The Self in

Western and
Eastern Thought
 West and East

Individualistic VS. Collaborative

I am special. I am part of my family.
I am unique. I am part of my community.
I am me. I am part of my country.
I am an individual. The goodness of the whole is
I am who I am. more important than the
I am a rational agent. individual.
I am responsible for my own My actions directly impact my
action. family and my community.
 West and East
how deeply culture—the language we speak,
West Brian, East Brian the values we absorb—shapes the brain

Cultural neuroscience (culture reflects on different regions of the brain)

The Americans The Asians showed
showed more more activity in areas
Psychologist Nalini Ambady (2009)
activity in regions that process figure-
showed drawings of people in a ground relations—
that recognize
submissive pose (head down, holistic context
objects.
shoulders hunched) or a dominant one
(arms crossed, face forward) to
Japanese and Americans.
The brain's dopamine-fueled reward
circuit became most active at the sight
of the stance
Japanese response to submissive
poses while Americans response to
dominant poses
 West and East
Individualistic VS. Collaborative

Self
 West and East

Individualistic VS. Collaborative

Lifestyle
Copyright 2010 6
 West
•The Difference and East
Between West and East
Independence
Develop early independence
Express yourself
Responsible for self
Live on one’s own
One’s own goals take priority
Motivated by own
preferences, needs ,
rights
Tasks more important than
relationships
Cognitive skills independent of
social skills
Interdependence
Learn to depend on others
Read nonverbal cues
Listen to authority
Be responsible for others
Personal goals secondary to goals
of the group
Motivated by the norms of, and
duties imposed by, the group
Relationships more important
than tasks
Social and cognitive skills
integrated
Westby (2009)
 West
•The Difference and East
Between West and East

How is a child taken care of?

•Individualistic VS. Collaborative
 West
•The Difference and East
Between West and East

•How a seniorvs.
Individualism life looks like?
Collectivism
•Individualistic VS. Collaborative
 •The Difference
West Between West and East
and East
Individualistic VS. Collaborative
Power Distance
Low Power Distance High Power Distance
Persons must earn respect Parents teach children to
obey
Collaborative classrooms
Children respect parents &
Teachers facilitate learning those in authority
Persons direct themselves Teachers take initiative in
class
Teachers are to transfer
wisdom
Students respect teachers
Persons expect direction
 •The Difference
WestBetween West and East
and East

• Leadership
Individualistic VS. Collaborative
 - Power Distance
+ Guatamala
Pakistan Columbia
Korea Singapore
Costa Rica
Individualism
- Chile Hong Kong Malaysia
Mexico Philippines
Greece
Turkey
Small Power Distance Iran Brazil
Low Individualism Large Power Distance
Japan India Low Individualism

Israel Spain
Finland
South Africa
+ Norway
France
Denmark Belgium
Canada Italy
New Zealand
Small Power Distance Britain Large Power Distance
High Individualism USA High Individualism
Australia

Hofstede, G. (1984). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-

related values. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
 West and East
The Difference Between West and East

Thought Process
CULTURAL THOUGHT PATTERNS IN
INTER-CULTURAL EDUCATION
“ Some Oriental writing, ……. is marked by
what may be called an approach by indirection. In this kind of
writing, the development of the paragraph may be said to be " turning
and turning in a widening gyre." The circles or gyres turn
around the subject and show it from a variety of tangential views,
but the subject is never looked at directly. Things
are developed
in terms of what they are not, rather than in terms of what
they are. Again, such a development in a modern English paragraph
would strike the English reader as awkward and unnecessarily indirect. “
Robert B. Kaplan
University of Southern California
 West and East
•The Difference Between West and East

• Problem Solving
Chinese Culture-
As the sayings go
俗話說：人往高處走；可俗話又說：爬得高，摔得重!
As the saying goes, men go upward; on the other hand, it
says: the higher you climb up, the harder you fall.

俗話說：金錢不是萬能的；可俗話又說：有錢能使鬼推磨！
Money is not everything, however, money rules all.
Chinese Culture-
As the sayings go
俗話說：青出於藍而勝於藍；可俗話又說：薑還是老的辣！
Blue comes from the indigo plant but is bluer than the
plant itself—the pupils exceed the master; however, Old
gingers are spicy- the master is still the master.

俗話說：人人為我，我為人人；可俗話又說：人不為己，
天誅地滅！
Everyone works for me; I work for everyone, however,
every man is for himself.
•The Difference Between
East and West West and East

Definitions of Education
West East
(Latin) which comes Teaching (教)
from a verb
Nurturing (養)
“educere” which
means to lead, draw,
and bring out
the horizontal
“drawing out” of
wisdom into vision
•The Difference Between
East and West
West and East
Education
US pays great attention to train Taiwan’s education pays more
the students’ practice ability to attention to the instilling and
utilize the knowledge, cultivating accumulation of knowledge,
cultivating the students’ respect
the students’ question to the to the knowledge and authority
knowledge and authority and and building the ability to
building the ability to extend the inherit the knowledge system.
knowledge system.
 The acceptance to knowledge
 The dynamic changes to  Structured
knowledge.  Consistence
 Unstructured
 Freedom
 West and East
Social Relationships
West East
Informal, egalitarian. Formal, hierarchical.
People most comfortable People most comfortable
with their social equals; in the presence of a
importance of social hierarchy in which they
rankings minimized. know their position and
the customs/rules for
behavior in the situation.
•The Difference Between
East and West
West and East
Teachers
American teachers were
 Chinese teachers had
more knowledgeable stronger knowledge of the
about general educational subject matter and
theories and classroom building the solid
skills. foundation.
 Evokes creative thinking.  Spend more time with
 Encourage students to their students.
challenge the knowledge.  Persistence.
 Teaching atmosphere  Authority figure.
lively and vivid. ………..
…………….
 West and East

Students
East
West
Discipline
Self-confidence
Obey
Independence
Good observers
Curiosity
Patient
Free thinking
Respectful
……..
Afraid of making
mistakes
…………
Questions?

Thank You

Copyright 2010 25