Enkele aspekte en implikasies van magsafstand as dimensie van kulturele variasie in gemeenskapsonderrig
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Date
2000
Authors
Van Aswegen, E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
Power distance as cultural dimension has been maintained by people
since Plato's time. It fonns an integral part of the interaction of an
individual from one culture with an individual from another culture.
When communicating across cultural borders and one individual
comes from a high and the other from a low power distance culture,
the situation could become so culture strange that there is a
possibility of culture shock. Within the context of a university, power
distance and the emotional distance that accompanies it, can be
problematic. For a learner who comes from a culture or subculture
where a high power distance is maintained, the two-way flow of
communication which a lecturer from a low power distance culture
would expect from him/her, might feel so strange that it could create
tension between them. The opposite is also possible. Where a learner
from a low power distance culture socialises with the lecturer in a
relaxed and informal way, he/she could be perceived as being
arrogant and even obnoxious. In the field of teaching, then, the
assumption can be made that learners from a high power distance
culture will be more dependent on the teacher/lecturer, while learners
from low power distance culture who are used to function
independently, would probably like to work without close supervision
and independently.
Although culture plays a major role in the forming of a learner, every
person is a unique individual. The individual does not equal his/her
culture and his/her actions will not in all cases equal that of the
culture, community or society.
Description
Keywords
Power distance, Communication, Culture
Citation
Van Aswegen, E. (2000). Enkele aspekte en implikasies van magsafstand as dimensie van kulturele variasie in gemeenskapsonderrig. Communitas, 5, 69-82.