Teachers' Cultural Differences: Case Studies Of Geography Teachers In Brisbane, Changchun and Hong Kong

Autor/inn/en	Lam, Chi Chung; Lidstone, John
Titel	Teachers' Cultural Differences: Case Studies Of Geography Teachers In Brisbane, Changchun and Hong Kong
Quelle	In: Asia Pacific Education Review, 8 (2007) 2, S.178-193 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1598-1037
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Geography; Cultural Differences; Cultural Traits; Curriculum Development; Educational Change; Case Studies; Confucianism; Lesson Plans; Interviews; Observation; Educational Policy; Power Structure; Teaching Methods; Australia; China; Hong Kong + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Geografie; Kultureller Unterschied; Curriculum; Development; Curriculumentwicklung; Lehrplan; Entwicklung; Bildungsreform; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Konfuzianismus; Lesson planning; Unterrichtsplanung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Beobachtung; Politics of education; Bildungspolitik; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Australien; Hongkong
Abstract	The primary purpose of this exploratory study is to identify variations in the ways in which individual teachers in different educational contexts interpret their curriculum and plan their lessons and in particular to explore the possibility that cultural differences as identified by Hofstede (1991) may be a contributing factor to understanding how teachers understand their work. "Educational reform" has become a catchphrase in the Anglo-American world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and England and Wales, as well as in the Confucian Heritage Areas such as Mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Across the world, the educational reform measures being implemented are surprisingly similar. This paper describes a study of how geography teachers in Queensland, Australia, Hong Kong, and Changchun, China, plan their lessons and curriculum. From classroom observations and interviews with the teachers involved, we confirmed marked differences in each location regarding their cultural traits of power distance, individualist and collectivist preference and uncertainty tolerance, and that these traits appear to be highly influential in their curriculum planning. Despite the small scale of this study, we contend that there are good reasons for caution before national education systems import policies and curriculum reform initiatives from other countries for unthinking adoption. (Contains 1 table and 7 notes.) [An Appendix containing a summary of points in the textbook, suggested teaching method in teachers' reference and points that Mr. Au, a junior secondary geography teacher in Changchun, covered in his lessons on railways in China, is appended to this document.] (Author).
Anmerkungen	Education Research Institute, Seoul National University. Department of Education, 599 Kwanak-Ro, Kwanak-Gu, Seoul 151-748, South Korea. Tel: +82-2-880-5896; Fax: +82-2-889-6508; e-mail: aper2@hanmail.net; Web site: http://eri.snu.ac.kr/aper
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10