Pedagogy of heuristic contexturalisation : intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters

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HAI CHUN LIN

PEDAGOGY OF HEURISTIC

CONTEXTURALISATION

Intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters

(Due to the technical reason, the Chinese characters in the original version of this dissertation cannot be converted

into the electronic version at this moment)

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Abstract

The present study is designed to analyze the effects of the ongoing cultural globalization. It utilizes as its empirical setting two special programmes called the International Master’s Programme (the IMP,) directed by Lund University in Sweden. The aim of the study is to infer a pedagogic idea for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters by exploring, describing, and comprehending the effective side of the IMP pedagogic conduct and its essen-tial.

In order to realize the aim of the study, the study method is oriented to Educational Transferability through Qualitative Ideographic “Root-images” based on the principle of Symbolic Interactionism with a Poststructuralist’s perspective. Throughout the fallibilistic approach with “’bottom-up’ process” supported by the "3I=Trinity" as methodology, two IMP programmes (IMP-x + IMP-y = the IMP) have been studied. The programmes were divided into different cohorts based on their period of attendance (i.e., 1997-1998; 1998-1999; 1999-2000;) and were studied through participant observations, face-to-face interviews and in-depth e-mail interviews. I interviewed ten IMP stu-dents, including Swedish participants and guest students from different coun-tries, with different educational backgrounds. Further, I interviewed six IMP lecturers from different academic fields, all of whom were Swedish.

From the empirical data, the IMP effective pedagogic device and its essential for intercultural understanding through cross-cultural encoun-ters are inferred abductively by modifying Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s, and Bronfenbrenner’s theoretical frameworks. The study combines cogniti-ve decogniti-velopment in Cross-cultural Psychology, pedagogic devices in Culture of Education, and cognitive effects in Mass media Communica-tion. The effective pedagogic device for intercultural understanding is

Heuristic Contexturalisation, its essential is Thematic Reconstruction.

Based on abductive inference, the pedagogic idea for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters is found to be “3ROME” which can be explained by “Relativism”.

Key words:

Acculturation, Awareness, Cognition, Culture, Enculturation, Pedagogy, Reconstruc-tion, Theme, Transmission

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Acknowledgement

The very highest is barely known by men. Then comes that which they know and love, Then that which is feared, Then that which is despised.

He who does not trust enough will not be trusted. When actions are performed! Without unneccessary speech,

People say, "We did it!"

 Lao Tsu Tao Te Ching chapter 17

This study must be ended here although there is still a long way to my ideal perfection. I must go forward because the "bridge" is too long. Evidently, it should be a "watershed"between what it was and what it will be.

This work is the result of interpreting the field of intercultrual transmission through cross-cultural encounters with a pedagogic focus. For completing this work, the sign “V” for one of the corridors has been accompaning me with the "North European" seasons at the institute of Lärarutbildning in Malmö, Swe-den, which can be seen as a symbol of my spiritual growth.

Among people with various cultural background in my studies, the only thing one could do was to be humility, to learn from each other rather than holding the “critical thinking” to observe, to evaluate, and to judge. In particu-lar, in the field of cross-cultural encounters there is no such a criterion that is persuasive for one to evaluate and criticise other cultural phenomena. Cros-sing cultural borders is like bidding “previous incarnation” farewell and being reborn in “the contemporary age”even though actually one cannot totally cut off yesterday from today: When many cultures meet each other, we have to be aware of who we are, which attitude we are holding, what kinds of cultural values constitute the frameworks of our knowledge (i.e., the world-view).

Luckily, there is a terminology, i.e., “root-images”, which provides me with the “path”to reach the present version of the work. That is, it makes me dare to “swim” meeting the “acculturative tides”, since I have been holding my “root”tightly to try to learn, to comprehend, and to "grow up".

As a contemporary Chinese scholar from China, which is the origin of “The Story of the Stone” (i.e.,“A Dream of Red Mansions”),one of the most important Chinese classic novels), my personality has been shaped by the

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Chinese literature collected by my parents, the experiences in my childhood, all my teachers before I started my university study. In particular, by my father’s firm-honesty as a medical doctor who must respect his duty to give his patients a honest diagnos no matter how painful it will be for them; and by my mother’s never-changed “down-to-earth" style. She has given me the life-long treasure: “your tireless hands create your own life no matter where you are”. In addition, comprehending of other four Chinese classic novels, “The Scholars” “sorrow & happiness” with the images from “The Journey to the West” by aftertaste on the human nature in the “Outlaws of the Marsh”; and finally reaching up to the "realm" of “The Three Kingdoms”, this personal background provides a solid ground for the philosophical sense in this study.

In addition to these Chinese elements, Western scholars' ideas were intro-duced into China following China's opening up to the world in 1980s. These thoughts are also important part in the framework of my knowledge. They include Friedrich Nietzsche, Freud Sigmund, René Descartes, William James, Edmund Husserl, C.G. Jung , Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, George W. F. Hegel, and so forth.

This framework of knowledge has become a foundation in my soul. It gui-des me to the higher spiritual realms during the long journey from the Northe-ast China to the SoutheNorthe-ast China.

Overnight, in 1997, Sweden, the homeland of the Nobel Prize, became an inseparable part in my life. No matter what kind of unimaginable "challenges and demands" (personally speaking) from both daily-life (the effects of the so-called "cultural difference") and disciplinary studies (academics), I was still walking up the “path”in my soul. It has been explained best by the Swedish former UN general secretary (1957-1961) Dag Hammarskjöld’s (1905-1961) perspicacity in his “Vägmärken” (1963) as soon as the “root-images” entered my life.

He wrote: “Den smala vägen - att leva för andra för att rädda sin själ. Den breda - att leva för andra för att rädda sin självaktning” [The narrow way – to live for others in order to rescue one' soul. The wide – to live for others in order to rescue one's self-respect.  my translation] (Ibid., p. 17).

If I still hold my “root” to reflect on my “Good Luck” both in China and in Sweden, then, the “path”I have been walking up has been paved by the theme of “lay down one’s life for a just cause” beyond the dazzling display of the martial-art in the movie “Crounching Tiger and Hidden Dragon”. So, if one can sense its vivid interpretation of “honour permits no turning back”, then it will be easier to understand me as a contemporary Chinese’s attitude to meet the unimaginable “acculturative tides” with the life-long belief, i.e., “being able to adapt oneself to different circumstances” but not “meekly submitting to oppression, maltreatment, etc. - resigning oneself to adversity”.

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That is, in the daily-life I can accept all kinds of events without demanding explanations; in the academic explorations, I must try to "seek the 'truth' from the 'facts'" no matter how radical or difficult it might sound. It, in fact, is the combination of Hammarskjöld's “smala och breda vägar” and my personal capability with supports or life-long experience from those who must be men-tioned here:

If Anders and Birgitta thought that you both have done something for Chi-na and Sweden, so did I. Now, the result of this work is presented to you as a reward from both the Chinese and the Swedish peoples, because it is a synthe-sis of the Chinese civilization and the Swedish characteristics of educational culture. I am sure that it will always be "a thread of sunshine" shining on your lives. Wherever and whenever you open it.

