Education:
values and expectations
• There is only one curriculum, no matter what the method of
education: what is basic and universal in human experience
and practice, the underlying structure of the culture.
(William Hazlitt)
• The schools of a country are its future in miniature.
(Tehyi Hsieh)
• By nature all men are alike, but by education widely different.
(a Chinese saying)
• Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to
fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
(a Chinese saying)
• Education has for its object the formation of character.
(Herbert Spencer)
• A child miseducated is a child lost.
(John F. Kennedy)
Major topics:
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Functions of education
Educational differences
Skillful kids
Hierarchy of learning skills
The progression model
Ranges of values
The honor system
What is expected of foreign graduate students in the
United States?
Functions of Education
• Schools help fashion the individual: thinking, behavior,
guidelines, values, for a productive, successful and satisfying
life.
• Schools are a primary means by which a culture’s history and
traditions are passed from generation to generation. Education
is the transmission of civilization.
• Schools teach the informal knowledge of a culture: rules of
conduct, a hierarchy of cultural values, how to treat one
another, gender-role expectations, respect, etc.
Educational Differences
• Educational differences can be found in:
what a culture emphasizes
how the content is taught
e.g. the teaching of history, language
• Each culture, whether consciously or unconsciously, tends to
glorify its historical, scientific, and artistic accomplishments
and to minimize the accomplishments of other cultures.
(Ethnocentrism)
• How students participate in the learning process
• Authority vested in the teacher
• Nonverbal aspects: space, distance, time and dress codes
Learning Style Differences
 A learning style is a particular way that an individual
receives and processes information.
 Reid（1998）将学习风格分为以生理为基础的视
觉、听觉、触觉、体动、小组和独自感知学习模
式；
 包括四个范畴的情感和性格方面的学习风格：内
向/外向型、明智/冲动型、思考/情感型、判断/感
觉型；场独立/场依存型、分析/综合型、审慎/冲
动型认知学习风格。
 Learning styles vary from culture to culture.
Cognitive styles
Field independence Vs field sensitivity
Cooperation Vs competition
Trial-and-error Vs watch-then-do
Tolerance Vs intolerance for ambiguity
• A field-dependent person has difficulty finding a geometric
shape that is embedded or "hidden" in a background with
similar (but not identical) lines and shapes. The conflicting
patterns distract the person from identifying the given
figure.
• A person who is field-independent can readily identify the
geometric shape, regardless of the background in which it
is set.
• There is also a strong connection between this cognitive
style and social interactions. People who are fielddependent are frequently described as being very
interpersonal and having a well-developed ability to read
social cues and to openly convey their own feelings.
Others describe them as being very warm, friendly, and
personable.
• Women are more likely to be field-dependent, whereas
men are frequently field-independent.
Cognitive styles
Communication and relational styles
Formal Vs informal communication
Nonverbal communication
Dependent Vs independent learning
Participatory Vs passive learning
Reflectivity Vs impulsivity
Aural, visual and verbal learners
Energetic learning Vs calm learning
Motivational Styles
• Intrinsic Vs extrinsic motivation
• Learning on demand Vs learning what is
relevant or interesting
Education in
South East Asian Countries
• Education as the single most important factor in their
children’s future success
• Teachers esteemed as role models
• Group solidarity and conformity – two important values
• Moral education as well as standard subjects teaching
• A national standardized curriculum; few electives
• Reading and writing highly emphasized
• Show respect by avoiding eye contact, open disagreement,
deferring to the teacher’s judgment, and by keeping silent
Education in the United States
• Critical thinking, judgmental questioning, and
active initiation of discussion
• Independent learning
• Direct and informal communication
• Impulsive and quick responses to questions
• Learn by doing
• Intolerance for ambiguity, a lot of clarification
Case Study
• The best way to learn
• Moving too fast
The honor system
• Students should be honest in all areas of
schoolwork.
• Violation of the honor system can result in
failing a course, having a permanent record
of the violation in the student’s files, and
even being suspended or expelled from the
university.
Academic dishonesty includes:
• Plagiarism
• Cheating
• Fabrication
• Aiding dishonesty
• Falsification of records and official documents
• Skillful Kids
• Hierarchy of Learning Skills
• The Progression Model