Educ Res Policy Prac (2013) 12:57–65 DOI 10.1007/s10671-012-9131-3 Is the learning approach of students from the Confucian heritage culture problematic? Thi Tuyet Tran Received: October 2010 / Accepted: 22 February 2012 / Published online: 13 March 2012 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V 2012 Abstract This article is concerned with the learning style adopted by Asian students who come from a Confucian heritage culture (CHC) such countries as China, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea and Japan are considered countries with Confucian heritage culture (Phuong-Mai et al 2005) These students are generally viewed as typically passive, unwilling to ask questions or speak up in class and often based on memorising rather than understanding knowledge delivered by teachers This learning style is claimed to be shaped by the CHC in Asian countries and receives massive criticism in the literature This article aims to challenge this criticism of the passive learning style adopted by Asian students who come from the CHC By conducting in-depth interviews with 10 Asian students from the CHC currently studying tertiary education in Australia, this article addresses the confusion between passive learning style and CHC, between memorising and understanding and between quietness and passiveness Finally, if passiveness of Asian students is indeed observed in both Asian CHC countries and English-speaking countries, it is more because of situation-specific factors of teaching methodologies, learning requirements, learning habits and language proficiency rather than cultural factors Keywords Higher education · Learning style · Asian students · Confucian heritage culture · Passiveness Introduction There is a perception that Asian students are surface learners, often rely upon rote learning and have passive learning style (Holliday 1994; Subramaniam 2008) They are viewed as passive, exhibiting compliance and obedience, and concerned only with absorbing knowledge rather than understanding it (Purdie et al 1996) This passive learning style is often attributed T T Tran (B) La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia e-mail: j.tran@latrobe.edu.au T T Tran Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam 123 58 T T Tran to “Confucian values” and is considered attached to the Asian CHC It is also considered in contrast to the Western student learning style, which is described as assertive, independent, self-confident and willing to ask questions and explore ways of thinking and acting (Purdie et al 1996) Asian students are criticized for having a passive learning style, not thinking deeply and not being critical enough in learning, likely leading to low-quality outcomes This article aims to challenge this criticism of the Asian student passive learning style It addresses the confusion between passive learning style and CHC, between memorising and understanding and between quietness and passiveness Finally, if passiveness of Asian students is indeed observed in both Asian and English-speaking countries, it is more because of situation-specific factors of teaching methodologies, learning requirements, learning habits and language proficiency rather than cultural factors The argument over the “Confucian” learning approach Asian students have been viewed as typically passive, shy and unwilling to ask questions or speak up in class Holliday (1994) suggests that, in Asian culture, the teacher is considered the “fount of knowledge, which is delivered without any concession to students”, and students must “struggle to attain” the knowledge delivered by the teacher (p 59) Similarly, Pratt et al (1999) claim that many Asian students view the teacher’s responsibility as content delivery, while the student’s responsibility is to absorb it Subramaniam (2008) also suggests that the majority of Asian students “attempt to maintain a sense of harmony; are hesitant to stand out as individuals; rely on teachers to impart knowledge; and expect teachers to evaluate their learning” (p 11) It is a popular comment that Asian students believe that learning is simply memorisation of knowledge in books or provided by teachers in class (Kennedy 2002) Thus, they are claimed to be reluctant to participate in classroom activities, to be unwilling to give responses, to avoid asking questions and to be over-dependent on the teacher (Braddock et al 1995; Cortazzi and Jin 1996) The picture of passive Asian learners in a teacher-dominated classroom is common in the literature (Flowerdew and Miller 1995; Scollon and Scollon 1994) The tendency for passive learning amongst Asian students has been explained in terms of the effects of the traditional learning style and the cultural background of students (Flowerdew and Miller 1995; Nguyen 2002, p 4; Pierson 1996; Scollon and Scollon 1994; Thompson 2009, p 23) It is explained that Asian culture is considered to be a CHC, and its students are viewed as passive, reproductive and surface learners (Jones 1999, p 3) In the CHC, children are taught to respect people who are older and who have higher rank, i.e parents, elders and teachers (Ramburuth and McCormick 2001) Therefore, the teacher’s knowledge and wisdom are often taken for granted and not to be questioned The concept of face is also important in this culture It is considered