If there were no Lilian & KarlOlof's “sending charcoal in snowy weather --provide timely help”, this work, absolutely, would have suffered the fate “die-young”. Thank you for what you have done, since my heart tells me in details.

Each "person" has his or her way of facing life. If Karin Dahlberg has been doing her duty as a secretary for Forskarutbildning, then, her tireless smile, patience, and practical assistance have made me see her as “The candle in the wind” adding light and warmth to her surrounding. Thank you for giving me the spiritual strength.

Every "effort" is to reach the level of perfection. If Dr. Martina Campart, my opponent for the 75% seminar, has devoted her intelligence to try to raise the quality of my work , then, it was I who enjoyed the benefits from her sen-se of responsibility to the academic enterprisen-se and the goodwill that stemmed from our friendship. Thank you for making me see what I have done and what condition you were under.

Every ”reflection” displays one’s inner quality. If Ph D candidate Gitte Malm could understand more about what I had written in the present study as soon as she read the first draft for the 75% seminar, that is because her mental journey in this world has been constructed by the paths linking South Africa to Scandinavia. Therefore, it is not strange for me to see that she puts the symbol of Taoism – Diagram of the Superem Ultimate (consisting of a wavy or double curved live biseting a circle, one half of which is white and the ot-her black) in the center of ot-her daily-life. I thank ot-her for sharing ot-her reflections with me.

Every “word” has its weight. If not for Prof. Professor Horst Löfgren’s “choosing his words with care” for the discussion after the 75% seminar of my thesis-work, I might have been running around with confused-doubts for a much longer time. To him I say thank you for the wise and farsighted wit to open my “eyes” with the sense of “being suddenly enlightened”.

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Every “route-sign” has its significance. If not for Prof. Professor Gunilla

Svingby’s insight to recommend the work “Learning and Awareness” after

the 75% seminar of my thesis-work, I would have spent much more time sear-ching for materials to prove my reflections on the reality in today's Western field of education. To her I say thank you for playing the key part in "bringing a picture of a dragon to life by putting in the pupils of its eyes--adding an apt word to clinch the point".

Everything has a temporary end. If Dr. Margareth Drakenberg, docent in Education, the opponent for the 90% seminar of my thesis-work, who has shared the special effects in the field of cross-cultural encounters with me, then, it was I who gained the inspiring points from her "brainstorm".

Everyone can meet various people with different personality in the course of a lifetime. If there had been no "fated-meeting"between me and my tutor, Prof. Jerry Rosenqvist, this work, absolutely, would not have been presented as it is right now. If I could take I was "taking the liberty of giving" him a Chinese name that was full of my admiration, it is "the soft can overcome the hard". I thank him for providing me with a free space of developing my tho-ughts, and being sensitive enough to the "wind" from my "tiger tail" (I was born in the year of tiger). True, “as distance tests a horse’s strength, so time reveals a person’s heart”.

Thanks, Prof. Emeritus Åke Bjerstedt, your tireless daily-routine and the rich productive works transmit the strong engery to me. They tell me how long academic path you have explored. I can sense it in this way, because it has shown the academic spirit that has been planted in my soul by my strict Chinese teachers in my childhood, which says, "If you work at it hard enough, you can grand an iron rod into a needle – perseverance spells success.”

Thanks, Prof. Lena Holmberg, your name will always remind me of a fe-male scholar who is like "an unbreakable string"to meet challenges bravely;

Thanks, Dr. Ingegerd Tallberg Broman, docent in Education, your timely balancing my "boat" stopped the "seismic sea wave";

Thanks, Dr. Lena Rubinstein Reich, lecturer in Education, your "a piece of orange"has inspired me a lot;

Thanks, Dr. Jan Hartman, docent in Western Philosophy, your academic work makes me perceive the meaning of "Everyone has a mirror in his or her heart." - "a clear mirror hung on high: an impartial and perspicacious judge".

We share the "mirror" even though you are a Swede and I am a Chinese; Thanks to Robert Griffin for using your mother-tongue with the academic background as a Ph D Candidate in Stanford University to be the language proof-reader for my study. Your contribution will always make me feel proud of the present version in English;

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Thanks to Dr. Anna-Lena Tvingstedt, Dr. Bernt Gunnarsson, Dr. Birgitta Gran, Dr. Keijo Eriksson, Dr. Sven Persson, Bereket Yebio, Göte Rudvall, and Krister Svensson. Your modest and amiable manner is the self-possessed quality, I appreciate greatly;

Thanks to Ahmad Al-sa'd. You have brought Arabic cultural wisdom vi-vidly to my life with your personal experiences. In particular, the meaning of Mid-east has affected our daily lives in our shared office because of your con-cerns;

Om jag kan gå över lite till Svenska, måste jag vara tacksam till min kolle-gor Anna Sandell, Ingegerd Ericsson, Lena Jönsson, Maria Pålsson, Annika Måsson, Charlotte Paggetti, Katja Hultgren, Mariann Enö, Nanny Hartsmar. Ni alla alltid försök lyfta up min talade-Svenska. Jag är säker att Ni alla veta att jag resepktera mycket ert språket. (If I can switch to Swedish, I must thank my colleagues A.S., I.E., L.J., M.P., A.M., C.P., I.L., K.H., M.E., N.H. All of you try to lift up my spoken Swedish. I am sure that all of you know I respect your language greatly.);

Many thanks to the staff’s assistance in Lärarutbildning biblioteket, the Easten Asia library in Lund University, the Social- och beteendevetenskapliga biblioteket at Lund University, and the Malmö public library. Thanks to all those who trust me and accept my study-interviews and all those who have given me lectures, and through them shared with me their intelligence;

Thanks to those whom I met along this path: Anita Petersson, Astrid Bos-töm, Bengt Nilsson, Bodil Westgren, Ingegerd Ehn, Margareta Ardeberg, Margareta Herslow;

Thanks to those who concern my life: my TV cameraman, the specific technique TV graphic maker, the president of FCTV, the staff in CHBC, the president of CCTV, the colleagues in the universities I have worked with.

There are many many other people both in China and in Sweden I should mention here. However, since the list of the names is too long to be measured, the others who have been in my life will always be in my heart.

Now, this work has been presented to the world. No doubts, I must take all the responsibility for the contents. No doubt, I will always keep Hammar-skjöld’s perspicacity in heart:

Det som ger livet kan du nå - och förlora. Men aldrig äga. Först och sist gäller detta “san-ningen om livet” [What gives the life you can achieve – and loose. But never own. From first to last this is equivalent to ”the truth about the life” – my translation] (1963, p. 15).

I was not yet born when he wrote this down on the paper, I was probably only one year old when his “resan-inåt” [inward-journey] was presented to the public, after I had gone through lives both at home and abroad, his insight was

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combined with Lao Tzu's words by my soul. Indeed, it is a long way, but it is not late to reach this level:

Look, it cannot be seen - it is beyond form. Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound.

Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible.

These three are indefinable; Therefore they are joined in one. From above it is not bright; From below it is not dark: An unbroken thread beyond description. It returnes to nothingness.

