Cultural Factors Relevant to Secondary School Students in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia: Relative Differences and Congruencies

Abstract

Waldrip and Fisher (2000) proposed seven culturally relevant factors that are salient in the educational setting (gender equity, collaboration, competition, deference, modelling, teacher authority, congruence). In relation to these factors, the present study examined differences and congruencies in factor structure (i.e., differences of kind) and mean scores (i.e., differences of degree) among secondary school students in Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. The Cultural Learning Environment Questionnaire (CLEQ; Waldrip & Fisher, 2000) was administered to 920 students (n= 230 for each country, with boys and girls equally represented; mean age = 16 years). Factor analyses showed congruencies across the four samples on five factors. Interestingly, items pertaining to students' deference to and modelling of teachers and peers grouped into one factor for the Australian sample, but separated into two factors (peers and teacher) for the South-East Asian samples. In terms of mean scores on each factor, Australian students were higher than the Singaporean, Filipino and Indonesian students in their inclination to challenge or disagree with the teacher. On the other hand, the three groups of South-East Asian students scored higher than the Australian students in their preferences for collaboration and conformity in the classroom. Implications for counselling relevant to multicultural classroom and school contexts were discussed.

Personal best goals and academic and social functioning: A longitudinal perspective

“…For example, studies have demonstrated that age negatively predicted academic buoyancy (Martin, Colmar, Davey, & Marsh, 2010) and teacher-student relationships (Bracken & Crain, 1994), but it was a positive predictor of deep learning (Sadler-Smith, 1996) and flow experience (Sahoo & Sahu, 2009). Studies have also shown the role of language or ethnicity background in deep learning, resilience, the quality of teacherestudent relationship, and peer cooperation (den Brok & Levy, 2005;Leung, Ginns, & Kember, 2008;Liem, Martin, Nair, Bernardo, & Prasetya, 2009). Another factor to control is academic ability as, through its impact on self-efficacy and sense of control in learning, academic ability has been associated with deep learning, academic flow, academic buoyancy, the quality of student-teacher relationships, and peer cooperation (Bandura, 1997;Liem et al, 2008;Wentzel, 1997).…”

“…Fourth, PBs-related research has predominantly been conducted in a culturally Western educational setting emphasizing individualism (Liem et al, 2009). There is a need for future studies to examine the effects of PB goals e that are characteristically personalized, self-set, and self-evaluated e among students in other cultural and educational contexts that operates on the basis of collectivist values and emphasizes the importance of togetherness, conformity, and deference to authority (e.g., teachers, parents).…”

Teacher–student interpersonal relationships do change and affect academic motivation: A multilevel growth curve modelling

“…The classroom context in particular reflects such collectivist tendencies, constituting, in effect, a social unit within the larger unit of society. Moreover, in the Indonesian context, TSIR is influenced by other pervasive cultural values, such as the idea of paternalism and respect for the authority of one's elders, which implicitly regulate the interaction between the young and the old (Liem, Martin, Nair, Bernardo, & Prasetya, ; Maulana et al ., ). As a consequence, the perceived distance between student and teacher is relatively high; also, the school system tends to be hierarchical and allows for little variation.…”

University mentors’ views on reflective practice in microteaching: building trust and genuine feedback

“…This is certainly what Liem, Martin, Nair, Bernardo, and Prasetya (2009) believe. They investigated how Southeast Asian students tend to conform to what the teacher says, as well as to what the majority of the class say.…”