selfish and shameful to cause someone to lose face (Bond 1996) All these factors are used to explain the passiveness of Asian students This passive and reproductive learning style of Asian students has received massive criticism in the literature Some scholars criticize teaching in Asian countries as a didactic, spoon-feeding approach where students are to believe that learning consists of memorising knowledge given by the teacher (Kennedy 2002; McKay and Kember 1997) This teaching approach is viewed as de-motivating students from adopting a deep approach or thinking critically (McKay and Kember 1997) Thus, students in these systems often prefer to absorb knowledge from the teacher without their own critical thinking They are criticized as rote learners who not want to think more deeply (Ballard and Clanchy 1984; Marton and Dall’Alba 1996; Pratt et al 1999) They are even viewed as perplexed, deficient and handicapped by some Western scholars (Mestenhauser 1983; Pedersen 1991) These views on 123 Confucian heritage culture 59 Asian students are often in contrast to views on Western students, who are described as assertive, critical, independent, self-confident and willing to ask questions and raise their own voices (Purdie et al 1996) A common conclusion is that the passive learning style with mainly learning by memorising of Asian students is only the process of memorising information in order to reproduce information, often leading to low-quality outcomes, while the active learning style of Western students is viewed as the process of understanding, making sense of information and making it meaningful, thus leading to high-quality outcomes (Dahalin and Watkins 2000) However, the contested and blanket assumptions that many authors make about the socalled Asian passive learning approach should be challenged With experience of more than 10 years teaching in Vietnam, and more than years studying and teaching international students in Australia, many of whom are Asian students, I instinctively distrust this myth From my own teaching experience and my numerous class observations, some Asian students are indeed passive, but many are very active, and some even more critical than their Western classmates The notion that Asian students are passive learners, I will argue, is over-generalized Research methodology To reconsider the learning style adopted by students from the CHC and also challenge my own thinking, I conducted qualitative research with participants from countries with a CHC The study was conducted by in-depth interviews with 10 Asian students from China, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and Korea who are currently studying tertiary education in Australia I presented the perceptions in the literature on Asian CHC students’ learning style and asked for their reflections To minimise my influence on participants, the interview questions were open, and the probing technique was employed in conducting the interviews Probing definitely does not mean prompting, but “the correct response is a probe that does not put words into respondent’s mouth” (Bernard and Ryan 2010, p 31) In addition, I also understand that “local meanings are important” (Stake 2008, p 128) and that the voices of the participants provide much valuable information I also have a particular interest in listening to their voices This interest will draw my understanding toward what is important in the world of the participants, which may not be the same as my world Research results 4.1 The questionable link between passive learning style and CHC In contrast to the criticism of the passive learning style of students coming from the CHC, most students did not see many negative points of their culture that impacted on their study Though they all seemed to agree that they come from a totally different culture and learning environment from those in Australia, they think that their study style is neither shaped by their culture nor passive First, in terms of their culture, these young people (all aged from 19 to 24 years) suggested that, as they were born and grew up in the information and globalization era, they were more flexible than their previous generations in terms of “maintaining” cultural values Some of them did not even know or agree that they belong to the CHC However, in a class setting, they all wanted to show respect to their teachers, but then, they saw no problem with respecting teachers One student put it as follows: 123 60 T T Tran Teachers are knowledgeable They are deserved respect from students I think teachers will teach better if they know they are respected However, respecting teacher does not mean that we are passive or obedient We just have a different way to convey our ideas Students also did not think that the teacher’s knowledge and wisdom should be taken for granted and not be questioned One student expressed his thoughts as follows: I don’t agree that we think teacher is “a fount of knowledge” We now all understand that teachers are also human being, and cannot know everything However we don’t usually like the idea of confronting them in front of the whole class We normally choose to discuss our own opinions with other classmates to confirm our understanding, or we may talk with the teacher after the class or on the discussion forum It saves teacher’s face and also