Edith Cowan University
Centre of Learning and Development
Teaching Offshore: Managing cultural issues
When travelling to a new country, it is very important that you investigate any local customs and
traditions that may apply to assist your travel. Knowing the local customs and traditions can be very
useful - saving embarrassment and preventing potential problems in offshore locations.
Preparing for cultural issues
Some awareness of cultural dimensions enables us to consider how applicable our teaching-learningassessment activities are in our offshore classrooms. Even if you believe that you are being culturally
aware and fitting in with the host culture, it may be useful to ask and make a conversation about
specific situations with your partner teaching colleagues. Academic staff have reported concern about
cultural, religious and gender issues.
Cultural Issues. In some countries students are extremely respectful of their university teachers whom
they see as all-knowing and infallible. This often discourages students from questioning and discussing
topics which may challenge their teachers’ views.
Religious Issues. It can be quite challenging when teaching for the first time in a country where there
are strong religious beliefs. Knowing what is acceptable to discuss and talk about is important so as not
to cause offence.
Gender issues. Some countries do not have the same equalities in terms of gender roles and
responsibilities. This can be troubling when first observed and teachers need to know how to respond
and operate when teaching in such settings e.g. setting up student groups, holding class discussions.
Managing cultural issues
The impact of culture in the transnational (offshore) context has a number of dimensions. An ALTC
research project found that the main challenges around cultural issues are:

Differences in communication style between Australian culture and other cultures, with
Australian academics being perceived as being more direct by some transnational partner staff;

preconceived ideas about differences in learning styles and approaches of Australian and
offshore students;
Teaching Offshore: Managing cultural issues
1
Edith Cowan University
Centre of Learning and Development

differences in attitudes towards plagiarism with Australian academics placing emphasis on
academic writing and referencing; and

Lack of awareness of how implicit cultural perspectives impact on assessment tasks and
moderation processes (ALTC, 2012).
Cultural differences
Cultural differences can affect a student‘s ability to successfully ‘navigate’ through the learning and
assessment requirements of a unit. We should not expect students to assimilate to a Eurocentric
culture such as Australia’s, but we do hope they learn about aspects of that culture and apply them
when dealing with the university community.
Cross cultural learning
Cross-cultural learning is fundamentally problematic for several reasons:

differences in the social positions of teachers and students in the two countries;

differences in the relevance or perceived relevance of the curriculum; and

differences in expected patterns of teacher/student interactions (Hofstede, 1986).
The term culture
The term culture refers to the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterises a
group of people or an organisation. The metaphor of an iceberg shows that only a small portion of
culture may be visible. Culture has a complex set of invisible or subjective characteristics that are
learned over a long period of time. These are possibly only truly understood by immersion and may be
unlikely to change.
Our understanding of teaching, learning and assessment are affected by our educational and cultural
background. How we think, what we believe in, how we behave, and what is expected of us, are all
affected by our culture.
Cultural dimensions
Cultural dimensions help us to understand how our students relate to us in the classroom, and how
the teaching learning and assessment situations we create with our own classrooms in mind may
translate to classes in partner colleges. Hofstede (1986) suggested four cultural dimensions.
Teaching Offshore: Managing cultural issues
2
Edith Cowan University
Centre of Learning and Development
Collectivist and individualist societies
Students in a collectivist society will be observant of traditions, reluctant to speak up and ‘afraid of
losing face’ in front of their peers. In an individualist culture, by contrast, students expect they will be
treated as individuals and encouraged to speak out. Conflict is likely to be regarded as a learning
experience. Institutional collectivism characterises several societies in which ECU has partner colleges.
Masculine cultures
In masculine cultures, the teacher dominates the classroom, focusing on the best students, but not
delivering praise. This may be in contrast to Australian classrooms in which instructors take on a more
facilitative role and are expected to provide a lot of feedback to help students judge their progress.
Power distance dimension
Differences in the power distance dimension (the extent to which the less powerful person accepts
inequality in power and consider it as normal) may impact on teaching styles and learning activities in
a partner college. For example, a teacher in a partner college might feel that it is appropriate to deliver
all the lecture slides that accompany the text, as this is the way he believes knowledge and expertise is
best transferred. An ECU lecturer working with Australian students might follow a more studentcentred approach.
Students from a low power-distance culture feel more comfortable asking questions of their lecturers.
Students with high power distance expectations may require more direction in an assignment which
allows them choice or relies upon their initiative. Some may have no experience of such tasks in their
previous school career.
Uncertainty avoidance dimension
Uncertainty avoidance, as a cultural dimension, refers to the extent to which ambiguous situations are
threatening to individuals. A ‘high avoidance classroom’ will be highly structured with precise
objectives. Teachers will have all the answers. Classes in societies with low avoidance are stimulated
by disagreements between teacher and pupil, respect plain language and like discussion. It’s OK for
the teacher in a low avoidance culture to say that they ‘don’t know’.
Teaching Offshore: Managing cultural issues
3
Edith Cowan University
Centre of Learning and Development
Plagiarism and academic integrity
Different approaches to the ownership of knowledge may result in international students breaching
plagiarism rules. Plagiarism in Australian universities is not acceptable, and students in partner
colleges need assistance to understand what we consider to be plagiarism, and how it can be avoided.
See other Centre for Learning and Development’s resources e.g. on Academic Integrity and Plagiarism.
References
ALTC. (2012). Managing cultural issues, from http://resource.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=285&topic=4
Hofstede, G. (1986). Cultural differences in teaching and learning. International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, 10(3), 301-320.
Teaching Offshore: Managing cultural issues
4