The Learner > Evaluation
Conclusion
One psychological dimension of cultural difference mentioned several times in this review is susceptibility to the Fundamental Attribution Error. Individuals from the West are far more susceptible. The error involves finding the causes of human action more in the traits of individuals than the design of the situations in which they are acting. Western research on the Chinese learner risks being invaded by this species of analytic error.
The motive to characterise the Chinese learner seems compelling. But what seems to go with this is a lack of attention to the proximal circumstances – social and material – that may act to sustain certain patterns of teaching and learning. The literature we have reviewed certainly leaves a strong sense that there are significant differences in how Chinese students approach the challenges of learning. Moreover, the nature of these differences resonates with a long philosophical tradition in China that guides ways of understanding the world. This is a provocative alignment but, in the end, it is more significant that these learner differences are detectable at the level of individual psychological makeup. That is, they exemplify social and cognitive dispositions that seem to manifest in forms of analysis and interaction that occur well outside of the narrow world of classrooms.
Our review also makes a point about teachers and schools. It confirms that the organisation by teachers of classroom exchange is very different between China and the West. Consequently, the causal dynamic that links philosophical heritage, individual psychological characteristics, and classroom ecology is very complex. What the literature clearly indicates is that any given attribute of the Chinese learner we elect to isolate will turn out to be embedded in a wider matrix of social and cognitive practices. We could say that any such attributes must be approached as being “systemically” organised.
For example, consider the claim about effort. This has been often identified in the profile of attributes that characterise the Chinese student’s learning. But as an attribute it should be understood in terms of its location within a wide variety of different cultural systems. “Effort” is part of a societal system of values: one that prompts parents to motivate and support their children’s education. It is part of a political system for managing family size: a one-child policy that leaves children more closely encouraged and rewarded by a large group of older relatives. It is part of an economic system: one that creates strong competition within the marketplace for jobs and, thus, strong motives for educational success. It is part of an institutional system that dictates long school days and high homework loads. It is part of a social interactional system that encourages close coordination with others and a willingness to harmonise and contribute to classroom dialogue. It is part of a cognitive system that is tolerant of error and motivated by its occurrence.
We may be inclined to back away from this conceptual complexity. But there is no need to retreat from a more straightforward and empirically-tractable question: How much plasticity is there in the Chinese learning profile that we document? Or, put another way: where Chinese students encounter new modes of educational practice, can we expect smooth adaptation to such novelty? Although more tractable, this is not a simple question that will attract any simple generalisation by way of answer. Indeed, what has been already said about this is mixed. Some observers report effective adaptability (Gieve and Clark, 2005; Kember, 2000; Zhou, Knoke and Sakamoto, 2005). Others report persistent difficulty in learners managing cultural transition (Turner, 2006).
A recent study by Li (2006) alerts us to the challenge of more fully studying the plasticity or resilience of learning profiles. In a large group of Chinese learners, Li identifies a stronger sense of agency and autonomy than the conventional literature would predict. Her analysis provokes two questions. The first is a matter of secular trends. How far are such unexpected findings from the current generation of high school students reflecting powerful reshaping forces: new influences arising from changes in society to do with the growth of local economy or the extension of global communication?
The second question arising from Li’s research is a matter of domain specificity. It is possible for aspects of psychological disposition (such as agency) to fracture from the larger social and cognitive systems of which we believe them to be a part. In such circumstances, it is possible for an individual to show strong interdependence in some aspects of their lives (say, in relation to family and workplace), while showing strong autonomy and independence in others (say, schooling). How and whether such domain specificity emerges around matters of learning is an important research challenge for the future.
The conclusion is clear. In theorising the notion of a Chinese learner, it is not enough to discriminate and categorise discrete psychological functions or behavioural dispositions. What “elements” of this profile exist to be distinguished are bound into larger political, social, and cognitive systems. That is, they acquire their resilience (or plasticity) from a dynamic within such patterns of inter-relationship. If we are to understand the Chinese learning profile in a way that supports new designs for educational practice, then future research must be both more systemic and more ecological in its orientation.
References
Gieve, S., & Clark, R. (2005). The Chinese approach to learning': Cultural trait or situated response? The case of a self-directed learning programme. System 33, 261-276.
Kennedy, P. (2002). Learning cultures and learning styles: Myth-understandings about adult (Hong Kong) Chinese learners. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 21, 430-445.
Li, J. (2006) Self in learning: Chinese adolescents goals and sense of agency, Child development, 77, 482-501
Turner, Y. (2006). Chinese students in a UK business school: Hearing the student voice in reflective teaching and learning practice. Higher Education Quarterly, 60, 27-51.
Zhou, Y. R., Knoke, D., & Sakamoto, I. (2005). Rethinking silence in the classroom: Chinese students' experiences of sharing indigenous knowledge. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 9, 287-311.