Cultural Values and Their Impact on Education

This article discusses the impact of cultural values on the education of students. Cultural values drive a society's performance and actions. They are the beliefs, practices, symbols, specific norms, and personal values that individuals in a society share. Ways in which educators can address the impact of cultural values on education are examined with Hofstede's cultural dimensions, and culturally relevant teaching strategies are discussed.

Keywords: Cultural Competence; Culture; Cultural Mismatch; Culturally Relevant Teaching; Cultural Values; Diversity; In-group; Out-group; Value-based Education

Overview

The guidelines that describe how we as people should behave and how organizations should perform are referred to as values. Our values tell us what is good and what is bad and provide daily instruction about how we should function (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000, 2007; Schwartz, 1999, 2004, 2007). Values tell organizational leaders, policymakers, and individuals how to behave, as well as serve as guiding principles for life (Schwartz, 1999).

Since culture is the context in which we live and the manner in which we are socialized, the idea of cultural values refers to what drives our performance and our actions. Cultural values are the beliefs, practices, symbols, specific norms, and personal values that we share as a society. What one perceives is then shaped by his or her experiences and the cultural values to which his society adheres. In addition, the ways in which institutions are organized express their underlying cultural values (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000, 2007; Schwartz, 1999, 2004, 2007, 2010; Curry, Meyer, & McKinney, 2006).

Take, for example, the U.S. legal system and the way it is designed to have the prosecution and defense lawyers challenge one another for a conviction or acquittal. Or the design of the family system in which the major emphasis placed on parents is to rear achievement-oriented children. These examples depict a cultural value emphasis on success, self-assertion, and drive. Socialist societies, however, are not as competitive and confrontational. In some countries, cultural value emphasis is more on cooperation, equality, and concern for others (Schwartz, 2010).

Psychologists, social scientists, and educators have paid more attention in recent years to the importance of cultural values and the influence they have on lifestyles and behaviors in various cultures. Each discipline has defined values based on its own perspective, and different methods have been used to measure and study cultural values specific to the culture's unique discipline. For example, government leaders might use their interpretation of cultural values to justify their decision to go to war. Company executives might use a cultural value emphasis to make hiring decisions (Carter, 1991). Nevertheless, the way in which various cultures interpret their cultural values is a choice they are entitled to make based on what they deem as important for their particular groups.

Further Insights

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

Dutch social psychologist and writer Geert Hofstede has examined cultural values across more than 50 countries and suggests that five dimensions of values form together to represent each culture. These dimensions of culture include:

• Power distance,
• Uncertainty avoidance,
• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Masculinity vs. femininity, and
• Long term orientation.

As society continues to become more and more culturally diverse, classrooms are becoming more and more diverse with students from various backgrounds. Hofstede believes the five cultural dimensions can address these changes in society at large, but particularly in the classroom (Hofstede, 2001).

The first cultural dimension discussed by Hofstede (2001) is Power Distance. Power distance refers to "the extent to which [people] expect and accept that power is distributed unequally" (p. 98). In other words, people generally accept hierarchy as the appropriate way to govern society. So in the societies where this is the case for education, teachers receive the utmost respect and students and parents rarely question or disagree with teachers. Teachers learn to recognize however, when there is interference with learning based on student's cultural assumptions about power distance and what this means for them. It is then the teacher's responsibility to communicate his or her own expectations while being careful not to devalue the student's unique values, which may be different from that of the teacher.

The second dimension is Uncertainty Avoidance. Hofstede (2001) defines this dimension as: "the extent to which members of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations" (p. 161). This dimension deals with the desire people have to consistently have clear rules of conduct in every situation. As for conduct in the classroom, children are expected to obey their teachers. As for the education system overall, obtaining and understanding the facts should be the primary concern. In cultures where uncertainty avoidance carries a low tolerance, education is understood as a voyage of discovery with the unknowns not necessarily looked upon as threatening.

A third dimension is Individualism vs. Collectivism. Hofstede (2001) suggests an understanding of collectivism can help address how classrooms are becoming more and more culturally diverse. Although the U.S. and Canada are among the most individualistic cultures in the world, in most other parts of the world, people value their group membership much more. In collectivist cultures, people identify themselves as part of a group such as a clan, caste or ethnic group. Some individuals place priority on their personal identity first, and belong to other groups by choice. From an educational standpoint, teachers in collectivist cultures address questions to the class as a whole, or in small groups of children rather than singling out individual students. The praises and rewards teachers give go to the group as a whole rather than an individual.

According to Hofstede (2001), the masculinity vs. femininity dimension is "a society in which gender roles are clearly distinct: men are supposed to be assertive, tough and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender and concerned with the quality of life" (page 297). In the U.S.-Canada example, the U.S. tends to be more masculine in its cultural values. In the U.S. and other "masculine" societies, school failure equals disaster for a child. As for teachers in masculine societies, the best students are praised much more than any other students. On the other hand, school failure does not receive such great attention in more feminine societies, including Canada, and the weaker students are praised more by teachers to give them encouragement.

