CULTURE, CULTURAL DISCONTINUITY AND THE NEED FOR CHANGE: UNDERSTANDING CANADIAN AND CHINESE CONCEPTIONS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING by Jessica Marie Akehurst B. Mus., The University of Victoria, 2003 B. Ed., The University of Victoria, 2005 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in The College of Graduate Studies (Education) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) January 2012 © Jessica Marie Akehurst, 2012 ii Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to examine sources of potential cultural discontinuity between Chinese students and Canadian teachers at an International school in China. Cultural discontinuity is a school-based process whereby culturally-based learning preferences and practices of students are discontinued at school (Ogbu, 1995). Since curriculum and classroom practices at International Schools are rooted in mainstream Western cultural values and worldviews, this dominant ideology may result in the discontinuance of cultural, value-based learning behaviours by Chinese students. This thesis delineates some of the issues that illustrate the incongruence between primary culture (home-based values) and secondary culture (school- based cultural values) and the implications for teaching and learning in British Columbian Offshore Schools. Conceptions of teaching and learning, the value and use of questioning, the issues of silence and plagiarism, and the role of the teacher and students are examined. iii Table Of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... iii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................... viii Dedication .................................................................................................................................. ix 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Context ..............................................................................................................................1 1.2 The Demand for English in China ................................................................................... 1 1.3 Cultural Discontinuities .................................................................................................. 2 1.4 A School-Wide Problem ................................................................................................. 5 1.5 Importing Western Pedagogy to the Detriment of Chinese Learners ............................. 5 1.6 Research Questions ......................................................................................................... 7 1.7 Overview of Research in the Field of Chinese and Canadian Cultures of Learning ...... 7 2 Review of Related Literature ........................................................................................... 9 2.1 Culture and Cultural Discontinuity ................................................................................. 9 2.2 The Hidden Curriculum ................................................................................................ 11 2.3 Culturally Responsive Teachers ................................................................................... 13 2.4 Culturally Responsive Instruction ................................................................................. 14 2.5 The Collectivist-Individualist Framework .................................................................... 15 2.6 The Influence of Confucius on Chinese Conceptions of Teaching and Learning ........ 18 2.7 The Socratic Influence on Canadian Conceptions of Teaching and Learning .............. 21 2.8 Socrates and Confucius Compared ............................................................................... 23 2.9 The Evolution of Chinese and Canadian Education ..................................................... 24 2.10 Factors to Consider when Examining Cultural Discontinuity ...................................... 27 2.11 Passive Versus Active Learning ................................................................................... 28 2.12 Peer Assessment ............................................................................................................ 30 2.13 The Appropriate Time for Questioning ........................................................................ 31 2.14 Critical Thinking: A Necessary Skill or an Unwarranted Attack? ............................... 34 2.15 Who is Responsible for Ensuring Student Learning and Achievement? ...................... 35 iv 2.16 Recent Interpretations: Moving Away from the Confucian Interpretation of Chinese Learners ...................................................................................................... 37 2.17 Leaving the Confucian Framework for Understanding Chinese Learners Altogether: Avoiding Racial Stereotyping .................................................................... 40 2.18 Chinese Students’ Autonomy and Agency ................................................................... 41 2.19 A Holistic View of Chinese EFL Learners ................................................................... 43 2.20 Silence: Reticence or Something Else? ......................................................................... 45 2.21 Silence as a Cultural Expectation ................................................................................. 46 2.22 Factors Contributing to Chinese EFL Students’ Silence in Western Classrooms ........ 48 2.23 Experience Sharing Indigenous Knowledge ................................................................. 51 2.24 Chinese EFL Students’ Perception of Silence .............................................................. 54 2.25 Western Teachers’ Perception of Silence ..................................................................... 56 2.26 Plagiarism Defined ........................................................................................................ 59 2.27 A Brief History of Western Authorship: Divine Inspiration or Human Genius? ......... 60 2.28 The “Crime” of Plagiarism ........................................................................................... 61 2.29 “They are Just Words . What is the Big Deal?” ........................................................ 62 2.30 Classical Confucian Education and its Influence on Chinese Intellectual Property Rights ............................................................................................................. 64 2.31 Confucian Heritage and “Learned Plagiarism” ............................................................. 66 2.32 Looking Beyond Cultural Conditioning ....................................................................... 68 2.33 Alternate Explanations for Plagiarism .......................................................................... 69 2.34 Negotiating Attribution of Sources and Original Ideas ................................................ 69 2.35 A Closer Look at Patchwriting ..................................................................................... 71 2.36 In Defense of Patchwriting ........................................................................................... 73 2.37 Voluntary and Involuntary Plagiarism .......................................................................... 74 2.38 Voluntary Plagiarism as the Result of Insufficient Linguistic Competence ................. 75 2.39 The Pressure to Succeed ............................................................................................... 77 2.40 The Influence of Student Attitudes on Voluntary Plagiarism ....................................... 77 2.41 Guanxi and Cheating from Peers .................................................................................. 78 2.42 Final Thoughts on Plagiarism ........................................................................................ 80 v 2.43 Summary ....................................................................................................................... 81 3 Implications for Teachers ............................................................................................... 88 3.1 Asking Rather Than Assuming ..................................................................................... 88 3.2 Why Should We Ask? ................................................................................................... 89 3.3 The “My Way Is Better Than Your Way” Mentality ................................................... 90 3.4 Learning to Embrace the CLT Model ........................................................................... 92 3.5 Giving Up the “Chinese Way” of Learning .................................................................. 93 3.6 The Dangers of Unexamined Beliefs ............................................................................ 94 3.7 The Context Approach: Retaining the “Chinese Way” of Learning ............................. 95 3.8 Teaching Approaches ...................................................................................................