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##  Considering Culture in the Selection of Teaching Approaches for                 Adults. ERIC Digest.                                                         

Adult educators are increasingly committed to designing learning                that takes into account cultural differences. We are discovering                that "valuing" diversity is not enough to enable educators from the             dominant culture, particularly European Americans living in the                 United States, to recognize difference and know how to change                   instruction so that learners who have felt marginalized feel visible            and valued. This Digest examines the different dimensions of culture            that are relevant to the adult learning context, speaking primarily             to the case of the United States, including both the personal                   cultures of learners and educators, and the culture of the larger               social political environment. It explores how cultural values                   permeate instruction and looks at several approaches that take                  culture into account. WHAT IS CULTURE, ANYWAY?The simplest                definition of culture includes those values, beliefs, and practices             shared by a group of people. Social scientists and anthropologists              vary on theirdefinitions of what comprises a culture, subculture, or            microculture, but for practical purposes, the notion of sharing a               common worldview is often enough for individuals who find themselves            moving between multiple cultures. Culture can be subtle, and what is            considered cultural can evolve over time. For example, gender,                  religion, disability, sexual orientation, and age might not have                been considered dimensions of culture 25 years ago. But today we                study gender communication differences, the influence of religious              views on decisions and behaviors, and the assumptions that can or               cannot be made depending upon a person's physical ability, sexual               orientation, or age. Educators need to be mindful that they cannot              assume they know the cultural background of their students; even the            seemingly homogenous classroom necessitates an expectation and                  active exploration of multiculturalism. Culture is an attribute of              individuals, of small groups, of organizations, and of nations; a               single person can belong to a multiplicity of cultures, any one of              which may be important at any given time (Brislin 1993). For                    example, the most salient dimension of culture for a 50-year-old                woman named Emma enrolled in a course to learn a new software                   program may be age, as she observes the ease with which her                     22-year-old classmates negotiate the intricacies of the program.                When Emma participates in a racial dialogue experience, she is very             aware that her ethnic/racial identity as a European American is                 preeminent. And if Emma were Deaf, considering a graduate degree, it            would be critical for her to find a program that actively                       facilitated her use of American Sign Language interpreters.                     Instruction in any one of these situations would be more relevant to            Emma if her instructors were aware of how specific aspects of                   culture, such as age, ethnicity and race, or deafness, suggested                different teaching methods (Heimlich and Norland 1994). KEY AREAS             OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCECultures tend to vary along a number of               dimensions. The following are among those in which different views              and behaviors can lead to misunderstanding and tension: 
*                     Individualism and Collectivism. Individualistic cultures generally              value the self-reliance, equality, and autonomy of the individual,              whereas collectivist cultures tend to value group effort and harmony            and knowing one's place within society. For example, mainstream U.S.            workplace cultures are often fragmented over the balance between                rewarding individual effort and competition versus recognizing and              fostering teamwork and cooperation. 
* Monochronic and Polychronic             Time. "M-time" is tangible and can be "saved, spent, wasted, lost,              made up...and run out" (Hall 1983, p. 43). Personal interaction can             be sacrificed to scheduling and efficiency. "P-time," however,                  stresses involvement of people and completion of transactions rather            than preset schedules. 
* Egalitarianism versus Hierarchy.                     Believing in fairness and equal opportunities for everyone is                   critical in more individualistic cultures that often equate                     hierarchy with rigidity, even if equality is more of a societal                 ideal than a reality. Conversely, hierarchy may be valued in more               collectivist cultures as a means of acknowledging innate differences            and inequalities and of facilitating communication through the                  recognition of various social levels through titles and roles. 
*              Action versus "Being" Orientation. U.S. culture generally tends to              value action, efficiency, getting to "the bottom line," often                   downplaying social interactions in the interests of achieving goals.            Taking time to discuss and understand complex issues and to                     appreciate the moment may be more important to people coming from a             more holistic cultural orientation than the perception of                       precipitously moving to action steps. 
* Change and                            Tradition. "Change" has become the mantra of dominant U.S. society,             which looks toward the future and resists an historical perspective.            Those coming from cultures that value the lessons of history view               the past as an important guide to the present and the                           future. 
Certain variables cut across differences in values.                   Communication style is the expression of various cultural values;               power differences stem from the historic position of particular                 cultures within sociopolitical systems. 
* Communication Styles.               How we communicate is often as important as what we communicate.                Depending partially on cultural variables such as nationality,                  ethnicity, gender, and race (among others), individuals may have a              reference for both sending and receiving messages in styles that are            linear or circular, direct or indirect, attached or detached,                   procedural or personal, and more confrontational in either                      intellectual or relational terms. 
