Ethnography Study Effective Teaching in China

Main Article Content

Candace Mehaffey Kultgen

Abstract

Culture is cumulative; culture is found in groups of more than one, is passed from generation to generation, and experiences change. Harrison and Huntington (2000) posit culture is the “values, attitudes, beliefs, orientations, and underlying assumptions prevalent among people in a society” (p. xv). Culture is one of the driving forces that determine the success of a society (Berger & Huntington, 2002). Understanding different cultures can become a diverse and challenging endeavor under the best of circumstances. Research capabilities have added volumes of knowledge about how cultures are realized and understood amongst the multitude of different cultures existing and changing in today’s global world. In particular, ethnographic studies (found in qualitative research methods) have provided valuable tools in this quest to understand the variety, shapes and sounds of culture around the world. Chinese culture has proven to be no exception. According to Gao and Ting-Toomey,(1998) culture varies within societies and within communities, but one consistent cultural aspect found in Chinese culture are the teaching styles, which have remained remarkably the same for 2000 years. The purpose of this narrative ethnography study is to provide avenues in which teachers and professors can effectively communicate the valuable information contained in his or her lectures to Chinese students in China.

Article Details

Section

Journal Articles

Author Biography

Candace Mehaffey Kultgen, Fort Hays State University, USA

Assistant Professor

How to Cite

Kultgen, C. M. (2014). Ethnography Study: Effective Teaching in China. International Journal for Innovation Education and Research, 2(4), 34-40. https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol2.iss4.167

References

Berger, P.L. & Huntington, S.P. (2002). Many Globalizations: Cultural Diversity DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0195151461.001.0001

In the Contemporary World. New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press.

Gao, G. & Ting-Toomey, S., (1998). Communicating Effectively with the Chinese. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452220659

Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.

Harrison, L.E., & Huntington, S.P., (2000). Culture Matters: How Values Shape

Human Progress. New York, N.Y.: Basic books a Perseus Books Group.

Marsh, C. & Dreyer,T. (2003). U.S.–China Relations in the Twenty-First Century:

Policies, Prospects, and Possibilities. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Neuman, W.L. (2006). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (6th

Ed.). MS: Pearson Education, Inc.

Salkind, N.J. (2009). Exploring research (7th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.