Teaching in Germany

1. Teaching in Germany Prof. Dr. Katrin Hansen Chicago, August 2009

2. Content • Concepts of Culture,… • … Positioning of German Cultural Specifics… • …and their Consequences

3. “Culture is defined as collective programming of the mind; it manifests itself not only in values, but in more superficial ways: in symbols, heroes, and rituals.” (Hofstede 2001:1) The term “collective programming” signals Hofstede’s understanding that culture is seen as relative stable and as shared by an collective (often interpreted as the whole nation) and therefore the focus is on similarities inside a culture rather than on differences. Cultures are characterized and compared one to another by scores. Hofstede’s work brought important insights for cross-cultural studies and today, still, many of his findings have an important influence on intercultural education. Nevertheless, his approach has been criticized by other researchers. Thus, Ailon states: “Distributions were reduced to averages. Variables were artificially separated and ‘controlled’ because otherwise ‘chaos’ could result…” (2008: 893). She analyzes Hofstede’s main book as exposing a political subtext which on the one hand devalues the values of “others” and on the other hand overvalues and idealizes Western cultures (2008:898, 899), stabilizing their hegemony.

4. “…, culture is defined as shared motives, values, beliefs, identities, and interpretations or meanings of significant events that result from common experiences of members of collectives that are transmitted across generations.” (House & Javidan 2004: 15) • This more differentiated approach has been used by the GLOBE project group. GLOBE asks for values and practices on the societal and organizational level, thus using four scales to assess each construct. • The focus is, still, on similarities inside one culture and stability is a premise. However, the GLOBE group distinguishes in certain countries more than one culture (e.g. Germany is split into Germany East and Germany West). Moreover this group of researchers is quite careful in constructing differences among cultures. Therefore they do not just use country scores but instead form “bands”: • "This procedure groups test scores into bands in which scores within a particular band are considered as being not meaningful different." (Hanges, Dickson & Sipe, 2004: 220)

5. The Cultural Hybridization Approach (Shimoni/ Bergmann 2006) • Unlike multiculturalism, the concept of hybridization says that cultures are not given or fixed, but are constructs of history and discourse. That is, cultures are shaped and reshaped through interactions with other cultures in which people reflectively or unreflectively insert new meanings into their own (already hybrid) cultural understandings (…).

6. Characteristics of Culture (Steers/ Nardon, 2006) • Learned behavior • Shared values • Mutually reinforcing influences • Evolution over time • Impact on attitudes and behaviors • Heterogeneous

7. Intercultural Learning (Thomas 1993) • Orientation knowledge • Understanding of foreign systems of orientation • Ability to coordinate culturally divergent routines of behavior • Generally: Ability to understand cultures and to „doing culture“ Intercultural competence: ..is defined as the ability to act as a consequence of knowing and understanding one’s own cultural and foreign cultural orientation system in cultural overlapping situations, so that cultural resources provided in an interaction with foreign partners can be used optimally.” (Thomas 2006:49)

8. SMARTS Concept (Thomas, Lay & Kammhuber 1998, zit. in Thomas 2006) • Stop the automatic judging process. • Make precise what exactly irritates you. • Analyze the individual and situative conditions. • Reflect on your own cultural standards. • Think about your expectations. • Search for possible foreign cultural standards.

9. GLOBE-Project(House et al. 2004) • Power Distance • Germany (W/E) V 2.5, 2.7 P 5.3, 5.5 1rstB middle/ A high • Uncertainty Avoidance • Germany V 3.3, 3.9 P 5.2, 5.2 A high • Collectivism I (Institutional): • Germany V 4.8, 4.7 P 3.8, 3.6 C low • Collectivism II (In-Group Collectivism) • Germany V 5.2, 5.2 P 4.0, 4.5 C low/ B middle • Humane Orientation • Germany V 5.5, 5.4 P 3.2, 3.4 D very low • Assertiveness • Germany V 3.1, 3.2 P 4.6, 4.7 A high • Gender Egalitarianism • Germany V 4.9, 4.9 P 3.1, 3.1 B middle • Future Orientation • Germany V 4.9, 5.2 P 4.0, 4.3 B middle • Performance Orientation • Germany V 6.0, 6.1 P 4.3, 4.1 B middle

10. „Kulturstandards“ ”Cultural standards mean all sorts of perception, thinking, evaluating, and action, which the majority of the members of a specific culture accept personally and for others as normal, typical, and binding. Own and foreign behavior is evaluated and regulated on base of these cultural standards.“ (Thomas 1993, S. 381, translated by Hansen)