The form of the formless, The image of the imageless, It is called indefinable and beyond imagination.

Stand before it and there is no beginning. Follow it and there is no end. Stay with the ancient Tao, Move with the present.

Knowing the ancient beginning is the essence of Tao.

Lao Tsu •Tao Te Ching /chapter 1

Hai Chun Lin

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Preface

This study is designed to explore the field of cross-cultural encounters. The aim of the study is to construct a pedagogic idea based on intercul-tural transmission through cross-culintercul-tural encounters in two Internatio-nal Master’s Programme at Lund University in Sweden. It uses the principle of Symbolic Interacitonism (SI) with the Poststructuralist per-spective.

From the process of carrying out this study, I have learnt that these kind of studies cannot be carried out if the researchers of the studies are lacking of one of the aspects below: 1) Personal experiences as both an insider and an outsider in studied settings of cross-cultural encounters; 2) Self-awareness: daring to accept and declare the unavoidable effects from both study-carriers’ and the studied-interviewees’ cultural preju-dices and preoccupations; 3) Knowledge, understanding of the fact that social theories are situated-bound: beware of the fact that the objectivi-ty of human and social studies is relative rather than an absolute one. Here, I would like to discuss these aspects to indicate how much I have in this study.

Personal Experiences: An Insider and Outsider

In 1997, from the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent I arrived in Sweden at the western side of the Eurasian Continent. Immediately, I began to think about Shelley and Winck’s “Aspects of European cultu-ral diversity” when they asked themselves “What is Europe” (Shelley & Winck, 1996; Rieu & Duprat, 1996)? Its diversity tore the integrated concept of Europe I had in my mind. I was not aware that I would be a part of Europe’s integrating paces through the enlargement of European Union (EU) until I started the learning process in two International Master’s Programmes (the IMP = the IMP-x + the IMP-y) from 1997-1999 with others who were from different parts of the world, covering all the continents, as guest students at Lund University.

The IMP-x was named International Master’s Programme in

Envi-ronmental Science (i.e., “EnviEnvi-ronmental Science and Studies” - sixty

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offered in English…..1997/98, p. 107]. [It is based on the participants’ four year (three years in some countries – here I comment) Bachelor’s degree study at their home-countries - here I comment]). I was accepted by its first cohort (1997-98). The IMP-x provided me with a global vi-ew on our humankind’s “common heritage” (Hempel, 1996, p. 210) with an environmental perspective - the globe was seen as a “‘province of mankind’, which was introduced in the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and reaffirmed in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty” (Ibid., p. 210). I was im-mersed in academic exploration, discussion and understanding with my fellow participants following the pedagogic conduct because the con-cept of “common heritage” aroused in me a strong resonance, which is very close to the Chinese cultural value: “Within the four seas all men are brothers, and hopefully, our enthusiastic academic explorations could lead our world to a clean “global village” environmentally.

However, the more we explored the environmental issues, the more we touched on the original reasons for the environmental problems, for influnced by the various life-styles, i.e., the actions are based on cultu-ral values and world-views. There were many life-styles that were not environment-friendly leading us to have heated-debates.

• Who is right?

• Whose value is correct and reasonable?

These questions could not be answered completely in the IMP-x. Luckily (personally speaking, since in the IMP-x I was the only one who was studying in the IMP-y at the same time. That is, I had a double studies with the result of earning two master’s degrees from 1997 to 1999), Lund University provided the IMP-y (one part is based on the Swedish twenty credits/points from a compulsory course named

Educa-tional Planning and Human Resource Management. The other part is

based on forty Swedish credits/points from an “interdisciplinary pro-gramme […] graduate/master’s level, see “Courses offered in English-1997/98, 1998/99”. This course was titled Intercultural Understanding:

Community, Culture, Learning). I was accepted to its last cohort

(1998-1999). In this study, these sixty Swedish credits/points lead to a Mas-ter’s degree based on one’s Bachelor’s degree.

I chose the double studies, because I hoped that the IMP-y could provide me with relevant explanations about the discussion and

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argu-ments in the IMP-x. Especially, I hoped that those explanations were based on certain intercultural eyereach. In the IMP-y my fellow partici-pants and I excited exploring and comprehending the European and the North American versions of the cultural, multicultural, and cross-cultural theories with the perspectives covering academic disciplines Sociology, Social Anthropology, and Education.

Evidently, the IMP revealed a specific setting of cultural diversity or cultural variety in the condition of cross-cultural encounters. That is, when international students gathered together and tried to attain certain educational goals directed by a certain pedagogic conduct in a universi-ty classroom, there must, in my opinion, be certain norms that made the setting function. This study is just dependent on this ground to explore how to organise the conducting and learning processes efficiently, and why.

Self-awareness: Combination of the Chinese and the Western Know-ledge Framework

This study is presented by me as a Chinese with a world-view that has been formed by both the Chinese and the Swedish education systems.

The philosophical senses of the Chinese educational system can be understood partly through a reference to Swedish Ph D candidates Jör-gen From and Carina Holmgren’s explanation (2001). More important-ly, my status is as a Ph D candidate in Sweden, which provided me with all possibilities to learn rather than purely evaluating, judging or drawing conclusions as a policy-maker or a media critic. As a matter of fact I do not think that any researchers conducting cross-cultural studies have the qualification to make any evaluations, judgements about other cultures. If one tries to do so, he or she must hold certain criteria. This self-awareness could be linked to the Chinese cultural admonition “where there are three men walking together, one of them is bound to be able to teach me something in the basic part of the framework of my knowledge.

Combining this basic element with the enlarged framework of my knowledge in Sweden, I designed the present study “open-minded, open-hearted and dialogue-oriented within the context of research ends and an overall research strategy in a dialectically interrelated way” (Maso, 1995, p. 31). I tried to carry out the study with an exploring, descriptive and interpretative attempt to establish a heuristic theory. By this, I mean I viewed the empirical setting with “Trifurcate Openness”

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(Maso, p. 7) by utilizing “a heuristic device” (Kelle, 1995, p. 49) to enter the empirical setting “with an open mind and not with an empty heart” (Ibid., p. 49). Hence, this study was carried out through the initi-al attempt: to carry forward something which might provide us with an invaluable inspiration from a specific group through cross-cultural encoun-ters.

Inference from a Situated Empirical Setting

The contents of the study are tightly involved with pedagogy, i.e., “the art or science of teaching” (Brown, 1993, p. 3232). It is obvious that it must be related with another term education which is defined as “the systematic instruction, schooling, or training of children and young people, or, by extension, instruction obtained in adult life, the whole course of such instruction received by a person” (Ibid., p. 785).

Considering the characteristics of the intercultural processes in the educational setting through cross-cultural encounters, we must face the question: Are there teachers who are certain to transmit knowledge to resolve the problems which exist in the unfamiliar parts of the world? Raising this question, because I agree to that it is on time for us to de-vote

to the enhancement of wisdom. At present we have no such tradi-tion.[…]*. Many of our present-day social and global problems are in part due to our long-standing failure to develop such a tradition of genui-nely rational, socially active thought, devoted to the growth of wisdom” (Maxwell, 1987, p. V).

