Abstract
This chapter compares high school students’ classroom experiences in Uttar Pradesh, India and Ohio, U.S.A., based on videotaped observations of regular class sessions. In a multilayered content analysis, we coded classroom interactions from five different angles, ranging from classroom decor to the questions teachers asked of students. Overall, we found that U.S. classrooms tended to create a shared environment that focused relatively more on personal self-expression, whereas Indian classrooms tended to create one that focused relatively more on efficient knowledge transfer and properly fulfilling one’s institutional role. These tendencies align with broader trends in the two countries, suggesting that high school classrooms play an important role in reflecting and implicitly encouraging somewhat divergent interpersonal orientations in these societies.
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Notes
- 1.
Analysis 1 was carried out in collaboration with Alyssa Stout and Alex Sheppard.
- 2.
Analysis 2 was carried out in collaboration with Seneca Neal and Grace Runyon.
- 3.
Analysis 3 was carried out in collaboration with Odysse Davis (largest contribution), Gabriel Cox, Michael Dureska, Mercedes Harris, Amy Knauer, Melissa Latto, Morgan Malanca, Lizzie McNeill and Olivia Roberson.
- 4.
Analysis 4 was carried out in collaboration with Jubileen Kombe and Antonia Turner.
- 5.
Analysis 5 was carried out in collaboration with Sara Sullivan and Cassidy Taylor.
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Acknowledgements
The data collection described here was supported in part by a year-long Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Scholar Fellowship hosted jointly by the Department of Psychology and the Malaviya Centre for Peace Research at Banaras Hindu University. These findings were presented at the 2019 meeting of the National Academy of Psychology in Pondicherry, India.
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Crane, L.S. (2022). Role Fulfilment and Self-Expression: Culturally Meaningful Messages Conveyed Implicitly in Indian and U.S. High School Classrooms. In: Sia, S.K., Crane, L.S., Jain, A.K., Bano, S. (eds) Understanding Psychology in the Context of Relationship, Community, Workplace and Culture. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2693-8_14
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