Cultural Variations in Reflective Thinking on Group Work Experience: The Case of Chinese and Romanian Students of English
Silvia Emilia Plăcintar
Abstract
This study analyzes two corpora of reflective essays by Chinese students in a business management English preparatory course at the University of Birmingham, UK and by Romanian final-year business students at “Babeş-Bolyai” University, Romania. The reflective task was assigned as a follow-up to their experience of working on a group project and was guided by the same questions and sub-questions under these categories: individual role, group evaluation, critical self-reflection, peer evaluation, and future development plan in light of the learning acquired through this activity. The data is interpreted based on a theoretical framework that integrates Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle, Boud et. al.’s (1985; 1990) model of conceptualizing learning from experience and Mezirow’s (1997) theory of transformative learning, whose core concept focuses upon reflection as an organized activity for learning purposes. The cultural differences in approaching group work as evident from the respondents’ reflections are discussed along the variables of individualism (individualistic vs. collectivistic), communication (low context vs. high context) and competitiveness (independent vs. interdependent). The findings of the analysis testify to the significance of integrating guided reflective practice in the learning situations with a view to empowering learners to identify and take advantage of their learning opportunities, assisting them to become autonomous and responsible learners.
Keywords: Reflection, Experiential Learning, Transformative Learning, Frames of Reference, Cultural Orientations
Introduction
Studying or working in multicultural groups in the 21st century, characterized by increasingly liberalized student and worker mobility, can raise issues related to cultural differences in accepted protocols about the conduct of team members and their communication style. In this professionally challenging context, higher education curricula need to facilitate reflective practices so that adult learners understand their actions and attitudes in relation to themselves, the others and the world, learn from that understanding and develop into independent and responsible learners and thinkers.
This expectation of academic practice today to focus on preparing students to compete in a global professional environment results is a shift in the academic relationship to knowledge and to the student, which is “increasingly dominated by competitive economic structures which any dominant and powerful product engenders” (Light et. al.., 2009, p. 9). In this new framework, higher education acts as a business sector that is accountable to society for the quality of students it delivers. So what are the attributes of the graduate-as-product that the contemporary social and economic contexts demand?
The key findings of a survey conducted in 2013 by Hart Research Associates on behalf of The Association of American Colleges and Universities, with a focus on employer priorities, outline the profile of the ideal job candidate. In summary, this is related to a broad set of competencies that extend across distinct disciplines and specializations – hence the conclusive title of the survey: It Takes More Than a Major. More precisely, 93% of the 318 participants in the survey agree that the ability “to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems” is more valuable than an applicant’s major. Three-fourth (75%) recommend that colleges and universities should lay more emphasis on facilitating critical thought through complex problem- solving practice that engages students in the application of knowledge in real-world situations and developing written and oral communication skills; 9 in 10 employers appreciate “ethical judgment and integrity; intercultural skills and capacity for continued new learning”. The overall conclusion is that transversal and transferable skills rank over the acquisition of “discrete bodies of knowledge,” and that employers recognize the practical importance of blending liberal education into applied learning in preparing students for their successful integration into the corporate world.
In light of this portrayal of the employee in demand, universities need to reconsider their traditional mission of constructing elitist discipline-based knowledge, i.e. “academic competence”, and move towards the creation of more active, engaging and trans-disciplinary knowledge that is jointly constructed by the students in an applicative context, i.e. “operational competence” (Barnett, 2003). Jackson (2014) notices that this preoccupation of universities for a more holistic development of students beyond the academic curriculum is “fundamentally about making higher education more relevant to the lives and future lives of learners” (p. 23, original emphasis). A significant role in this higher educational framework is assigned to students’ reflection on their learning experience.
Literature Review
Reflection in its general human sense permeates our existence as we look back and reconsider the events, feelings and behavior that we experience in our daily life out of an intrinsic need to understand ourselves a