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International Review of Education

, Volume 60, Issue 5, pp 603–617 | Cite as

Middle East meets West: Negotiating cultural difference in international educational encounters

  • Helen Goodall
Article
First Online:

Abstract

This paper sets out to evaluate a proposed twelve-month programme of development aimed at academic staff at a new university in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The author uses a model of cultural difference proposed by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede as her starting point. Reference is also made to the work of other researchers and to the views of a number of people with first-hand experience of education in Iraqi Kurdistan. Cultural differences between the Kurdish participants on the proposed programme and its British facilitator are a likely challenge in this kind of project, in particular those associated with collectivist vs. individualist traditions. Focusing on this divide, some marked differences emerge in terms of how learning is viewed and approached in the two different countries. Whilst acknowledging that cultural difference is not confined to national boundaries, the author argues that the degree of collectivism or individualism within a society can be regarded as one of the many significant components of the complex concept of “culture”. She does not attempt to offer any empirical evidence to support a “best way” to approach international educational encounters. Rather, the author’s aim is to draw some conclusions to inform and facilitate the design and delivery of the proposed programme. At the same time, this paper may also offer some useful insights to those who find themselves in similar situations requiring them to deliver programmes in environments which are culturally removed from their own.

Keywords

Cultural differences Individualism Collectivism International educational encounters Iraqi Kurdistan 

Résumé

Le Moyen-Orient rencontre l’Occident : gérer le fossé culturel dans les rencontres éducatives internationales – L’auteure de cet article se propose d’évaluer le projet d’un programme de développement prévu pour douze mois, destiné au personnel enseignant d’une nouvelle université dans le Kurdistan iraquien. Le modèle de différence culturelle proposé par le psychologue social néerlandais Geert Hofstede lui sert de point de départ. Elle se réfère en outre au travail d’autres chercheurs ainsi qu’aux opinions de nombreuses personnes ayant une expérience éducative directe dans le Kurdistan iraquien. Les différences culturelles entre les participants kurdes au projet et son animateur britannique constituent un défi probable à ce type de projet, en particulier celles liées aux traditions collectivistes vs individualistes. À l’examen de ce contraste, des différences marquées apparaissent en termes de conception et d’approche de l’apprentissage dans les deux pays. S’il est vrai que les différences culturelles ne s’arrêtent pas aux frontières des pays, l’auteure avance que le degré de collectivisme ou d’individualisme dans une société peut être considéré comme l’une des nombreuses composantes significatives de la notion complexe de « culture ». Elle ne tente pas de fournir les preuves empiriques étayant le « meilleur moyen » d’aborder les rencontres éducatives internationales. Son objectif consiste à tirer quelques conclusions en vue d’éclairer et de faciliter la conception et la réalisation du programme proposé. Cet article peut en outre fournir quelques éclaircissements utiles aux personnes vivant des situations comparables, appelées à réaliser des programmes dans des environnements culturellement éloignés de leur propre contexte.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Faculty of Health, Education and WelfareUniversity of St. Mark and St. JohnPlymouthUK

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