Contemplating the statement quoted above, it sounds quite philosophi-cal. However, if one has really comprehended the nature of philosophy there will be a great sense of understanding instead of confusion. Scru-ton (1995) explains that Philosophy has combined two contrasts - sci-ence and theology. This reminds us that we cannot use researching methods for natural science in human and social studies. Particularly,

_________________

*In this study, […] means one or more sentences have been left out; [..] means some words have been left out; [word] means adding interviewees’ missing words or correcting to proper words.

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there is one conclusion describing the same meaning from the pedago-gic perspective, which is drawn by Ference Marton and Shirley Booth (1997) with their “more than 25 years of systematic research into the experience of learning” (cover-page) both in the contexts of the Wes-tern and the EasWes-tern education. Their conclusion, in my opinion, is qui-te close to my questions above. They explain: “The art of qui-teaching all things to all men springs from the realisation that there is no art of tea-ching all things to all men” (Ibid., p. 205). As soon as I read it, it pu-shed me to write down a sentence under the paragraph in the book I borrowed from the library: “This is the Chinese philosophy: ‘Action through Inaction’”, since it just described what I have written in my second master thesis (Lin,1999).

Although the master's thesis was written based on my own cultural consciousness - Taoism relating to the effects of intercultural educa-tion, Marton and Booth’s conclusion mentioned above has led me to find a common-ground between the ancient Chinese philosophical idea and the experience of conducting and learning initiated by the characte-ristics of Swedish culture of education.

Therefore, it seems that it is possible and reasonable to construct an explanation about my understanding of the participants' conducting and learning experiences in the IMP. Hopefully, it can inspire those who would like to improve their pedagogic competence for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters, such as university and college teachers, researchers of human and social studies, journalists and reporters in mass media, social workers (including psychologists and theologians) in multicultural societies.

With this background as the premise to carry out this study, the stu-dy is designed based on the nature of the Swedish culture of education with the Chinese implications.

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Prelude A Reality in a Corner of the

Globe

[…] despite local differences in aspirations and interests, despite the cla-ims of diversity, there is a goal toward which all education strives: a high quality of attainment based on shared criteria. There is, must be, a stan-dard of achievement that can be used to measure and compare the goals even if diverse educational schemes. And there are, this case would cla-im, skills, values, and a body of knowledge that all people - no matter what their autonomy and particular interests - ought to acquire, if they are to be considered educated. The problem, of course, involves whose no-tions of excellence are incorporated into curricular rules (Kaplan, 1980, p. 8-9).

In this prelude I want to introduce the starting-point of the study, the basic situation of the studied empirical setting.

The quotation above provides a concise and direct summary of the central point of education in any kind of social and cultural context. If we focus on the IMP, which is the pattern of intercultural education, it is still relevant.

By this, I mean, as a university teacher holding university-lectureship with eight years teaching experiences in the Chinese educa-tional system, and a Radio and TV documentary-programme producer with six years cultural re-regulating and transmitting experiences wit-hin the Cwit-hinese cultural context (although many foreigners took part in my programmes), I could build up my theoretical explanations and the programme-themes based on my cultural values and world-view. At the same time, I was not worried if my students, listeners and viewers would be hurt by what I have presented, since we shared the same cul-tural values and cognitive style. However, I tried to imagine how I sho-uld lead a lecture if I was one of the IMP lecturers in the intercultural process through cross-cultural encounters.

In retrospect, it was like a dream that can be explained by Feyera-bend's (1987) interpreation, “the idea of a science that proceeds by

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lo-gically rigorous argumentation is nothing but a dream” (p. 10). It hap-pened in a house (we can develop the meaning of the house by linking “Hull-House” in Trost & Levin, 1999, pp. 163-176) where I entered with my cultural baggage. In only two years I went out with a com-prehension toward Bruner’s (1996, p. 25) conclusion, it says, “educa-tion, conducted in whatever culture, always has consequences in the later lives of those who undergo it.”

The process of this kind of education can be showed as in Box 1.1 below.

Box 1.1. Overview of the IMP graduation ceremony It was a half month before the new millennium, as a graduate of the IMP-x, I was invited to attend the graduation ceremony of its second cohort. The same assembly hall, the same music, the same graduate’s gown, the same lecturers, the same rector……

I was sitting there and immersed in the every detail of the ceremony. •It was exactly one year ago I was standing at their position, •It was exactly the same dress showing their identity, •It was exactly the same time to receive the diploma,

At that moment, I was sharing the unique atmosphere which only belonged to the IMP.

•Recalling the process of their thesis-work and defences, •Reading their faces,

•Arousing resonance from the representatives’ speeches, •Aftertaste on their happiness of receiving the diploma.

In the IMP (IMP-x and IMP-y), 36 students from 20 countries covering all continents of the world met each other at Lund University in Swe-den from September 1997 to June 1999. The daily episodes were still like fresh movie-pictures before my eyes when I reflected back on the period. The group covered the so-called three colour peoples, i.e. Black (Africans) + Yellow (Asians) + White (Americans and Europeans). Hence, there were some episodes in the IMP:

1. Despite the fact that some of us are Black people, they still explain the African continent with different languages;

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2. Despite the fact that some of us are Yellow people, they still have the different styles of season-clothes;

3. Despite the fact that some of us are the White people, they still sho-wed different manners;

4. Despite the fact that we use the same course-literature with the same theoretical themes, the results of our comprehension and interpreta-tions are astonishingly diverse.

Those days we brought our own box of food and shared the same kit-chen in the IMP with the various styles of diets; i.e., the same stuff were cooked or treated to different patterns and tastes (with strong cu-riosity I often tried to exchange food among my fellow participants). One could totally be aware that the meaning of our lives could be en-dowed with marvellous mosaic (i.e., if one does not try to peel “the layer of onion” - Trompenaars, 1995, p. 6), and could be explained with uncountable logical plausibility (i.e., “[…] basic assumptions define the meaning that a group shares. They are implicit.” Ibid., p. 6). But, all the meanings are just made by one maker, HUMANKIND, in this world.

However, as soon as the IMP participants discussed the famous cul-tural phenomena with the shared language English, one would forget that they just arrived and gathered in the IMP in Sweden:

“Ah, the bullfight in your country is very well-known in my country, but

very few of us know why it could become an important traditional festi-val!”

“Ah, your country can make very good porcelain. The big wall [Great

Wall] is so amazing!”

“We know almost nothing about your country, but most of us know the Arch of Triumph. However, only intellectuals can more or less tell its his-torical background.”

Famous buildings, historical events, international movie-stars... We started our communication with the aesthetic viewpoints to each other’s cultural phenomena during the first three weeks in the IMP.

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Why does he or she have this kind of explanations about the phenomena which exist in other parts of the world?

Whose so-called scientific themes does he or she hold to analyse the pe-oples’ behaviours or beliefs whom he or she just met at different parts of the world during his or her field-work periods?

Should I use his or her way to view and interpret other cultures and so-cial phenomena in the future?