* Power Imbalances. In addition             to the differences in values and communication styles that                      contribute to cultural diversity, cultures are stratified by                    inequities in terms of access to political and economic power. Thus,            a culture's relative advantage or disadvantage depends on its                   position vis-a-vis other cultural groups. WHY INSTRUCTIONAL                   APPROACHES ARE NOT NEUTRALPreparatory to the selection of                   teaching strategies is a recognition that (1) the cultural                      dimensions described here provide the basis for learners' behavior              and responses, and (2) as cultural beings, our teaching is always               based on cultural values, regardless of our awareness of their                  influence (Heimlich and Norland 1994). For example, more                        individualistic cultures, such as those found in North America, tend            to reward teachers and learners for class activities that stress                individual initiative and expression, whereas more collectivist                 cultures tend to value those collectivist efforts which reinforce               social connections and norms. For U.S. adult education, this means              that the "default" teaching methods might include an individual                 learner's presentation of a project in front of the class or                    leadership in large-group discussion. Although these activities are             valued in a culture that promotes individual assertion and                      initiative, they may be perplexing for a learner coming from a                  culture where the question of who speaks from a position of                     leadership or power is highly dependent upon age, gender, or status             as a student. For example, Chinese adult students may find the                  learner's role to be highly dependent upon their lower status in the            classroom, where questioning a teacher would be viewed as                       questioning competence (Pratt et al. 1998). Similarly, in Blackfeet             communication, elders are viewed as those best equipped for public              speaking because they are most socially interconnected. Speaking                publicly, especially for younger adults, risks severing communal                relations (Carbaugh 1998). 
Methods and activities that culminate              in products, a consequence of the value placed on action and                    results, also appear regularly in U.S. adult ducation. Learners                 coming from environments where time is dedicated more to the                    exploration of ideas rather than a goal,however, may not feel the               need to come to closure on learning, especially if such "timely"                termination preempts lively learning processes. Hispanic learners,              for example, may learn better with nonformal education approaches               linked to community life (Jeria 1999), rather than methods embedded             in the more rigid temporal dimensions associated with U.S. public               schools. 
It is important to recognize that, although some concepts            of adult education taught in the United States seem at first glance             to reify core national values, there may be considerable leeway in              how methods associated with these concepts emerge. As an example,               self-directed learning is generally described as a process in which             people take primary initiative for planning, carrying out, and                  evaluating their own learning experiences (Merriam and Caffarella               1999). On the surface, such a construct appears thoroughly grounded             in individualist cultural values like individual initiative and                 agency. However, recent theorists elaborating on self-direction have            suggested greater roles for mentors and coaches (Grow 1994) and a               recognition that autonomy in learning does not preclude a valuing of            interdependence, depending on the learning context (Nah 2000). A                method born of one culture may be adaptable to another when relevant            cultural differences are considered. APPROACHES THAT ALLOW                    ALTERNATIVE VOICESHow can teachers help learners appreciate the             diversity inherent in any classroom? Followingare a few examples of             culturally sensitive learning approaches that have the potential to             foster inclusion. 
The social construction of knowledge might be               fostered through collaborative group learning, which emphasizes the             process of listening to and respecting others, understanding                    alternative views, challenging and questioning others, negotiating              ideas, and caring for group participants (Imel and Tisdell 1996).               The communicative focus and socially constructed nature of                      collaborative learning are illustrated through the experiences of               African American students, as one example, where self-expression,               connection with the instructor, and the need to equalize the                    learning environment are all valued (Hecht et al. 1993; Imel and                Tisdell 1996; Sheared 1999). 
Teachers may want to provide                     structured guidance through learning experiences, a strategy that               may be particularly useful for learners from cultures where                     hierarchy and expertise of the teacher are highly valued.                       Mentorships may serve as a bridge for culturally different students             seeking comfort with dominant-culture teaching methods, especially              if the teaching-learning interactions take place outside of                     class (Carbaugh 1998; Liang and McQueen 2000; Pratt et al.                      1998). 
The learning of disempowered groups may be better served               through an assessment vehicle that allows their concrete stories and            cosmologies to be related. Portfolios, collections of extended                  essays and documentation that describe learning in relation to                  college-level criteria (Michelson 1997), allow an alternative to                learning assessed solely through abstract principles. 
Students                from other cultures may appreciate computer-assisted learning media,            which allow them to share stories around personal and group cultural            identities in an environment that may be perceived as more open and             relaxed than the face-to-face classroom context (Coombs 1993). The              online medium, which serves a variety of different purposes and                 audiences, is also helpful to non-English speakers seeking privacy              and time to prepare away from real-time compressed                              communication (Liang and McQueen 2000). 
