10/21/21; Week 6: "Individualism vs. Collectivism"

 

Little introduction...

And yet another aspect of culture. Do you desire to be part of the group or do you desire to stand out and define your own persona? Collectivism culture takes pride in being part of an organized system and fear being labeled as the black sheep of the crowd, on the other hand, the individualism culture relish being unique and outstanding, while they feel captive if they have to follow the same protocol as everyone else.             

                               

Involving education... 

So how does this affect education? When you work with a collectivist classroom you are working with a group and a group only, everyone will be treated the same, will have the same responsibilities, and the mistake of one will affect all. With an individualist classroom, every student will have a different idea of how things should be, how are they going to react and be responsible for their progress, and they don’t wish to be dragged into a mess that doesn’t concern them directly.

Both ways have advantages and disadvantages. Collectivism tends to have everyone in the same mindset and expects everyone to advance at the same pace. Though this can be limiting to those who have more potential and a burden for those who struggle to keep up. Individualism brings an opportunity to be more creative and innovate at a fast pace, but it may be a struggle for the students to successfully adapt to a group or team dynamic since they appreciate their individuality too much.

When these two cultural aspects meet, collectivists may think of individualists as crazy people who aren’t fit to cooperate, so they cut them out and probably miss the opportunity of having an innovative and creative mind among them. And individualists may think of collectivists as some kind of robot that will bind their creative mind to nothing and miss what might be some useful allies. It is just a matter of assessing all these pros and cons to take the first step to accept a helpful asset that will contribute to your progress.

Question...

From friends experiences I have learned that this aspect can be overwhelming, and sometimes it seems that you can only be one or another. What would be the best approach to find a balance between the two?