save time for the whole class learning So, face-saving does seem to exist in these students’ minds However, maintaining face for teachers does not mean that they have to keep their mouths shut, or not confront teachers’ opinions Nonetheless, they have to find other ways to express themselves, which may not be as strong, straightforward and critical as Western students’ ways Most students were strongly against the allegation that they learn passively One student explained: We are not passive We just have to handle the differences In our country, everything is given to us by the teacher They give us assignments, they give us readings, they lecture and we just take notes We also not have to care much about English language, English academic writing, plagiarism, referencing etc Coming here, everything changes, we have to struggle with English and a very different writing style, we have to lots of reading and find the reading ourselves No one is there to show us how So most of us have to “find a needle in the dark” for the first semester or the first year, but from the second semester, I think, we all feel much more relax and can get involved into class activities easily In short, most students were against the idea that cultural influences make them passive in their learning, though they agreed that cultural habits may make them respond to the same problem differently from local students They tend to be passive when teachers provide everything for them to learn and when tests are designed to recheck knowledge given by teachers This passiveness is shaped by the requirements of the course rather than by the cultural factors Coming to Australia, where active learning is prioritized, they have to struggle to adopt the new learning style They also have to handle many problems during this transition, such as the language barrier, different teaching styles and different learning environment and requirements However, they all suggested that, when they get used to “the way” of learning in Australia, the learning here, for them, is even easier than studying at universities in their countries Then, if they come here for the purpose of study rather than for work or migration, and they focus on their studies, studying here is not a big problem for them 4.2 Memorising versus understanding The interviewed students offered very interesting opinions when they recalled their learning process: I remember I did employ rote learning at school for such subjects as geography or history We just learnt by heart for the exam; after the exam we got rid of the information 123 Confucian heritage culture 61 from our minds I focused on only mathematics, physics and chemistry – those were subjects I had to take in university entrance exam Another student offered the following explanation for their rote learning: The reason we had to learn by heart without truly understanding the thing is because the curriculum was too theory-focus We had to study so many things within so little time We were too little, so many terms were new, and without any visual aids, we could not really understand them But for the requirements of the exam, we had to memorise them However, most students were against the idea that they can employ the same technique of rote learning at tertiary level, especially at overseas universities: It seems impossible to me to memorise something in English without understanding it Actually we find it easier to understand something than to merely memorise it That’s why sometimes we understand, but we could not express ourselves This is probably why they all retained a desire to remember the knowledge they learn Most students suggested that it was hard to distinguish between memorising and understanding For them, memorising and understanding are two sides of the same coin However, not all of them seemed to agree with Marton and Dall’Alba (1996) and Tavakol and Dennick (2010) that the relation between memorising and understanding is memorising preceding understanding, as for them, sometimes they need to understand the subject matter before they can start the memorising process Sometimes, however, during the process of memorising, they try to make sense of the knowledge, so they can remember it more easily Overall, they need to change their learning approach when the requirement of the course changes If the exam only aims to recheck knowledge they have learnt, they focus more on memorising However, they all suggested that, at tertiary level in Australia, without truly understanding, it seemed impossible for them to tackle the tasks in different tertiary subjects Finally, the interviewed students all seemed to agree that, as students, they all want to focus on the learning tasks in the form of either assignments or exams They may use different strategies to prepare for and carry out the tasks Memorising and understanding are considered two sides of the same coin, but sometimes they need to focus more on one strategy than the other in order to get the highest mark possible This comment seems to be supported by Biggs (1993) argument that the learner’s intentions in carrying out learning tasks are more important in determining the particular approach to learning than the actual strategies used 4.3 Does quietness mean passiveness? Five out of 10 students claimed that they were normally not quieter than