Our minds were running rapidly when the IMP lecturers who came with mantle of their academic achievements to give us lectures with their well-prepared materials.

When we listened to your endless collected-facts accompanying the po-werful gestures with your professional self-confidence;

When we stared at those changeable transparencies with figures and dia-grams you showed by overhead;

When we opened widely our eyes to watch the video-pictures showing some parts of those unfamiliar countries’ surfaces;

When we had group-discussions and just imitated our lecturers’ tones to make judgements about other parts of the world with the academic gui-dance in the handouts.

We were hurrying on following the pedagogic conduct to learn and to make sense of the world with the theoretical themes that were provided by the IMP lecturers.

“We are in a global village now!”

We often used this conclusion as a final compromise to face and to ac-cept those so-called insoluble cultural phenomena that stemmed from our own observations and understandings toward each other.

“[…] We teachers are so happy to work together with all of you. The

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One IMP associate-professor used this encouraging conclusion to end his opening speech in the IMP.

“We like your papers, they are so diverse.”

Some of the IMP lecturers commented on the results of the assignments to us. The lecturers’ attitude has allowed us to develop our own formu-lation of study-problem areas and to carry on our personal analyses for one after another assignments untill the final theses.

“Mr. Sweden!”, “Mr. China!”, “Mr. Kenya!”, “Ms. Belgium!”…….

We started to address each other during the last period of participation in the IMP. Indeed, during the preparation of our thesis-work, almost all of us formulated the study-problems relating to the conditions in our home-countries.

“Now, dear graduates! You will be the ambassadors when you go back

with the knowledge you got here […].”

The rector of the university gave us a speech at the graduation ceremo-ny.

The IMP graduates put the symbol of academic achievement—the diploma into the baggage, gave each other “the best wishes”, and said “Bye-bye” to the white building (the symbol of Lund University)…….

One part of their lives was over, and the new ones have started at different parts of the world……

If this prelude has provided readers with certain impressions about the studied empirical setting, then, the chapters following are designed to explore, describe, and understand it.

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1 Introduction

What finally convinced me was recognising how closely linked were the problems of education and the questions that loomed large in creating such a cultural psycholology – questions about the making and negotia-ting of meanings, about the construcnegotia-ting of self and a sense of agency, about the acquisition of symbolic skills, and especially about the cultural “situatedness” of all mental activity. For you cannot understand mental activity unless you take into account the cultural setting and its resources, the very things that give mind its shape and scope. Learning, remembe-ring, talking, imagining: all of them are made possible by participating in a culture (Bruner, 1996, p. XI).

The quotation above can provide us with a contemplation about today’s global condition. Particularly, people’s moving around in the world is not only the physical immigration or emigration, but also mind-running by following the effects of information. In this study, it is used with all kinds of cross-cultural encounters by transmission, i.e., electronic me-dia, dissemination of academic work, and so on. These phenomena are included by the term cultural globalisation.

With this point of view, this chapter consists of six sections: Back-ground: Flows of Cultural Globalisation (section 1.1), Problem Area: Pedagogic Awareness to Cross-cultural Encounters for Know-how (section 1.2), Aim of the Study: Inferring A Pedagogic Idea for Inter-cultural Transmission (section 1.3), Methodological Implications: Edu-cational Transferability by Ideographic “Root Images” (section 1.4), Writing-style of the Study (section 1.5), Structure of the Studies (sec-tion 1.6).

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1.1 Background

Flows of Cultural Globalisation

Grammar that controls speech, rules of address that regulate interaction, and norms that guide proper conduct are all examples of implicit culture; so too are the fundamental features of social structure, myth, and ritual, all of which result from cognitive activity (inference, comparison, gene-ralisation) on the part of those seeking to discover the meaning behind cultural regularity (Berry et al, 1992, p. 168).

In Europe, during the period of preparing and writing my second mas-ter thesis (Lin, 1999) in the IMP-y about my reflections on the effects of intercultural understanding in the pattern of International Education, my attention was drawn to a new term “a European dimension of inter-cultural education” which led many European education researchers to search for it (see Surian, 1998; Ciges & López, 1998a; 1998b; Ward, 1998; Mijatovic, 1999; Domínguez, 1999). At the same time, ”a Euro-pean dimension of intercultural education” made me interested in the following issues:

a. What is ”a European dimension of intercultural education”? b. How can it be used as a dimension to those with non-European background?

This pushed me to try to search for explanations from my knowledge. Logically, this study is relying on the conducting and learning process in the IMP, because “the European dimension of intercultural educa-tion” made me think about two questions below:

a. What kind of a pedagogic conduct and principle has the IMP

employed for leading the international students to intercultural under standing effectively?

b. Can the IMP pedagogic conduct be used as a reference for those who are searching for “the European dimension of intercultural edu-cation” with a global eyesight?

The IMP has revealed today’s world-condition of cultural globalisation, which can be described by Conle et al (1997), the epistemological,

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mo-ral and social crisis are like fortuitous junctures where giving rise to a leap into new rather than reserving old patterns. It is not surprising that this condition for the IMP participants can be summarised by the terms such as cultural revolution (Hall, 1997) to all cultures and cognitive

revolution (Bruner, 1996) to all peoples in the world. In perticular, it

can be shown clearly by Foucault’s postmodernism debate about know-ledge construction in Figure 1.1 below:

POST PARADIGMATIC ECLECTICISM

(Ross, Bair, Cave, To ,Pauiston) CRITIC AL MODER NIST APPROP RIATIO NS (Haberm as, Freir e, McLaren , Stromq uist Torres) RATIO NAL AC TOR GAMIN G (Boudo n, Bowm an Elster, D . Tumer ) MOD_ERN IST MET_ANA RRA TIVES OF R EASO_N, EM ANC IPAT_ION & PRO_GRE SS (Jullie_{n, Co} mte, M arx, D_urkh eim, D_ewey , Parso_{ns, K} andel_{, Bere} day, H olmes, Noa h & E ckste_{in, A} nders_{on, B} owm_an, E. Ep stein, _Heyn eman , Psac_harop oulos, S. Tu rner, _Wat son) REFLEXIVE MODERNITY ADAPTATIO_NS (Giddens, Lu_hmann, Beck, Kenwa_{y, Green} Coulby&Jon_{es, Cowen,} Goodenow, It_{o, Kress,} Schriewer, W_eich) REFLEX_IVE PRECTI_TIONER Schön, E_{isner, Br} oadfoot, Crossley_{, Fox, Pr} awat, Stard, V ulliamy) R_A D IC_A L A LT ER IT_Y (M oh an ty, _Br an dl, _{I. E} pst_ein La_th er,_M or_an , S_ch ra_g)

SOCIAL CARTO_GRAPHY-MAPP ING MULTIPLE PER_SPECTIVES (Nietzsche, Deleuz_{e, Paulston, Liebman} Ahmed, Erkilla, F_{ox, Nichoison-Goo}

dman, Rust) POSTMO DERNIST DECONS TRUCTIO NS (Derrida, Edwards , Foucault , Gore, Lyo tard, Got tlieb, Luke, Rus t, Usher, K. Weiler) SEMIOTIC SOCI ETY (McLuhan, Baudr illard, Boshier, Kenway, Kress, Goodenow, Qayya m, Wilson) MAPPER SYSTEMS PROBLEMATISED MO DE RN IST CE RT AI NI IE S (Essentialist rea lity ) Essent ialist i dentity ACTORS PROBLEMATISED POSTM O DE RN IST D E ST AB ILISA T ION S (N on-esse n tia list re ality) Mutab ility of i_dentity Simula tions& hyperr

ealiy Stru_ctur

al re latio_ns

Figure 1.1. A metaphorical mapping of knowledge positions

construc-ting the postmodernity debate in comparative education (and related) discourse. [After Foucault, 1986, p. 25.]

