A Cultural Model of Learning

Abstract

This study examined the Chinese model of learning from an emic perspective. Instead of Western research concepts of learning, the Chinese folk term hao-xue-xin, in English “heart and mind for wanting to learn,” was used. Prototypical methods were employed to collect written descriptions of Chinese ideal learners from college students. Cluster analyses of these data showed that Chinese learners view learning as a process of moral striving called self-perfection. The Chinese model stresses seeking knowledge and cultivating a passion for lifelong learning, fostering diligence, enduring hardship, persistence, concentration, “studying hard” regardless of obstacles, and feeling “shame-guilt” for lack of desire to learn. Theoretical as well as empirical implications for further cross-cultural research are discussed.