other students in their classes They did get involved in tutorials, they did ask their tutors questions and they often actively got involved in group discussions Interestingly, they all seemed to agree that, in general, Asian students appear to be quite quiet in class However, they did not see quietness as passiveness Reasons for not speaking out during class time varied Some blamed their quietness on their level of English proficiency: My English is not so good, so during the lecture, I just try to understand the lesson or 123 62 T T Tran Sometimes I come up with some kinds of questions, but I have problem of finding words and the right expression I not have much time for thinking, so I just choose not to speak I may ask a classmate later A business student suggested that sometimes they were out of context: They discuss about, for example, a company in Australia or Europe which I have no idea about In that context, what can I say? If they discuss about a big company that I know in China, I will of course express my own opinion However, there are also some students who suffer from fear of asking, especially when other students appear to understand They think that in that case they should also understand, and if they not, they should ask a classmate after the class Interestingly, most students did not support the idea of interrupting the lecture too often to ask for small details Some of them even criticized local students for asking too many questions during lecture time: Our lecturer never finishes his lecture notes, and sometimes he has to skip some important parts Some students in the class are so annoying; sometimes they ask “stupid” questions If they read text book and listen to the lecture carefully, they will have all answers for their questions They take away too much time for the whole class Obviously, these Asian students hold a different view about the appropriateness of speaking out in class Though the language barrier does indeed contribute to their quietness in Australian universities, they not see quietness as passiveness, and sometimes they see quietness as necessary and supportive for a productive learning environment Most of them try hard to understand by reading and listening, and sometimes by questioning each other after class time 4.4 Why does the claim of passivity of Asian students seem to be popular? As the interviewed students all seemed to be confident and not to accept the criticism that Asian students are passive in learning, the question is: Why is the claim of the passivity of Asian students still so popular, or are the interviewed students different from the majority of Asian students? This question made them think harder to find a reason One student appeared suspicious: When was the claim? Is it recent? Or was it 10 or 20 years ago? Things are changing rapidly, and even our parents have to say that we are so different from them when they went to school or university Another student did not give a direct answer, but instead posed a challenge: Are all Asian students the same? I am Singaporean, and I don’t think I am the same like Vietnamese, Thai, or Japanese students And even in the same class in Singapore, we may have some very active students and some very passive ones May, a social science student, suggested I think because many students from rich families in Asian countries come here not really for study They may not pass the exam to universities in their countries, or they just want to study for a degree to immigrate Most of these students are passive or even lazy in class 123 Confucian heritage culture 63 In general, most students agreed that the answer must depend on the situation: I think it depends on the context then If the teacher gives you everything, they even read for you to copy, and then in the exam, you just need to rewrite the content, you will naturally base on the teacher or on the teacher’s methodology: Teacher’s teaching methodology is very important Some teachers at my secondary school in Vietnam did not require us to be active They even felt annoyed when we have some opinions against their opinions and also on the course requirement: Actually teacher’s methodology and course requirement are both very important In my university in China, we have some classes called “high quality classes” where teachers always encourage students to give out opinions; they give us a lots of group work and research work, and we group work and write assignment instead of taking exam Students in those classes, I think, are even more active than many students in my classes in Australia now Overall, the claim of passivity of Asian students does appear over-generalized for these Asian students There are cases where students seem to be passive, but there is a need to determine the reasons for that passivity Rather than cultural factors, the teaching methodology of the teachers and the learning requirements are two of the important factors shaping student learning style Some Asian students may come from a teaching and learning context that does not require their activeness It takes time for them to adapt to the Australian learning context, where activeness is required and desirable 4.5 Support from previous research The above findings challenge the idea of labelling Asian students as passive learners These findings are also supported by many