If we consider the macro-effect of the global challenge to every culture due to the effects from EU (European Union) and WTO (World Trade Organisation) based on the micro-effect of the IMP to all the partici-pants, the European researchers’ endeavour of groping after a

Europe-an dimension of intercultural education which crosses the EuropeEurope-an

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Luke (1995) have predicted when they wrote a preface for Bernstein’s work (1996) titled Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory,

Research, Critique. They state, “An unforeseen element of the

globali-sation of everyday life has been the powerful assertion of local cultural diversity. The social and demographic realities of diversity seriously question the long-standing equation of nation states with monocultures” (p. xi). With this consideration, they (Ibid.) further summarise Bernstein’s thinking about the function of pedagogy in the current condition:

What is needed, then, is a framework that begins to reconceptualise and reframe these issues of difference, discourse, and identity in relation to an analysis of schools and classrooms as institutional systems. Such as ana-lysis must begin to connect issues of the face-to-face social construction of knowledge with issues of institutional location and structure, it must connect issues of discourse with a broader sociological analysis of the state, economy and social change (p. xii).

In Australia, Singh and Luke (1995) get the awareness by reviewing series of essays and they point out, “Issues of […] cultural difference have been placed on the table of curriculum reform. Schools, resear-chers and publishers have to contend with contestation over the owner-ship and ‘truth’ of traditional knowledges and texts” (p. xi).

In Sweden, with a viewpoint of “a ‘both-and’ development” (Hjar-vard, 2001, Ed., p. 23) rather than “an ‘either-or manner’” (Ibid., p. 23 ), and the Swedish Professor of Social Anthropology Jonathan Fried-man’s (1994) emphasis on the relation between global and local condi-tions under the influence of cultural globalisation, which states: “we are entering an age of tribalism in which individualism is declining and being replaced by increasingly strong collective pressures” (p. vii).

The condition of cultural globalisation in the IMP can be described by Figure 1.2 and 1.3 respectively below.

____________________

*Due to my promise of using anonymity of the studies empirical setting and interviewees in this study, the names have been made as acronyms.

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The IMP-x

Lund University offers an International Master’s Programme in Envi-ronmental Science, LLLL*. The Programme is open for qualified stu-dents from the whole world. LLLL programme is a more flexible pro-gramme within the transdisciplinary field of environmental science. — Excerpt from “Courses offered in English (1997/98)”

The IMP-y

The following inter-disciplinary programme is offered by the Department of Education in co-operation with the Department of Sociology and Soci-al Anthropology.[…] In the study of interculturSoci-al phenomenon we will discuss the various concepts and theories concerned with the study of cul-tural difference, interculcul-tural communication and learning, cross- culcul-tural comparisons, multiculturalism, race, class, ethnicity, gender, individual and group relations and the general issue of social integration.

—Excerpt from “Courses offered in English (1998/99)”

Country Male Female Year of Birth Educational Background

Australia V 1975 B Sc Biology

Number 1

2 China 1962 B Sc Economics, 1 year psychology

3 China V 1972 B A Information Science

4 China V 1968 B Sc Chemistry

5 Canada V 1971 B A Geography (Env.)

6 Colombia V 1967 Psychologist

7 France V 1974 Degree in Political Studies

8 Ghana V 1967 B Sc Mechanical Engineering

9 Iceland V 1970 B Sc Geology 10 Jordan V 1969 B Sc Chemical Engineering 11 Kenya V 1970 B Sc Agriculture 12 Lithuania V ₁₉₇₆ _{B Sc Biology} 13

Lithuania V ₁₉₇₅ _{B Sc Atmospheric Protection}

India 1970 Bachelor in Commerce + M

in Commerce

14 _V

15 Nepal _V ₁₉₇₃ _Chemistry

16 Philippines _V ₁₉₆₅ _{M Sc Biology}

M Sc Natural Science

17 Russia V 1970 Biology-Botany in Univ. Diploma

18 Spain V 1974 Degree of Law

19

Uganda _V ₁₉₇₀ _{B Sc Botany, Zoology, Geography}

20

Vietnam _V ₁₉₆₈ _{B A Architecture}

V

Sweden V 1967 M Sc Biology, Environment

Sweden V 1970 B Sc Innovation Engineering

21 Sweden V 1971 B Sc Geology

22 Sweden V 1972 B A Sociology,

Social Anthropology

23 Sweden V 1973 B Sc Innovation Engineering

24 25

Figure 1.2. Overview of the first cohort of the IMP-x students’

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Number Country M ale Female Educational Backgroun 1 Belgium V Sociology

2 China V Economics, Psychology 3 Germany V Sociology, Ethnology 4 Germany V Sociology, History 5 Finland V Education, Sociology 6 Spain V Sociology, Anthropology 7 Sweden V Intercultural Understanding 8 Sweden V Psychology, Sociology 9 Sweden V Sociology,

Socialanthropology W omen Psychology 10 Sweden V No Persoanl Background

Figure 1.3. Overview of the last cohort of the IMP-y students’

back-grounds (Source: Handout from the IMP-y dated 1998-09-07)

These two Figures have revealed that it was the IMP providing an mea-ningful opportunity for the participants to be together from the different parts of the world; it was the IMP that offered the special space for the participants to observe and decode the world with their diverse eyerea-ches.

Based on my experiences in the IMP, I designed the exploration of the IMP from both the West (i.e., where I am) and the East (i.e., where I am from) (it is like “WE”* in English if we put the two letters to-gether) sides through the combination of my eastern and western edu-cational backgrounds, I would like to raise a question concerning the IMP participants' conducting and learning experiences: Is there a peda-gogic idea for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encoun-ters.

_____________________

* The style of making new concepts by acronyms in this study is consistent with what Barker (2000, p. 4) calls “The language-game of cultural studies”.

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1.2 Problem

Area

Pedagogic Awareness and Know-how for Intercultural

Transmission through Cross-cultural encounters

In the contemporary world situation, where peoples of highly diverse cul-tural backgrounds are moving rapidly into participation in modern indus-trial societies [or any other foreign countries — here I comment], accultu-rative stress and adaptation to new requirements are matters of crucial significance. Differences in cognitive styles and cognitive capacities also have important implications for intelligence testing in schools in this [these] country [countries], and for the debate about group differences in performance that has been raging for several years. As is clear from our discussion, many complex aspects of cultural differences appear to be in-volved in cognitive development. There is absolutely no evidence that any biological, or racial, factors are involved in performance differences among populations (Bourguignon, 1979, p. 231).

