TESOL 103 Week 6 Individualism versus Collectivism

What helps you learn? What makes sure you are comfortable in a classroom? What determines your level of success in a learning environment? Are you driven by individualistic thinking values or are you driven by collectivistic thinking values?

Let me give you an example of collectivistic thinking- you are interdependent, you worry about the values of all, including yourself, your skills fit your role in the group or family, your knowledge has been learned from your mother/father/aunts/uncles/grandparents, cooperation is high on your agenda, ownership is a group affair.

Or are you more part of the individualistic thinking- you are independent, you are driven by achieving your goals set by yourself, you continuously push yourself to learn more, be better and do better, knowledge is available to those who seek it, you believe in self-expression and value taking ownership of things.

The Japanese citizens lean heavily towards the collectivist culture while Americans lean heavily in the other direction towards Individualistic culture. 

Everybody will fall somewhere on this continuum, depending on their culture. Your values, upbringing and education will determine where you lie between these two.

A very interesting article titled, "The Myth of Chinese Super Schools" written by Diane Ravitch writes the following, "Yong Zhao’s Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World. Zhao, born and educated in China, now holds a presidential chair and a professorship at the University of Oregon. He tells us that China has the best education system because it can produce the highest test scores. But, he says, it has the worst education system in the world because those test scores are purchased by sacrificing creativity, divergent thinking, originality, and individualism."

Wow!- does that not make you stop and reflect on what he is saying and what the author Diane is highlighting?

Another paragraph from said article,: "China had all the elements necessary for an industrial revolution at least four hundred years before Great Britain, but keju diverted scholars, geniuses, and thinkers away from the study or exploration of modern science. The examination system, Zhao holds, was designed to reward obedience, conformity, compliance, respect for order, and homogeneous thinking; for this reason, it purposefully supported Confucian orthodoxy and imperial order. It was an efficient means of authoritarian social control. Everyone wanted to succeed on the highly competitive exams, but few did. Success on the keju enforced orthodoxy, not innovation or dissent. As Zhao writes, emperors came and went, but China had “no Renaissance, no Enlightenment, no Industrial Revolution."

He fears that the Western world is heading into the same trap, if not already stuck in the importance of winning the high scores. Zhao believes that two major changes are going to shape education- globalisation and technology. 

We are already seeing this. There is a huge off-take of home-schooling. What better way for a student to learn, than in the comfort of their own home, at their own pace, stimulated by their loved ones. This type of student ties in so beautifully with the closing words of this article," where students are encouraged to be confident, curious, and creative.”.

My personal opinion, no matter where you are on this continuum, as long as you are living your life trying to emulate Jesus Christ and walk in His footsteps, you will be successful.

Sources:
http://www.redeseducacion.net/articulos/Informes/The%20Myth%20of%20Chinese%20Super%20Schools.pdf