The Good, the Bad and the Lazy teacher.

A grounded theory approach to higher

education learning situations in Vietnam

Sandra Safwat

PhD Candidate

The humanities faculty - Aalborg University

ssafwat@hum.aau.dk

9th International Conference on Networked Learning

Edinburgh– April 2014

Globalization of education

In UK the numbers of international students account for over 40% of UK postgraduate students and 50% of those doing full-time

research degrees

(Source: UK council for international student affairs – September 2010).

Critiques of Internationalization of education

• Brain drain: uneven distribution of the world’s

knowledge economy (Parey and Waldinger 2008); (Lowell,

Findlay et al. 2004).

• Neocolonialism: “Efforts of the major powers to

dominate the “hearts and minds” of the world’s

peoples” (Altbach 2004)

• McDonaldization of higher education: standardized

‘one-size fit all’ programs(Hayes 2004)

The Case of A Danish Business School

International Business School of ScandinaviaMaster of Business Administration (MBA) program

IBSS Vision

To provide European Standard

education to students in all

countries at an affordable price

Challenges in use of e-learning

EFMD Report:

“students from Vietnam enjoy face-to-face contact with teachers and each other but they do not engage in the online activities, partly because of the language barrier and partly because they feel more comfortable organizing joint study sessions among themselves instead of participating in online group forums as they enjoy the personal interaction in meeting face-to-face more. “

Research Methodology

Aim of Research:

• To study the differences in the learning

practices of students in different

countries and how these differences

affect students' approach to learning and

consequently their acceptance of new

learning tools as e-learning.

Focal Point of Research

Why Learning Situation?

“the conditions of the action are inside the situation

and therefore we should study the situation itself

as the focus of analysis” (Adele Clarke – SA 2005)

“…… any analysis is contextually situated in time,

place, culture and situation” (Kathy Charmaz, 2006)

Methodology

• Grounded theory ethnography

“Grounded theory methods move ethnographic

research toward theoretical development by

raising description to abstract categories and

theoretical interpretation.” (Charmaz 2006)

Grounded Theory

• Glaser approach:

– Objective/positivist

• Strauss approach:

– Interpretive

• Charmaz approach:

– Constructivist

• A. Clarke approach:

– Situational analysis

Line By Line CodingQualitative Data Analysis Software: Atlas.ti

Memo Writing

Research Findings

Students’ learning – whose

responsibility?

• Teacher centered:

– A Guru

– Expected to have all

knowledge

– Acts as personal mentor

– Cares personally for

students

Assumptions about "good" and "lazy" teachers

Assumptions about "good" and

"lazy" teachers

Discussion

• In Vietnam: teachers act as father figures

and mentors

“And he knows what the society needs and he get us to

do that. For example, confident when in front of a lot of

people, we can control what we say, what we act, what

we do. Students are very shame to talk with a lot of

people but he teach us how to talk well”

Discussion

• In Denmark: teachers are one of the

sources for knowledge

" The teacher is the last resort that we go to, if I can't

understand the information from the book or from the

internet, then I go to the teacher to see if he/she has

another take on it".

Discussion

• Roots in Buddhism and Confucianism:

– Tet celebrations

– Learning as a spiritual path

“ If I attend an online class, I cannot feel

the spirit of the teacher”

Implications for exporting educational

programs to CHC as Vietnam

• More one-on-one time with the teacher

• Regular scheduled online video meetings

with each individual student

• Teachers as mentors providing detailed

step-by-step guides

• Always use webcams

Implications for exporting educational

programs to CHC as Vietnam

When teachers schedule synchronous online classes in

Vietnam, they should expect students to gather in one

place and attend the class online together

Implications for teachers:

Facilitator or Guru?

To honestly admit lack of knowledge of the

answer to one of the students’ inquiries can result

in permanent loss of credibility of the teacher and

the assumption that he/she is a “lazy” teacher

who does not work very hard to acquire the

highest level of knowledge possible.

Limitations of The Study

• Language barriers

• Theoretical sampling

“What academics need to do is see the

benefits of ICT through the eyes of

students using a cultural lens.”

(Munro-Smith 2002)

Thank You

Discussion