Designing and implementing a test for measuring cultural dimensions in primary school

Publication date: Available online 22 March 2018Source: Learning, Culture and Social InteractionAuthor(s): Damián Gelerstein, Miguel Nussbaum, Ximena López, Ana Cortés, Cristóbal Castillo, Pablo Chiuminatto, Francisca OvalleAbstractCognition and culture are deeply intertwined as there are important cross-cultural differences in the cognitive development of individuals. Although there are a large number of studies on the subject of culture, these are qualitative in nature and not focused on school contexts. Our aim is to develop a quantitative instrument for primary education that determines the cultural texture within an individual institution, as well as among different kinds of schools. For this purpose, Hofstede's original instrument was adapted, taking into consideration the characteristics and practices of primary school students. A factor analysis and complementary qualitative analysis of the factors obtained from 783 surveys (administered to third and fourth graders) led to the creation of five dimensions, which contrasted with Hofstede's theoretical dimensions. These dimensions include Value of School Achievement, Value of Institutional Structure, Resistance to change, Normative versus Affective and Value of Equality in the Production of Knowledge. Furthermore, this new set of dimensions was a more accurate representation of the school context and the values held by primary school students. Significant differences were found in three of the dimensions when analyzi...
Source: Learning, Culture and Social Interaction - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research