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

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.