CHAPTER 1: West-East and East-West Learning: Some Psychological and Cultural Insights

The application of the science of psychology to the art of education is often taken for granted in the Western societies. Books on educational psychology abound in the West. There are a number of educational psychology books that attempt to contextualize educational psychology indigenously. McInerney and McInerney (2006), for instance, grounded it in the Australian context whereas for Tan, Parsons, Hinson, and Sardo-Brown (2003), gave it an Asian flavor. What is the relevance of psychological theories developed in the West for an Eastern society? Psychometrics found its way into Asian societies such as China as early as the 1930s but owing to various overriding forces such political ideology, there was no widespread development. In the 1980s and 1990s psychometrics were re-introduced for diagnostic purposes, mainly to help children with special needs (Shi, 2004). It should be noted, however, that the relevance of various ideas in psychology need not be manifested purely from the use of psychological variables translated from the West. Take personality theories for example. Are their role and relevance being recognized? While it is difficult to find many publications on document on Asian’s beliefs of personality development, it is clear that they are recognized in the other cultural artifacts. For example, the importance of understanding personality traits is often embedded in the ancient Chinese proverbs. Chinese literature emphasizes “zhi ji zhi bi” (知己知彼) that is, “Know yourself and your others.” It even has sayings like “jiang shan yi gai ben xing nan yi” (江山易改, 本性难移) which translated literally means “Kingdoms may change but it is hard to change one’s personality.” This points to a belief that supports “trait” theories of personality and the stability of one’s personality. The point we want to raise here is that in many ways the concepts and applications of theories of psychology developed in the West are indeed present and even practiced in Eastern societies. There is, however, a lack of systematic experimentation, documentation and articulation of the presence and relevance of such. It is quite an adventure for the editors of this volume to try to understand how various theories of psychology are relevant to Asian context. We focus in particular on the research on learning and motivation. There is a proliferation of literature on these in Western contexts. It is well established that most theories and models of learning and motivation have Western roots. There is a strong empirical base for understanding the dynamics of effective classroom teaching to engage learners. However, do these theories and models apply equally well in Eastern contexts? What are the similarities and differences between the West and the East and what light does this shed on how educators might redesign education to more effectively engage learners and enhance the learning process in both contexts? It is not surprising that we will find that there are Eastern approaches to the psychology of learning and motivation that are in synchrony with Western constructs although these are often mediated by unique cultural and philosophical contexts. There are (also) areas of great variation and some of these Eastern approaches may be what the West need to have more of.