11. My time or yours? (Saunders et al 2004) • Clock : • Time of scarce commodity, time is uni-dimensional and irreversible • Time is a resource that can be measured and manipulated to make organizations more efficient or productive • Calvinism, American, Anglo-saxon, Germanic, Scandinavian countries • Event : • Time as cyclistic, continious, holistic, epochal. • Unlimited supply of time, wasting is not a concern, time is “unfolding”, passing from one phase of activity to another • Japanese • Timeless:. • Endless creation and destruction, passage of time is insignificant. • It makes little sense to make a quick decision since opportunities, risks, and dangers eventually reappear when the decision makers are so many days, weeks or months wiser. • Hinduistic and buddhistic regions • Harmonic: • Time is very concrete and seen as an aspect of dynamic, living systems that needs to be explored qualitatively. • Long-term, cyclical, continious and recurrent • It is customary to thank participants for contributing their valuable time. Punctuality is considered important • Confusianism, Taoism, China

12. Deutsche Kulturstandards (German Cultural Standards) • Sachorientierung (dominance of tasks) • Wertschätzung von Strukturen und Regeln (valuing of structure and rules) • Internalisierte Kontrolle (Internalized control mechanisms, identification with task) • Zeitplanung (very strict time management) • Trennung von Persönlichkeits- und Lebensbereichen (strict separation of work and private life, family/friends – colleagues – acquaintances - strangers) • Direktheit der Kommunikation (direct communication) • Individualismus (individualism) See Schroll-Machl, 2003

13. Task orientation: ☞performance is important (band B in GLOBE study) and must be certified ☞ teachers must keep some distance to the students (Surnames are used) Valuing structures and rules: ☞Tendency towards bureaucracy has to be expected in VET institutions ☞ Rules are to be kept, even if people call them stupid ☞ Students ask for written material to prepare or go over after the training, which fits nicely with the German tendency of uncertainty avoidance Rule-oriented internal control ☞ Students are responsible for their efforts and performance ☞ Emerging problems should be reported by students and they should ask for support, if necessary Strict time-management This project is funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. VET-teachers and trainers from other countries should be aware of “ Typical German” cultural standards as

14. This project is funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. VET-Teachers and trainers from other countries should be aware of “ Typical German” cultural standards as (II.) Differentiation of personality and life sectors (private – professional, role – person, rational - emotional) ☞ Teachers are teachers and not friends of students Direct communication (low context) ☞ Criticism is allowed; students are supposed to challenge teacher’s /trainers opinion ☞ Upcoming mistakes are directly addressed in class Individualism ☞ Students (and teachers) can be expected to be scoring rather low on societal institutional collectivism, what means that individual performance will dominate and sharing resources will not be easy. How clearly moulded those cultural standards are, depends on the region and its openness to other cultures. Thus, in the metropolis and in conurbations a different culture can have emerged. Any case, teachers and trainers should look out for regional specifics and micro-cultures.

15. This project is funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. As important recommendations we assume for Germany that VET institutions… • should ask for employers’ feed back on the skills demanded as part of their system of quality management. • mirror this in their educational planning activities. BUT: VET should refrain from just fulfilling current demands of employers. Rather find out what future demands will be and answer to those by implementing innovative solutions. • Provide this information to the learners • Provide direct contacts among learners and employers (e.g. excursions, workshops, joined assessment center). • The VET-system has to be continually improved. International experiences and standards should be acknowledged. Teachers’ flexibility should be enhanced and relations to colleagues in other (EU) countries supported as well as relations to firms.

16. This project is funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. As important recommendations we assume for Germany that VET institutions… • Recommended tools for teaching and training are the following: • Learning agreements • Coaching • Incentives • Personality tests • Open structured training • Sharing success stories • Group processes have to be considered and used to improve the learning • Diverse groups are seen as important • Teams of teachers are seen as helpful (team spirit and team discipline) • Micro-cultures might emerge and target-groups have to be defined to improve • successful learning. Gender differences have to be considered • Diversity in learning teams based on gender and cultural differences plays an • important role and is even emphasized as success factor.

17. “Work first, fun afterwards!” is a widespread saying, Germans believe in. Dominance of tasks is a cultural standard. Interpersonal relations on the humane dimension are secondary and should not be stressed as long as doubts are left on the task dimension. This contradicts completely the Latin American and there especially the Argentine culture standard of “Simpatia” in which good and trusting personal relations are antecedents of professional collaboration. Experts are highly valued in Germany. The status of an expert is connected to his or her formal education (degree) and to his knowledge and experience. Therefore you are recommended to value the expertise of German partners and to make your own expertise transparent. Academic titles can be a symbol for expertise and should be used in professional relations until people know each other better. Valuing of structure and rules serves the uncertainty avoidance which is relatively high in Germany. E.g. it is strictly forbidden to cross a street at a red light - even being pedestrian, even at night without any cars around. Rules must be observed from everybody, without regard of his or her status and position. “Making an exception” is not liked by Germans. It is rather seen as unfair towards the others. Therefore: Stick to rules and try to not violate regulations. This project is funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Some Experiences from an EU-ALFA Project (I)

