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Culture and Learning in Asian Societies

For decades, many people in the West have been intrigued by the high achievement of students of Asian origin in the international arena. Meanwhile, in the past 2 decades, many stereotypical views about Asian learners have been proved to be wrong. This entry documents some of the major characteristics of Asian learners as they relate to culture. First, the concept of culture is defined and a theoretical model of culture is introduced. Second, key Asian values are noted and hypotheses are made about the characteristics of learning in Asian societies. Third, empirical findings about learning in Asian societies are presented. The final part points out some caveats in discussing cultural differences in learning.

Culture and Theories of Culture

There have been many insightful definitions of culture. According to Geert Hofstede, culture is “the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another.” Likewise, in the broad cross-cultural literature, cultural-theoretical models have been proposed by scholars in different academic fields. Among these models, Hofstede's theoretical model established within the field of management is the most heuristic for the topic discussed here and is thus reviewed.

Based on the results of a survey of employees' basic cultural values in 40 countries, Hofstede came up with a four-dimensional cultural model. By 2001, Hofstede had obtained an index on each of the four cultural dimensions for 66 countries: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism (versus collectivism), and masculinity (versus femininity).

Power distance refers to the extent to which the less powerful members of a society expect power to be distributed unequally and accept it. In societies of larger power distance, people tend to accept the ideas of the more powerful players without question. Uncertainty avoidance pertains to a society's tolerance for ambiguity. People from higher uncertainty-avoidance cultures tend to demand clear answers and guidance from other people. Individualism versus collectivism concerns the relationship between the individual and the collectivity in a society. People from individualist societies tend to think in ways that defy the crowd, whereas people from collectivist societies tend to think in ways that communicate conformity. Finally, masculinity versus femininity refers to the distribution of emotional roles between males and females. Assertiveness and decisiveness are more valued in masculine societies, whereas rule-following and obedience are much more appreciated in feminine societies.

Asian Cultural Values and Expected Learning Characteristics

We cannot assume that cultural values can be generalized to all members of Asian societies or Western societies. Nonetheless, one could argue that there are some shared “Asian values” across Asian cultural settings. In the literature on culture and learning in Asian societies, especially in so-called Confucian-heritage cultures, several Asian values have been repeatedly discussed. These include collectivism, authoritarian moralism, diligence, face, and modesty.

Collectivism essentially involves interdependence (versus autonomy) and conformity (versus individuation), whereas authoritarian moralism concerns impulse control (versus expression). Diligence is highly valued by people of Confucian-heritage cultures, who strongly believe in the merits of hard work. The concept of “face” has a special meaning in Asian cultures and is often a metaphor for a person's honor or reputation. One of the most important functions of face is to maintain harmony within a hierarchical society. Such harmony is achieved through individuals' awareness of their expected roles and individuals showing respect to authority figures (e.g., parents and teachers). Modesty, which is highly valued in Asian societies, allows individuals to become conscious of their inadequacies and, as a result, feel the need to improve themselves.

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