Although there are some               general categories of difference between cultures, there are many               ways that instruction can be designed or redesigned to become more              culturally sensitive. Adult educators can start to become more                  sensitive to cultural difference in the classroom by first examining            the cultural values that underlie their preferred methods of                    teaching. Diversifying teaching methods should be a dynamic,                    interactive process with learners that enriches all of adult                    learning. REFERENCESBrislin, R. W. UNDERSTANDING CULTURE'S                INFLUENCE ON BEHAVIOR. Orlando, FL: Holt, Rinehart & Winston,                   1993. 
Carbaugh, D. "I Can't Do that, But I Can See around Corners:            American Indian Students and the Study of Public 'Communication.'"              In READINGS IN CULTURAL CONTEXTS, edited by J. N. Martin, T. K.                 Nakayama, and L. A. Flores. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing              Co., 1998. 
Coombs, N. "CMC: The Medium and the Message." JOURNAL              OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION/REC 3, no. 2 (1993).                                http://www.cios.org/getfile\COOMBS_V3N293 (members only) 
Grow,                G. "In Defense of the Staged Self-Directed Learning Model." ADULT               EDUCATION QUARTERLY 44, no. 2 (Winter 1994): 109-114. 
Hall, E. T.             THE DANCE OF LIFE: THE OTHER DIMENSION OF TIME. New York:                       Doubleday & Co., 1983. 
Hecht, M. L.; Collier, M. J.; and Ribeau,              S. A. AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNICATION: ETHNIC IDENTITY AND CULTURAL              INTERPRETATION. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1993. 
Heimlich, J. E., and            Norland, E. DEVELOPING TEACHING STYLE IN ADULT EDUCATION. San                   Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994. 
Imel, S., and Tisdell, E. "The                  Relationship between Theories about Groups and Adult Learning                   Groups." In LEARNING IN GROUPS. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ADULT AND                    CONTINUING EDUCATION, no. 71, edited by S. Imel, pp. 15-24. San                 Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996. 
Jeria, J. "The Quest for Visibility             in Adult Education: The Hispanic Experience." In PROVIDING                      CULTURALLY RELEVANT ADULT EDUCATION. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ADULT AND               CONTINUING EDUCATION, no. 82, edited by T. C. Guy, pp. 49-65. San               Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999. 
Liang, A., and McQueen, R.                      J. "Computer Assisted Adult Interactive Learning in a Multi-Cultural            Environment." ADULT LEARNING 11, no. 1 (Fall 1999):                             26-29. 
Merriam, S. B., and Caffarella, R. S. LEARNING IN                      ADULTHOOD: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE. 2D ED. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,            1999. 
Michelson, E. "Multicultural Approaches to Portfolio                    Development." In ASSESSING ADULT LEARNING IN DIVERSE SETTINGS:. NEW             DIRECTIONS FOR ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION, no. 75, edited by A.             Rose and M. Leahy, pp. 41-53. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,                       1997. 
Nah, Y. "Can a Self-directed Learner Be Independent,                    Autonomous and Interdependent?: Implications for Practice." ADULT               LEARNING 11, no. 1 (Fall 1999): 18-25. 
Pratt, D.; Kelly, M.; and              Wong, W. "The Social Construction of Chinese Models of Teaching." In            PROCEEDINGS OF THE 39TH ANNUAL ADULT EDUCATION RESEARCH CONFERENCE,             comp. by J. C. Kimmel San Antonio, TX: University of the Incarnate              Word, 1998. (ED 426 247)                                                        http://www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/aerc/1998/98pratt.htm 
Sheared,                    V. "Giving Voice: Inclusion of African American Students'                       Polyrhythmic Realities in Adult Basic Education." In PROVIDING                  CULTURALLY RELEVANT ADULT EDUCATION. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR ADULT AND               CONTINUING EDUCATION, no. 82, edited by T. C. Guy, pp. 33-48. San               Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999. 
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This project has been funded            at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of                 Education under Contract No. ED-99-CO-0013. The content of this                 publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of               the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names,               commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S.             Government. Digests may be freely reproduced and are available at               http://ericacve.org/pubs.asp.                                                **Title:** Considering Culture in the Selection of Teaching Approaches for                 Adults. ERIC Digest.                                                         **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** For full text: http://ericacve.org/digests.asp.                              **Descriptors:** Adult Basic Education, Adult Education, Adult Educators, Adult                  Learning,  Adult Students, Classroom Techniques,  Cultural                      Awareness, Cultural Background, Cultural Context, Cultural                      Differences, Cultural Exchange, Cultural Influences, Cultural                   Pluralism,  Cultural Traits, Culturally Relevant Education,                     Intercultural Communication, Postsecondary Education, Social                    Differences, Student Characteristics, Student Subcultures,  Teacher             Attitudes, Teacher Effectiveness,  Teaching Methods,  Teaching Styles        **Identifiers:**  Cultural Sensitivity,  ERIC Digests                                         
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