authors who are against the criticism of Asian students’ learning style; For example, Biggs (1995, 1996); Marton et al (1993) and Renshaw and Volet (1995) all point to the paradox wherein Asian students are labelled as both “rote learners” and “brainy Asians” who excel in their academic studies abroad Kennedy (2002) also wonders whether Asian students may be not passive but reflective Biggs (1990, 1993), on the other hand, conducted many studies using the Studies Process Questionnaire, finding that Asian students consistently score higher on deep approaches and lower on surface approaches to learning than Australian students Kember and Gow (1991) research findings also support Bigg’s argument when they suggest that Asian international students take deeper approaches to learning than Western students However, Ramburuth and McCormick (2001), who also used the Study Process Questionnaire (Biggs 1987) and Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (Reid 1987) as research tools, come to a quite different conclusion: In their overall approaches to learning, the Asian international students may not be very different from Australian students The evidence refutes, to some extent, anecdotal and stereotypical claims in the literature (for example, in Ballard and Clanchy 1991; Samuelowicz 1987; Phillips 1990 suggesting that international students from Asian backgrounds employ more surface approaches to learning than Australian students) At the same time, there is no support for the proposition by Biggs (1990) that 123 64 T T Tran Asian students are generally higher in their deep approach to learning when compared to Australian students (p 346) Similarly, Kember (2000) also uses evidence from over 90 action research projects to disprove the common assertions that Asian students prefer passive learning He explains that “students will adopt a surface approach if they perceive that is what the course and assessment requires or if that approach best enables them to deal with the demands of the course” (p 108) He also suggests that Asian students can and adjust to active forms of learning if given the opportunity (p 101) Volet et al (1994) research finding is also congruent with Kember’s finding that learning approaches are influenced by students’ perceptions of course requirements rather than being determined by personal characteristics or cultural differences Conclusions This article argues that the claim of a passive learning style of Asian students who come from the CHC is an over-generalization Evidence from direct interviews with students and from previous research is very supportive of this argument There is also evidence of confusion between a passive learning style and CHC, between memorising and understanding and between quietness and passivity Culture could be one factor affecting student behaviour and reaction in class Students from the CHC may hold a different perspective on the appropriateness of behaviours and reactions in the classroom environment However, such differences should not be confused with passiveness, as the decisive factors affecting students’ activeness or passiveness come from the specific educational system, its requirements, the workload placed on students and also related issues of curricula, exams, teaching methodology and other specific problems related to student study context and environment Students will become passive if that is shaped by the system, and if they move to a more active learning environment, it takes time for the transition, and they also need help and guidance to recognise and handle the differences and adapt References Ballard, B., & Clanchy, J (1984) Study abroad: A manual for Asian students Kuala Lumpur: Longmans Ballard, B., & Clanchy, J (1991) Teaching students from overseas: A brief guide for lecturers and supervisors Melbourne: Longman Cheshire Bernard, H R., & Ryan, G W (2010) Analysing qualitative data: Systemic aproaches London: Sage Biggs, J B (1987) Study process questionnaire Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research Biggs, J B (1990) Asian students’ approaches to learning: Implications for teaching and learning Paper presented at the The 8th Australasian Tertiary Learning Skills and Language Conference, Brisband, Australia Biggs, J B (1993) What inventories of students’ learning processes really measure? A theoretical review and clarification British Journal of Educational Psychology, 63, 3–19 Biggs, J B (1995) Student approaches to learning, constructivism, and student-centred learning Paper presented at the The Twentieth International Conference on Improving University Teaching, Hong Kong Biggs, J B (1996) Western misconceptions of the Confucian-heritage learning culture In D A Watkins & J B Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological and contextual influences (pp 45–67) Hong Kong: CERC and ACER Bond, M (1996) The handbook of Chinese psychology Hong Kong: Oxford University Press Braddock, R., Roberts, P., Zheng, C., & Guzman, T (1995) Survey on skill development in intercultural teaching of international students Sydney: Macquarie University, Asian Pacific Research Institute Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L (1996) Cultures of learning: Language classrooms in China In H Coleman (Ed.), Society and the language classroom (pp 