Teaching Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Learning and Teaching

by Judith E. Lingenfelter and Sherwood G. Lingenfelter

Book Overview

Teaching Cross-Culturally is a challenging consideration of what it means to be a Christian educator in a culture other than your own. Chapters include discussions about how to uncover cultural biases, how to address intelligence and learning styles, and teaching for biblical transformation. Teaching Cross-Culturally is ideal for the western-trained educator or missionary who plans to work in a non-western setting, as well as for those who teach in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801026202
• ISBN13: 9780801026201
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Length: 134 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Changing Lives Cross-Culturally

You don't need to be travelling far to make use of the wealth of wisdom contained in this book of practical insight from the Doctors Lingenfelter, but if your teaching career is leading you across continents you'll find it indispensible. Personal experience, applied learning-theory and real-world solutions combine to make this book the ideal complement to your education theory textbook, Yount's "Created to Learn" for example. "Teaching Cross-Culturally" targets those of us who have been educated with an analytical, and individualistic `western' mindset and prepares us to connect with cultures and societies where learning has a relational focus, prefers incarnation to indoctrination, and requires a fresh outlook for teaching methodology that changes lives. The basis of the book is that one's own culture is only good for long as we are in it; once we try to communicate with students in another culture we find that it becomes a hindrance to effective learning! Lingenfelter will show you how to observe your own culture; your host culture; and then give you a means to bridge the gap. In fact, the book is full of stories of successful (and not) teaching situations where real people solved knotty problems and overcame humorous misunderstandings! "Teaching Cross-Culturally" develops the issues raised by collaborative learners in group-oriented societies; explains how cultural perception of teachers affect classroom practices; shows how the cultural context defines the teaching curriculum; gives suggestions on how to prepare for teaching environments with limited technological or financial resources; and how to handle the main hindrance to cross-cultural teaching: teacher unpreparedness! The Christian teacher will find encouragement to redeem cultural peculiarities (at home and abroad!) by comparing techniques used by Jesus as he communicated cross-culturally. If I have one complaint, it is that the book is overly teacher-centric but, given the subtitle, perhaps I should have expected that! Because I like charts, chapter six on the role of the teacher was my favourite. The Lingenfelters explain social contexts based on an interaction between the strength of the student peer group and the way in which a society views it teachers. The corresponding charts reveal the major trends in world cultures and offer practical advice on student expectations and appropriate teacher roles for each culture. And it you're crossing-cultures in your own city, you might just find the solutions you need right there!

An Eye Opener for the Classroom

Teaching Cross-Culturally: an incarnational model for learning and teaching, by Judith and Sherwood Lingenfelter, has provided me with eye-opening insight in the approach to teach in a cross-cultural setting. I have read other educational theory texts, but this one is unique. This book is written from the perspective of a husband and wife team who are both seminarian professors. Judith and Sherwood drew on their experiences of their years working throughout the world learning how to teach different cultures with a biblical framework. This work is not the product of research gathered only from communities in the United States, but proposes proven strategies gleaned from the global context. Much of what the book puts forth as effective educational strategy was discovered through many different and challenging situations experienced by the authors. Another unique aspect to this book is the fact that Judith and Sherwood did not spend their time discussing the psychology of learners and teachers in an educational setting; rather they focused on explaining how one's culture and environment affects the educational system. This is markedly different from texts like Created to Learn: A Christian teacher's introduction to educational psychology, by William R. Yount, because Yount sought to explain effective methods of teaching peoples using psychology and a biblical framework. Throughout the book you will find helpful tables and charts giving you an organizer of the steps and examples proposed by the authors. Out of them, the charts on pages 75, 76, 78, and 85 are helpful in understanding the different roles that teachers are expected to fill given a specific cultural context. Teachers can anticipate what students will expect from a teacher given the student's cultural background, generally speaking. One of the focal points in the book was the Lingenfelters' discussion on how to teach learners who are cross-cultural. The purpose of the book is actually explicitly stated in the preface on page 9, namely that it was written to enlighten educators who are western-trained in order to help them teach effectively in cross-cultural classrooms in the schools and universities of major cities in North America. When teachers are in a classroom that contains students from a different culture, it is imperative for the teacher to enter into the particular culture and/or cultures that the students represent. Just as is the case for missionaries entering a cross-cultural mission, educators must try to absorb the culture that the students represent (Lingenfelter, 28). This is necessary because one's culture has the negative effect of making people blind to the valid but different way that people live in other cultures (32). The book also made the point clear that when teaching students from a different culture, it is necessary to change learning activities in order to teach to the student's strengths. By employing familiar study methods for students from a different cul

Great Book

Anyone seeking to teach in a cross-cultural setting, even here in North America, would benefit from reading this book. The author's writing style is clear, readable, and packed full of great real-world examples. This book is a must read for anyone involved in teaching in a cross-cultural setting.

A must have for cross-cultural teachers

Judith and Sherwood Lingenfelter's work Teaching Cross-Culturally seeks to accomplish four goals. The first is to help teachers understand their own culture of teaching and learning. The second is to help teachers become effective teachers in another culture by becoming good learners. The third goal is to help teachers reflect on cultural differences and conflicts with others by considering perspectives taught in Scripture and faith in Christ. The final goal reflects the others in that the Lingenfelter's want teachers to have fun and enjoy teaching in other cultures and feel like they are taking part in fulfilling the Great Commission. One of the more helpful aspects of this book is it helps teachers to consider their own cultural biases and how those biases affect their teaching style in cultural settings different from their own. These cultural biases reflect not only one's family background but also one's own educational background. Cultural differences can be seen in a variety of settings ranging from the difference between an inner city school and a rural school to the difference between an American International School and a native school setting. This issue is important because many teachers don't fully realize how much their teaching styles are influenced by their own cultural backgrounds. This book also helps the potential cross-cultural teacher to consider different learning styles and settings in non-western settings. One is reminded that in many non-western settings learning is often more of a community event than an individual pursuit. So, one needs to understand the role of a teacher in these kinds of setting will differ based on where they are. The Lingenfelter's also help teachers re-evaluate their expectations and consider which may be valid and which are false. Too many false expectations lead to negative teaching experiences. To teach effectively in a cross-cultural situation then is to learn about the culture one is in and then adapt one's teaching style to that culture. This is reflected in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ who set the ultimate example of adapting to different cultural situations to most effectively reach those around him. The potential cross-cultural teacher needs to follow the example Christ set before them.

Fabulous overview of Cross-Cultural Teaching

There's lots of books out there on teaching, and lots of books on multiculturalism, but FINALLY a book that addresses each area from the other's perspective! This book deals with the nuts and bolts of different cultures, but it also comes from an academic perspective, including the research and citations to back it up. Written by two PhDs with the practical knowledge to back up the scholarship, this gave me the answers I needed for working with my inner city/multicultural church groups. It's very readable, and reasonably priced. I'm delighted with it and recommend it highly.