Lastly, the Long Term Orientation focuses on planning and saving for the future. Hofstede (2001) explains that this dimension suggests that cultures with a high Long Term Orientation are very frugal and encourage their children to work hard in school. The U.S. and Canada have low long term orientations but some African countries fall even lower on this dimension.

Ultimately, if teachers in multicultural classrooms understand the five cultural value dimensions and also understand what diverse students value the most, they may find new ways to look at their students, ultimately learn from them, and understand how to better serve them.

Overall Impact on Education

Because students come to school from many different cultural frames of reference (Crothers, 2008), learning in a majority classroom, with mainstream cultural values as an emphasis, can be difficult for minority students. Villegas (2001) explains that White children typically have an advantage in the classroom over minority children because the curriculum and classroom culture is typically designed to be an extension of their home and community culture. Minority students, however, face various disadvantages because they are presented with classroom values different from what they've experienced in their homes.

Cultural Mismatch

Hollins and Oliver (1999) call this phenomenon a cultural mismatch. A cultural mismatch occurs when the culture of the learning environment is different from that of the home culture of the child, and learning is adversely affected. Academic achievement for the out-group (minority students) is compromised by the relationship between the home and school culture. For the in-group, in this case the White students, academic achievement flourishes. Cummins and Entwistle (2005) explain that this situation is even more prevalent for adolescent minority students. Studies find that by age eight, enthusiasm for learning and self confidence in the ability to learn could be significantly negatively affected due to the cultural mismatch between their school and home cultural values. Such a mismatch is often created by culturally incompetent education administrators and most particularly, culturally incompetent teachers.

Cultural Competence

A large number of culturally and linguistically diverse children, including those who live in low-income neighborhoods, attend public schools across the country. As of 2012, more than 40% of the learners in public school classrooms were children of color. However, the teaching population remained only about 17% people of color (Rainey, 2012), who mostly live in very different neighborhoods from the children they teach. Creating a bridge that connects students' home and school lives is vital (Ladson-Billings, 1994).

The manner in which educators have responded to the demographic shift (racial, cultural, and linguistic) in student learners has not been sufficient, leaving some students less prepared than others because of the teacher's cultural incompetence. Cultural incompetence and the response a teacher gives a child can affect the child's self-esteem. This can in turn affect the child's academic success in a positive or negative way, depending on the level of teacher competence. Not only is it important for teachers to be culturally competent for academic purposes, it is also necessary for them to understand their diverse cultures and know how to respond to children appropriately, despite their differences (Brown, 2007).

Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies

One way cultural incompetence has been addressed is by taking a closer look at culturally relevant teaching strategies, and how teachers can acknowledge diverse student cultural values in the classroom. Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) first developed the term culturally relevant teaching to describe "a pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills, and attitudes" (p. 17-18). Culturally relevant teaching is a method that allows the child's background, past experiences and knowledge to influence the teacher's curriculum and the way in which she or he teaches.

The terms "culturally relevant and responsive education," "culturally relative curricula," "culturally responsive teaching," "culturally relevant pedagogy," and "culturally relevant teaching" are all used interchangeably. Each describes in some way the student achievement educational polices, programs, and curricula necessary to appreciate and respect diverse student culture and the unique strengths students possess (Gay, 2000).

Culturally relevant teaching (CRT) strategies are key because they consider ethnic diversity of students by taking into account their cultural knowledge, past experiences, diverse frames of reference and performance styles, to ensure that learning is as relevant and effective as possible. A teacher using these strategies emphasizes the power of caring and suggests that caring is one of the most important factors to consider in culturally relevant teaching (Gay, 2000).

Gay (2002) specified five specific areas that should be considered when training teachers to be more culturally responsive in classrooms with diverse groups of students. These areas include:

1. Develop a culturally diverse knowledge base.
2. Design culturally relevant curricula.
3. Demonstrate cultural caring and build a learning community.
4. Build effective cross-cultural communications.
5. Deliver culturally responsive instruction (as cited in Brown, 2007, p. 58).

Addressing each of these areas, along with acknowledging diverse student values, will help educate teachers and school systems about cultural values and ultimately close the gap in academic achievement.

Example: Cultural Value Differences Between Ukraine & the United States

The cultural values of the United States and other countries differ in many ways when it comes to education. The teacher-student relationship is just one example; one country that greatly differs with the U.S. is Ukraine. Tarasova (1998) explains that there are several ways in which the relationships between teachers and students vary in these two countries. Most noticeably are the language (verbal and nonverbal behaviors) and the daily communication practices and norms. For example, teacher-student interactions in the U.S. K-12 school systems tend to be horizontal, in that teachers are generally approachable, likeable and competent. On the other hand, teacher-student interactions in Ukraine are more vertical, and instructors are seen as reserved, have little to no expression in their communications with students, and are regarded as authority figures.

Similarly, cultural values on U.S. and Ukrainian college campuses differ. For instance, in the U.S., university professor-student relationships are relaxed and sociable, whereas on Ukrainian campuses, relationships are formal. Personal feelings are rarely a part of the professor-student interactions on Ukraine campuses where the voice of authority is most often used without any warm undertones. From a verbal standpoint, the cultural value that is most often seen and heard is limited emotion in the professor's voice as they instruct the class. Nonverbally, the professor's dress communicates their values in regards to appearance and clothing. For example, Ukrainian professors often wear a formal style of dress whereas in the U.S., though not sloppy, more informal attire is worn by professors. The U.S. professor's attire communicates the approachable nature of the professor, in both every day practice as well as in the academic environment (Maslova & Kostygina, 2000).