169–206) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 123 Confucian heritage culture 65 Dahalin, B., & Watkins, D (2000) The role of repetition in the processes of memorising and understanding: A comparison of the views of German and Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 65–84 Flowerdew, J., & Miller, L (1995) On the notion of culture in L2 lectures TESOL Quarterly, 29(2), 345–373 Holliday, A (1994) Appropriate methodology and social context Cambridge: Cambridge University press Jones, A (1999) The Asian learner: An overview of approaches to learning Melbourne: The University of Melbourne Kember, D (2000) Misconceptions about the learning approaches, motivation and study practices of Asian students Higher Education, 40, 99–121 Kember, D., & Gow, L (1991) A Challenge to the Anecdotal Stereotype of the Asian Student Studies in Higher Education, 16, 117–128 Kennedy, P (2002) Learning cultures and learning styles: Myth-understandings about adult (Hong Kong) Chinese learners International Journal of Lifelong Education, 21(5), 430–445 Marton, F., & Dall’Alba, G (1996) Memorising and understanding: The keys to the paradox In D A Watkins & J B Biggs (Eds.), The Chinese learner: Cultural, psychological, and contextual influences Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre Marton, F., Dall’Alba, G., & Tse, K L (1993) The Paradox of the Chinese Learner (Occasional Paper No 93.1) Victoria, Australia: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Educational Research and Development Unit McKay, J., & Kember, D (1997) Spoonfeeding leads to regurgitation: A better diet can result in more digestible learning outcomes Higher Education Research and Development, 16(1), 55–67 Mestenhauser, J (1983) Learning from sojourners In D Landis & R W Brislin (Eds.), Handbook of intercultural training Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Nguyen, T H (2002) Vietnam: Cultural background for ESL/EFL teachers Review of Vietnamese Studies, 2(1), 1–6 Pedersen, P (1991) Counselling international students The Counselling Psychologist, 19, 10–58 Phillips, D J (1990) Overseas students and their impact on the changing face of professional education in universities Paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference, Sydney University, Australia Phuong-Mai, N., Terlouw, C., & Pilot, A (2005) Cooperative learning vs Confucian heritage culture’s collectivism: Confrontation to reveal some cultural conflicts and mismatch Asia Europe Journal, 3(3), 403–419 Pierson, H (1996) Learner culture and learner autonomy in the Hong Kong Chinese context In R Pemberton, E Li, & W Or (Eds.), Taking control: Autonomy in language learning (pp 49–58) Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press Pratt, D., Kelly, M., & Wong, W S S (1999) Chinese conceptions of ‘effective teaching’ in Hong Kong: Towards culturally sensitive evaluation of teaching International Journal of Lifelong Learning Education, 18, 241–258 Purdie, N., Hattie, J., & Douglas, G (1996) Student conceptions of learning and their use of self-regulated learning strategies: A cross-cultural comparison Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 87–100 Ramburuth, P., & McCormick, J (2001) Learning diversity in higher education: A comparative study of Asian international and Australian students Higher Education, 42, 333–350 Reid, J M (1987) The learning style preferences of ESL students TESOL Quarterly, 21(1), 87–111 Renshaw, P., & Volet, S (1995) South East Asian students at Australian universities: A reappraisal of their tutorial participation and approaches to study Australian Educational Researcher, 22(2), 85–106 Samuelowicz, K (1987) Learning problems of overseas students: Two sides of a story Higher Education Research and Development, 6(2), 121–133 Scollon, R., & Scollon, S (1994) The post-Confucian confusion Research report no 37 Hong Kong: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong Stake, R E (2008) Qualitative case study In N K Denzin & Y S Lincold (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry (pp 119–150) London: Sage Subramaniam, G (2008) Confronting Asian concerns in engaging learners to online education International Education Studies, 1(4), 10–18 Tavakol, M., & Dennick, R (2010) Are Asian international medical students just rote learners? Advances in Health Sciences Education, 15, 369–377 Thompson, J (2009) Changing chalk and talk: The reform of teaching methods in Vietnamesse higher education Independent study project paper The George Washington University Volet, S., Renshaw, P., & Tietzel, K (1994) A short term longitudinal investigation of cross-cultural differences in study approaches using Biggs’ SPQ questionaire British Journal of Educational Psychology, 64, 301–318 123 ... passive learning style of students coming from the CHC, most students did not see many negative points of their culture that impacted on their study Though they all seemed to agree that they come from. .. students are passive in learning, the question is: Why is the claim of the passivity of Asian students still so popular, or are the interviewed students different from the majority of Asian students? ... raise their own voices (Purdie et al 1996) A common conclusion is that the passive learning style with mainly learning by memorising of Asian students is only the process of memorising information