The Impact of Culture on Education

Individualist and Collectivist Cultural Perspectives on Education

Source: Adapted from Individualist and Collectivist Perspectives on Education, from the Diversity Kit (2002) Providence, R.I.: The Education Alliance.

The influence of culture on beliefs about education, the value of education, and participation styles cannot be overestimated Many Asian students, for example, tend to be quiet in class, and making eye contact with teachers is considered inappropriate for many of these children (Bennett, 2003) In contrast, most European American children are taught to value active classroom discussion and to look teachers directly in the eye to show respect, while their teachers view students' participation as a sign of engagement and competence.

Another contrast involves the role of Hispanic parents in education Parents from some Hispanic cultures tend to regard teachers as experts and will often defer educational decision making to them (Valdés, 1996) In contrast, European American parents are often more actively involved in their children's classrooms, are visible in the classrooms, or volunteer and assist teachers These cultural differences in value and belief may cause educators to make inaccurate judgments regarding the value that non–European American families place on education While it is important to keep in mind that different cultural groups tend to follow particular language and interaction styles, there is tremendous variability within cultural groups (Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003) Thus, educators need to understand individual histories and ideologies regarding education and learning as well as the cultural patterns and beliefs of groups Let's look at a couple of cases to examine in more detail how culture impacts educational interactions.