent s.

Carel Jacobs (care l@it im.org)

Care l i s sen io r consu l tan t / t ra ine r f o r ITIM in The Ne th er lands and is Cer t i f i ca t ion Agen t fo r t he

Edu cat ional sector o f t he Hof stede Cent re. Af t er a career as M D of an in t ernat io nal learn ing

comp any and p ro ject m anager in in t e rna t iona l bus iness p ro jec ts he concen t ra t ed on

in t e rcu l t u ra l m anagem ent in bo t h t he pub l ic and p r iva te secto r in t he a rea o f educat ion ,

o rg a n i za t i o n d e velo p m e n t a n d m a n a g em e n t o f ch a n g e .

References

1.The Prog ress in Int ernat ion al Readin g Liter acy St ud y (PIRLS)i s an in t e rna t iona l stu dy o f

read ing ach ievement in fou r th g raders. I t i s conduc ted by t he In te rna t iona l Assoc ia t ion fo r t he

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l i t e racy ach ievem ent , to p rov ide a base l ine f o r fu tu re stu d ies o f t rends in ach ievement , and to

The Program m e for In t ernat ional St udent Assessment (PISA)is a w orldw ide stu dy by th e OECD

in m em ber and non -m em ber na t ions o f 15 -year-o ld schoo l pup i ls' scho last ic pe r fo rm ance on

m ath em at ics, sc ience, and read ing . It w as f i rst pe r fo rm ed in 20 00 and t hen repea ted every

th ree years. It i s done w i th v iew to im prov ing edu ca t ion po l i cies and ou tcom es. The da t a has

increasing ly been u sed bo t h t o assess the im pact o f educa t ion q ua l i t y on in comes and g row th

and f or un derstand ing w hat causes d i f f erences in ach ievem ent across nat ions.

The Trends in Int ernat ional M ath em atics and Science St udy (TIM SS) i s an in t e rna t iona l

assessm ent o f t he m ath em at ics and science know ledge o f 4 t h and 8 th g rader stu den t s a roun d

th e w orld . TIM SS w as developed by th e In t ernat ional Associa t ion f or th e Evaluat ion of

Educa t iona l Ach ievem ent ( IEA) to a l low par t i c ipa t ing n a t ions to com pare stu den ts ' educa t iona l

ach ievem ent across bord ers.

2. As qu ot ed i n t h e LCDB. See 3.

3.The Learn in g Curve Dat a Bank (LCDB) c rea ted by th e Econom ist In te l l igence Un i t as par t o f

th e b roader Learn ing Curve p rogram m e is an e f fo r t t o advance stu dy in th is a rea. I t i s

purp ose-bu i l t , subs tan t ia l co l lect ion o f da t a w h ich inc ludes more t han 6 0 com para t ive

ind ica to rs ga th ered f rom over 50 coun t r ies. M any o f th ese ind ica to rs in t u rn re ly on m u l t ip le

p ieces of in form at ion , so th at , even w i th som e inevi tab le gap s, th e LCDB encom passes over

2 ,0 0 0 ind iv idua l da t a po in t s. These go w e l l beyond t rad i t iona l educa t ion m et r ics, such as

teacher-stu den t ra t ios and va r ious spend ing m et r ics, to cover a b road rang e o f educat ion a l

inpu ts and possib le ou tpu ts , f rom th e degree to w h ich paren ts dem and good resu l ts o f schoo ls

to t h e p ro p o r t i o n o f a d u l t s w h o e n d u p i n j a i l .

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He is considered t o be one of t he 20 m ost in f luen t ia l bu siness th inkers. See

be low

7. Hof st ede, G

8 . Hof st ede, G.

valu es. (Beverly Hi lls, CA: Sag e).

9 . Hof st ede, Geert H. Con sequen ces. Com parin g va lues, behaviors, inst i t u t ions

and organ izat ions across nat ions (Sage pu bl icat ion s)

10 .The Telegrap h . M on day 24 Jun e 2013. M ichael Gove is w inn ing th e heart s o f s ta te h eads. ByAnth ony Se ldon

11.Hum anities Com m itt ee Sounds an Alarm. Edit orial in The New York Tim es. By Jenn ifer

Sch u essler. Pu bl ish ed : Ju n e 18, 20 13

12.Askw it h Foru m on Ap ril 23 ,20 13.Pasi Sahlberg , d i rector g enera l o f t he Cent re for

In tern at ion al M obi l i t y and Cooperat ion (CIM O) in Fin lan d. 5 .

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h t tp : / / w w w .gse.harvard .edu / new s- imp act / 2013/ 0 4 / sah lberg -advoca tes- fo r - f inn ish -w ay-a t -

a skw i t h - f o ru m / # i xzz2Rjo rW0 6 m

13.The Test Chi nese Schoo ls St il l Fail.Hig h scores fo r Sha ng hai 's 15-year-old s are actu al ly a sign

of w eakness. The Wal l Str eet Jou rn al 8 dec. 20 10

14. 6 sep. 2012 m ot ion in l i fe www.dai lymot ion.com/ .../ x t cg vr_ch in a-s-st u d en t -su ici .

15.Education fo r all. The qualit y Imp erativ e.EFA Global M oni t or in g Report 200 5 Pub l ished in

200 4 by th e Un i ted N a t ions Educa t iona l ,

Scient i f ic and Cul tu ra l Organ izat ion

7, Place de Fon t en oy, 75352 Par is 0 7 SP

16 .Huib Wu rsten. Cult ure and Change m anagem ent ;

h t t p : / /www. i t im .o rg /a r t i c l e o n ch a n g e ma n a g e me n t . p d f

17. W e are grat efu l f or t he ed i t in g sugg est io ns

Fadrhonc

w w w . i t i m . o r g