10/23/19; Week 6: Response to "Individualism vs Collectivism.
Have you ever wondered which cultural group you belong to? Individualism or collectivism? "Our first dimension of cultural value is individualism vs. collectivism"
The cultural difference that we understand most because it has been studied mostly is the difference between an individualistic culture, where everything revolves around the individual and not in a group of people. This individualistic culture puts the needs or desires of the individual first. Then we have the collectivist culture, where everything revolves around the group, and the needs of the group prevail, such as family, friends, workmates, etc.
Let me make a parallel between both cultures:
Individualism.
Set personal goals and objectives
based on themselves.
It is motivated by rewards and
personal benefits.
Collectivism
Everything revolves around the group.
Recognizes and honors the success of the team.
Maybe you know even more differences. I would like to highlight that an individualistic culture is more difficult to adapt to a collectivist society, due to the fact that it has been a life focused on itself, achievements or failures that it has assumed responsibly or irresponsibly. I speak of a life used to work to achieve own goals. For example, when someone leaves an individualist country like the United States to a collectivist country like Japan, the individualistic person may feel a cultural shock from the moment they think that working or deciding in a group can be a waste of time. This implies having to work hard on relationships and do what the group does.
Now, what happens when a socially collectivist person must go to an individualist country like England or Australia? Well, these people feel alone when they see that everyone does their thing and they work independently. There is no group cohesion, which also causes a cultural shock for them.
What lesson can we learn from this cultural difference that somehow affects us all?
As ESL educators, I think that helping the adaptation of our students in our classroom should be essential to achieve a good camaraderie among teacher-students.
Have you ever wondered which cultural group you belong to? Individualism or collectivism? "Our first dimension of cultural value is individualism vs. collectivism"
The cultural difference that we understand most because it has been studied mostly is the difference between an individualistic culture, where everything revolves around the individual and not in a group of people. This individualistic culture puts the needs or desires of the individual first. Then we have the collectivist culture, where everything revolves around the group, and the needs of the group prevail, such as family, friends, workmates, etc.
Let me make a parallel between both cultures:
Individualism.
Set personal goals and objectives
based on themselves.
It is motivated by rewards and
personal benefits.
Collectivism
Everything revolves around the group.
Recognizes and honors the success of the team.
Maybe you know even more differences. I would like to highlight that an individualistic culture is more difficult to adapt to a collectivist society, due to the fact that it has been a life focused on itself, achievements or failures that it has assumed responsibly or irresponsibly. I speak of a life used to work to achieve own goals. For example, when someone leaves an individualist country like the United States to a collectivist country like Japan, the individualistic person may feel a cultural shock from the moment they think that working or deciding in a group can be a waste of time. This implies having to work hard on relationships and do what the group does.
Now, what happens when a socially collectivist person must go to an individualist country like England or Australia? Well, these people feel alone when they see that everyone does their thing and they work independently. There is no group cohesion, which also causes a cultural shock for them.
What lesson can we learn from this cultural difference that somehow affects us all?
As ESL educators, I think that helping the adaptation of our students in our classroom should be essential to achieve a good camaraderie among teacher-students.
Hi Sandy, being Brazilian I think my culture is somewhere between. We are not so individualistic like US neither so collectivist like Asian countries. Being aware of these cultures really help us understand how difficult the adaptation can be and as teachers we can really help our students in the process.
ReplyDeleteThanks Carine for your response!
ReplyDelete