Although the American Scholar Erika Bourguignon drew this conclu-sion in the 1970s based on her field-work in Haiti, more than 20 years have passed, it still can make us relate it to today’s condition. Appadu-rai's (1995) depiction of the flow of cultural globalisation and its effects has emphasized Bourguignon's conclusion, he says:

[…] tourists, immigrants, refugees, exiles, guest-workers and other mo-ving groups and persons constitute an essential feature of the world, and appear to affect the politics of and between nations to a hitherto unprece-dented degree (p. 297).

This description reminds us of the Dutch Professor of Cultural History Rietbergen’s (1998) statement, “for the transmission of any ideology, of moral values which can give a culture uniqueness and cohesion, re-mains the most important task of education, increasingly so since it is one of the few ‘socialising institutions’ still functioning within the tra-ditional state for the whole of society” (p. 466). He (Ibid.) explains further, “within the indisputable globalisation of culture, this conclu-sion poses the question as to who introduces which values into that education?”

Keeping these viewpoints in mind and looking back on the condition in the IMP, it was, actually, like a big gathering among different

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cultu-ral values, beliefs, norms to explore the global issues (environmental problems, the problems caused by racism) that can be surmised from all cultures. Therefore, it is important to be aware that the frameworks of the IMP students’ knowledge were the keys leading their perceptions and understandings of the IMP selected issues as the study-cases.

The IMP students’ cultural backgrounds and motivations became apparent through some of their self-introductions (1998, stencil from the IMP cohort - 98/99):

[…] I can though honestly say that my interest for intercultural issues just recently woke up. I have never been particularly interested in this field of research. […] my interests lay in the communication between people (especially from different countries) and how this communication mani-fest itself. […] I hope, of course, that I will gain a lot of knowledge even though it will be in another way than the traditional. It is also interesting and stimulating to meet people from outside Sweden. I think this way of perceiving knowledge is of more lasting value (IMP student-A, female, Sweden).

The expectation of meeting people from different cultures and gaining new knowledge from others’ perspectives was one of the motives for the IMP students to enter the IMP. The explanation following can even represent more their specific mentalities:

[…] I think there were especially two events that caused my interest in intercultural understanding. On the one hand there was the unification of Germany when we noticed that people from other parts had quite diffe-rent mentalities and that it would need time and understanding to come together instead of looking at each other suspicious. On the other hand I had the great fortune to spend one year as an exchange student in Argen-tina, attending school and living in a family…One expectation I have to the course is that we come into discussion, meeting the most of all the students from different countries […] (IMP student-B, female, Germany).

The IMP students’ personal life-experiences led them to choose IMP for searching for the understandings of themselves and others.

Searching for human-being’s spiritual-growth with pedagogic perspecti-ves (IMP student-C, Male, China).

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The IMP students’ anticipation was one source of encouragement for them to explore the nature of the human being by meeting other cultu-res. However, one has to wonder if they can understand the deeper me-anings of each other’s terms or not, since their personal expectations are based on their cultural values. Trompenaars’s (1995, p. 21) state-ment is a concrete example to explain the effects of cultural values to peoples’ world-views here, which states, “What one culture may regard as essential, a certain level of material wealth for example, may not be so vital to other cultures.”

[…]. Academically spoken I am very interested in women studies and the concept of ethnocentricity. I think that there are many problems all aro-und the world that could be solved if we all weren’t so ethnocentric. This is a very interesting subject because for me it is the bases of racial thin-king (IMP student-D, Female, Belgium).

The IMP students had their new views on today’s world, and they ex-pected to further develop their academic interests with enthusiasm, too.

[…] I’m studying in order to become an applied anthropologist and […] I hope it will help me in my future work by showing me which are my cul-tural linkages and, by that, limits, in order to understand other peoples ways of life. It is also a good excuse to get closer to the current social phenomena of nowadays, such as racism, immigration, social integrity, etc. (IMP student-E, male, Spain).

The IMP students’ life-goals were another important factor for them to choose the IMP.

[…] In Germany, where obviously the phenomena of the modernity se-gregate the ethnic minorities more and more, instead of integrate them […]. How can the ca. 70 Mio. Germans live together with the ca. 10 mio. foreigners in peace or without growing conflicts? What i expect from the course/ what i wonder about: First, i want to know more about the back-ground of ethnic problems. i want also more knowledge about the pro-blems of other countries. Are there some patterns that are valid for all modern societies? […] In my opinion, we also should search solutions for the problems. This is mutually much more difficult than find a problem.

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So, i [I] think, we should also discuss, how ethnic conflicts could be re-duced (IMP student-F, male, Germany).

The conditions in the IMP students’ home-countries made them have special foci and motivation to know more knowledge for resolving so-cial problems. For the outsiders to this student’s home-country, the cultural repertoire might bebeyond their imaginations, because the con-dition in his country is so situated.

[…] I have a “burning” interest in understanding intercultural phenome-nas [phenomena]. Also, I want everyone to think of identities, cultures § all that § respect it. It is a long way to go, probably an eternity, but I am ready to try. I am not saying I am an expert on respect all the time, but I have a personal interest in respect. May be Int. Und. will take me there, maybe not, but I know that knowledge brings you to understanding which in turn brings you to respect § acceptance. Cliché? Yes, but probably true. I am on a constant search for understanding. I do it through book sometimes.[…] History can never be described objectively § one always has to question history, not taking anything for granted […]. (IMP stu-dent-J, male, Sweden).

The IMP students belong to the generation that are brought up under the condition of the rapid changing world, and how to predict the future with concerning histories was also the main point in the process of en-larging or developing the frameworks of their knowledge.

[…]. The fact that students are from different countries have a lot to give to this course and we benefit from each other. I hope to develop my way of thinking in this area. We will have different aspects and we could en-rich our point of view. I will be aware of my own subconscious aspects and prejudices (IMP student-H, female, Finland).

The IMP students had certain levels of self-awareness to the effects of their own cultural backgrounds when they entered the IMP to meet the-ir fellow participants. At the time, they knew they should carry out thethe-ir learning process by intercultural communication.

However, the biggest obstacle to reaching intercultural understan-ding with mutual learning rather than censure can be illustrated by Stolcke’s (1995, pp. 1-24) term culturalism’s straitjackets, which sees

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cultures as distinct, bounded, and incommensurable entities with con-trolling power over individuals and groups. Probably this is why the IMP lecturers could respond immediately “because the different cogni-tive styles” as soon as my question “what is the main difficult factor when you act in the programme?” was raised.

