Culturally appropriate pedagogy: the case of group learning in a Confucian Heritage Culture context

TLDR

Cultural heritage preservation is a highly debated topic. The study advocates for culturally diverse educational approaches and highlights the neglect of host culture heritage in Western‑imported practices. The authors illustrate this by a case study of group learning strategies in a Confucian Heritage Cultural context, examining educational and cultural issues. The case study shows that applying Western methods without adaptation leads to cultural conflicts and mismatches.

Abstract

Cultural heritage preservation has become a much‐debated topic in recent decades. This paper contributes to the call for educational approaches that take a society's cultural diversity into account. It also attempts to draw attention to non‐Western societies, where educational theories and practices from elsewhere (the West) have been imported and applied without proper consideration for the host culture's heritage. To illustrate the intricacy of developing such a culturally appropriate pedagogy, a case study of using group learning strategies in a Confucian Heritage Cultural context is introduced, which closely examines both educational and cultural issues. The results of this examination reveal a complex web of cultural conflicts and mismatches that are likely to happen when a Western educational methodology is applied in another context without rigorous adaptation to improve compatibility with the host culture.