Van Aswegen, E.2019-07-102019-07-102000Van Aswegen, E. (2000). Enkele aspekte en implikasies van magsafstand as dimensie van kulturele variasie in gemeenskapsonderrig. Communitas, 5, 69-82.1023-0556 (print)2415-0525 (online)http://hdl.handle.net/11660/10079Power 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.afPower distanceCommunicationCultureArticleUniversity of the Free State