In this study, based on my study-interviewees’ accounts, this peda-gogic conduct can be called case-study in groups (The interviewed IMP students prefered using this description about the effective peda-gogic conduct for intercultural understanding although the IMP has used the principle of Problem-Based-Learning – PBL) which was their preferable means for reaching mutual understanding. Here, I provide some of the IMP study-cases as examples below:

*No.1: “The flood is coming!!” 1 Introduction

The handling of water represents one of the most important problems faced by most nations. Either there is too much or too little, many regions experience both situations, changing over time. The challenge is to household with it, prevent damage and manage a limited resource

2 The problem

The city of Atlantis is located in a hilly terrain in. […]

3 Information on the catchment and properties

The large lake is called Lake Atlantis. The average lake volume is 1760 […]

4 Guide for solving the problem

1. Draw up a causal loops diagram, clarifying the relationships between […] 2. […]

5 In the continuation

On a later occasion you meet an interesting person from the Atlantis City […] Project paper requirements […].

(Study-case from the IMP-x, Janu.1, 1998) *No.2: “British life ‘may harm’ girl, 4”:

A Four-Year-Old black child who has lived her whole life in Britain faces deportation to Jamaica with her mother this week after a court ruling said she would be disadvantaged by being brought up by a white foster family (The Guardian, 14 October 1996, p. 6)

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(Study-case from the IMP-y, Sept.15, 1998) *No.3: “Gypsies steal”

Despite the recognition that Gypsies constitute a racial group, they have persistently suffered discrimination and prejudice from the rest of society. ‘Gypsies steal’ is just one of them. Others are for example: they are ‘work-shy’, they are ‘social parasites’, they are dirty, […]

(Study-case from the IMP-y, Nov.3, 1998) The points of the IMP pedagogic conduct:

Under the IMP pedagogic conduct, the study-cases led the students to try to ponder upon the emerging questions step by step:

1. When did the event take place? 2. Where did it exist?

3. How could it be like that?

4. What is your opinion and answer? 5. Why?

Clearly, the IMP pedagogic conduct was based on the special demands arising from the students’ diverse cultural backgrounds. If it can assist the IMP students to break out their cultural straitjackets, then my study questions can be raised:

a. What is the effective pedagogic conduct for intercultural understa-ding in the IMP?

b. How should it be practised in the IMP? c. Why?

With these three concrete study-questions to explore, describe and un-derstand the IMP, the aim of the study and certain objectives could be established.

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1.3 Aim of the Study

Inferring A Pedagogic Idea for Intercultural Transmission

through Cross-cultural Encounters

The translation of cultures requires one to try to understand other forms of life in their own terms. We should not impose our categories on other people’s lives because they probably do not apply, at least not without se-rious revision. We can learn about other cultures only by reading, liste-ning, or being there. Although they often appear outlandish, brutish, or worse to outsiders, the informal practices of everyday life make sense in their own context and on their own terms. Human beings cannot help but learn the culture or cultures of the communities within which they grow up. […] Cultures are learned, not genetically encoded (Rosaldo, 1993, p. 26).

The quotation above is cited here because of its concise conclusion about the awareness of translating cultures. It is suited to the IMP as an educational setting through cross-cultural encounters, since it is inevi-table for the IMP participants to decode both familiar and unfamiliar cultural phenomena to certain level of their mutual understandings. This condition relates to the IMP pedagogic conduct to operate and organise the whole setting. It is, in fact, to answer the “What”, the “How” and the “Why” questions which have been mentioned in the previous section, that we must keep the questions in mind:

a. Where has the pedagogic conduct been employed? b. To whom?

For getting explanations about these questions, we must approach the empirical setting with a holistic eye-shot:

1. What is the characteristics of the IMP?

2. What kinds of mentalities do the participants have in the IMP? 3. What kinds of reflections do the participants have on the pedagogic

conduct in the IMP?

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Consequently, the study focuses on the relationship between the IMP lecturers’ purposes of using the pedagogic conduct and the students’ reflections. It is to explore the connections between the nature of inter-cultural mentalities and the essential of pedagogic conduct in the IMP. It is to understand the IMP pedagogic conduct for constructing a peda-gogic idea for intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encoun-ters.

To realize this aim, certain objectives have been established: a. to explore the nature of cross-cultural encounters;

b. to sort out the essence of intercultural mentalities;

c. to investigate the pedagogic effects through cross-cultural encoun-ters;

d. to abduce Pedagogic awareness to cross-cultural encounters as know-how for intercultural transmission concerning Attitude, Identi-ty, Orientation, Essential of Conduct;

Thus, the overall aim of the study is to infer a pedagogic idea for inter-cultural transmission through cross-inter-cultural encounters from an organ-isational culture.

Keeping the overall aim and these objectives in mind, the study methods and the methodology are introduced in the subsection follo-wing.

1.4 Methodological

Implications

Educational Transferability by Ideographic “Root Images”

Culture as the basic assumptions and beliefs shared by members of a group or organisation. The assumptions and beliefs involve the group’s view of the world and their place in it, the nature of time and space, hu-man nature, and huhu-man relationships […] .A major function of culture is to help us understand the environment and determine how to respond to it, thereby reducing anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion. The internal and

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external problems are closely interconnected, and organisations must deal with them simultaneously (Schein, 1992, In. Yukl, 1994, p. 354).

The quotation above summarises the characteristics of the studied em-pirical setting (i.e., the IMP) if we see the IMP as a relevant indepen-dent group. In spite of the fact that the IMP was a part of the university, it was still detached from the university. Because its participants were not pure local citizens, and the common language was the second lang-uage to the most of them (i.e., some of them are English native spea-kers). Additionally, one cannot define which department the IMP actu-ally belongs to, since it was organised with the “transdisciplinary” (see “Introduction” for IMP-x in “Course offered in English-97/98”, p. 107) or “interdisciplinary” (see “Introduction” for IMP-y in “Course offered in English-98/99”, p. 82) design.

Because the IMP is an independent group, it was like a small inde-pendent organisation from the micro-sense if we observe it from its surface. We can observe its environment, its participants’ visible and audible behaviour-patterns, the study-discussion, the topic-arguments, and the oral presentations, and so on, i.e., both the intentional (organi-sed) and the spontaneous (un-organi(organi-sed) activities.

For getting the explanations about “What” and “How” questions, I viewed on IMP with the perspective of cultural studies too. This star-ting point of exploring the IMP was based on what Patton (1990, p. 68) concludes, “Programmes develop cultures, just as organisations do. The programme’s culture can be thought of as part of the programme’s tre-atment. As such, the culture affects both programme processes and out-comes.”

In addition, as Zoller et al (1990) note, the researcher should identify the motives behind the visible behaviour of the members in an organi-sation, that is, their values and attitudes. For reaching this goal, they (Ibid.) point out that doing interviews to its members is the necessary process. By this, the interviewees’ viewpoints and insights into the es-sentials of the organisational culture can be attained.

Despite much discussion about the differences between the quantita-tive and qualitaquantita-tive approaches (Andersson, 1979; Bryman, 1992; Bengt, 1994; Atkinson & Hammersley, 1994), I tried to choose an ap-proach that was suitable to this study by tracing back the development of the methodologies of doing Human and Social Studies, since I ap-preciated British reader in Medical Sociology Seale’s (1999, p. 21) atti-tude, “Methodological writing can examine past practice for potential

Pedagogy of heuristic contexturalisation : intercultural transmission through cross-cultural encounters

HAI CHUN LIN