Avoiding eye contact or having weak eye contact while talking is one of the national features of the people in Ukraine in general, but also within education institutions. On the contrary however, maintaining eye contact with one another in the U.S. is a cultural value shared among its citizens. On the college campus, U.S. instructors generally try to keep direct eye contact with their audience (Maslova & Kostygina, 2000).

Other differences in cultural values among the two countries include various classroom procedures. In Ukrainian classrooms, students address their instructors by their last names and instructors also address their students by their last names. The Ukrainian culture sees this as a way of establishing and maintaining distance. On U.S. college campuses, first names are often used in both student and professor addresses to one another, which symbolizes a more personalized interaction and relationship (Maslova & Kostygina, 2000).

Overall, cultural values in Ukraine suggests that teachers are less likely to make efforts to establish close contacts with students and risk reducing the distance between them and removing some of the power from the instructor. As a result, studies find that Ukrainian students are ultimately submissive as a result of their educational culture. Though they have great respect for authority, they are limited in the amount of control they have over their education, are passive and have low ambition as compared to other countries like the U.S. On the contrary, U.S. cultural values encourage self-direction for students, as well as active participation and independent thought. U.S. instructors work to establish a culture of support for students, so students may develop the confidence and creativity needed to be active participants in the classroom. They ultimatey have good critical thinking skills and the ability to confidently and comfortably express themselves (Maslova & Kostygina, 2000).

Viewpoints

The Value in Educating Students about Values

Value-based education refers to the study of moral and ethical values that make a person believe he or she is in line with the norm. Advocates of value-based education suggest that, more important than educating students about algebra, biology or even literature, is educating about values. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi once proclaimed that education not only develops a new generation, but it also displays a culture's fundamental assumptions about itself and the citizens who make up the culture (Joshi, 2007).

Advocates of value-based education claim that students as young as preschool age should be introduced to values education. Once this introduction is made in preschool, values education should be enforced in primary, secondary and even higher education. Advocates believe this education will ultimately influence the presence of a society filled with citizens who have good character (Joshi, 2007), and therefore a good understanding of their cultural values.

Cultural values have an inherent impact on the U.S. education system. Gay (1994) posits that many school leaders, policy makers and educators believe that knowledge stems only from the principles of good teaching and the manner in which it is taught and learned. Many believe that a child's cultural values should have no influence on what or how they learn. In fact, there is the belief that race, gender, creed, ethnicity, linguistic background, economic status or any other cultural variables, should not be considered at all in educating children in the U.S.. However, others believe that one's culture and the humanity of individuals cannot be separated and this directly influences all aspects of teaching and learning (Ahearn et al., 2002; Gay, 1994). Individual cultural values seem to impact everything we do.

Terms & Concepts

Cultural Incompetence: Cultural incompetence is the act of ineffectively relating to the culture and values of diverse others.

Cultural Mismatch: A cultural mismatch occurs when the culture of the learning environment is different from that of the home culture of the child, and learning is adversely affected.

Culturally Relevant Teaching: Culturally relevant teaching is a method that uses the child's background, past experiences and knowledge to influence the teacher's curriculum, and the way in which she or he teaches.

Cultural Values: Cultural values are the beliefs, practices, symbols, specific norms, and personal values that we share as a society.

Culture: Culture is the context in which we live and the manner in which we are socialized.

Diversity: Diversity is the wide range of differences among people, communities, and families based on cultural and ethnic backgrounds, physical abilities and academic abilities.

In-group: In-group is a sociological term used to describe a group that people identify with and feel some form of attachment to. In many instances, the attachment is based on opposition toward "out-groups.

Out-group: Out-group refers to a group of individuals in which members of an in-group harbor a sense of opposition, resistance and even sometimes hatred toward. Out-groups are required for in-groups to exist.

Values-based Education: Values-based education is the inclusion of moral and ethical values that make a person believe he or she is in line with the norm.

Values: Values are the guidelines that describe how we as people should behave and how organizations should perform.

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Suggested Reading

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 106–116.

Montgomery, W. (2001). Creating culturally responsive, inclusive classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children, 33, 4–9. Retrieved July 7, 2009, from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=4890708&site=ehost-live

Planel, C. (1997). National cultural values and their role in learning: A comparative ethnographic study of state primary schooling in England and France (Cover story). Comparative Education, 33, 349. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from EBSCO online database, Academic Search Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=186445&site=ehost-live

Tas, M. (2013). International students: Challenges of adjustment to university life in the U.S. International Journal of Education, 5, 1–10. Retrieved December 23, 2013 from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=90306962

Tyler, K., Boykin, A., Miller, O., & Hurley, E. (2006). Cultural values in the home and school experiences of low-income African-American students. Social Psychology of Education, 9, 363–380. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=23571928&site=ehost-live