18. This project is funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Some Experiences from an EU-ALFA Project (I) • The first impression is very important and you will be judged on your punctuality, clothing and manners. A poor impression at the beginning is often hard to correct. Therefore keep “Buena Presencia” as you are used to at home! • Before meeting with someone of importance make an appointment. Do not just show up! Once you have the appointment, keep it! and arrive just in time. This means, being 3 minutes late – you are late! It is considered extremely rude to cancel at the last minute, especially without explanation. If there is an agenda for a meeting it will be followed strictly including starting and ending times. Thus, whenever an ending time has been scheduled people are supposed to leave around that time (compare below). • Germans expect students, co-workers and other persons they collaborate with to do some self-monitoring and to call up as soon as one finds out that problems are coming up, which might endanger goal attainment. Hiding upcoming problems will not be seen as an acceptable option. Therefore, you should state in an early stage to which results you can commit yourself. If you have any doubts on your ability to fulfil a task in time you are recommended to indicate that and ask for support.

19. Some Experiences from an EU-ALFA – Project (II) • Contracts are very important and can be a substitute to trust in business relations. Once an agreement has been fixed, negotiations are no longer permissible. A partner who should try such “Nachverhandlungen” (negotiation after signing a contract) will be looked at with non-confidence. Therefore you are well advised examining contracts in advance thoroughly. Contracts are usually in writing, but also consensual oral agreements are kept and the partner is expected to do likewise. • Very strict time management: time is seen as a clock. Time must be saved and sometimes rules over performance. Punctuality is highly valued and beginning and end of working time are strictly observed and kept. Germans do not like interruptions or to be taken by surprise in a work process. Improvisation is not one of their strengths and not valued but rather seen as a stopgap. Good time management is seen as an important trait for a professional. This holds not only in business, job and study environment, but as well in private life. Having a date with a German person means to be strictly in time as well as when being invited for lunch or dinner at home or in a restaurant. If you are late: Call and let them know in advance. Generally: make an appointment if you want to meet somebody in business, with teachers (they have certain office times but can be available longer by appointment) and in private life as well. • Germans might appear distanced and unfriendly until you know them better. Strict separation of work and private life, family and friends – colleagues – acquaintances - strangers are part of cultural standards: in each sector the rules of collaboration are very different. Becoming a friend of a German needs time and the development of trust. Having arrived at that stage, friendship will last for ever. Showing emotions is only allowed in very private situations. In job and university “keep cool” is the motto, especially for men. In public communication Germans are very reserved and formal, even if knowing someone for a long time. • Physical closeness like hugging or kissing is generally not shown in public normally not even when meeting good friends and family. Students have developed different rules in closer contact to young people from other countries. Here a more informal and friendly behavior is adequate. When standing face to face, Germans prefer a greater distance than Latin Americans generally – the length of an arm is considered just right by many people.

20. Literatur • Ailon, G., 2008. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Culture’s Consequences in a Value Test of Its Own Design. In: AOM Review, Vol. 33, No. 4, 885 - 904 • House, Robert J., Hanges, Paul M., Javidan, Mansour, Dorfman, Peter, W., Gupta, Vipin (edts.), 2004: Culture, Leadership, and Organizations. The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, Thousand Oaks et al. Kapitel 3 • Saunders, C., Van Slyke, C., Vogel, D. R., 2004: My time or yours? Managing time visions in global virtual teams. In: Academy of Management Executive 18 (1): 19 – 31 • Shimoni, B. , Bergmann, H., 2006. Managing in a Changing World: From Multiculturalism to Hybridization – The Production of Hybrid Management Cultures in Israel, Thailand, and Mexico. In: AOM Perspectives vol. 20, No.3, 76 - 89 • Schroll-Machl, S., 2003. Die Deutschen – Wir Deutsche, 2. ed., Göttingen • Steers, R.M., Nardon, L., 2006, Managing in the Global Economy, Armonk & London • Thomas, A., 2006a. Intercultural Competence: An Action and Learning Theoretical Concept. In: Ong, S. H., Apfelthaler, G., Hansen, K., Tapachai, N., Intercultural Communication Competencies in Higher Education and Management, London et al.: 36 – 55 • Thomas, A, 2006b. Interkulturelle Handlungskompetenz- Schlüsselkokmpeten für die moderne Arbeitswelt. In: ARBEIT Vol. 15, No.2,114 -125