I was first introduced to the idea of collectivism through the work of Zaretta Hammond. In her critically acclaimed work, “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain,” Hammond explains the research that had been done to divide our nations on a scale from one to 100, with one being completely collectivist and 100 being completely individualistic. Unsurprisingly, the United States of America was rated the most individualistic country in the world with a rating of 91. As a result, our schools reflect an overwhelming emphasis on individualism. Hammond goes on to make the argument, however, that as our country and schools continue to become more diverse, we must recognize the power of understanding collectivist cultures and adjusting our instruction accordingly.
What is Collectivist Culture and Why Is It Important?
To really understand collectivist culture, one must first understand that culture is far more than music, food, and holidays. Culture truly shapes our ways of being, thinking, and feeling. Culture shapes the way we interact with the world and the things that we value. While obviously no one description could ever encompass all that there is to know about a people group or cultural group, there are some commonalities.
In collectivist cultures, the whole outweighs the part. There is an emphasis placed on group harmony. Collaboration is more important than competition. Family, friends, and community are seen as those who can be sought after for advice and support. Ultimately, interdependence is the highest level of success and not independence.
It should be noted that in the study referenced by Hammond which comes from the book, “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind” by Holfstede, Holfstede, and Minkov, the five most collectivist countries are all from Latin America. Mexico has a rating of 30, making it a very collectivist nation. This is important because we know that Latine youth make up the largest non-White student group in our public schools according to the National Center of Educational Statistics. Other nations that also tend to have more collectivist cultures include Greece, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Iraq.
These cultures are most certainly present in our classrooms across the nation. In the traditional school setting we tend to emphasize individual assessments like tests and essays. We favor instruction through teacher talk, asking the student to be a receptacle of information. We ask our students to compete with one another for the best GPA and the highest grade on the quiz. Even in talking to our families, we compare their children to their classmates without any regard for how they are doing as a class. These are not bad things. I must clarify that being individualistic is not bad and being collectivist is not good. They are simply different and they are both existing in our schools currently. The important thing that we must do as educators is acknowledge the presence of collectivist cultures in our buildings and endeavor to be inclusive of these cultural norms as well.
Group Work: Structures and Supports for Students from All Cultures
One simple way to help support your students from collectivist cultures is to increase the use of group work. Understand that generally speaking, students from collectivist cultures may be more likely to:
Prefer to work in groups rather than individually.
Be more comfortable asking for help from their classmates.
Be more likely to share their ideas and resources with others.
Be more respectful of their classmates' opinions.
Be more likely to value the opinions of their teachers and other authority figures.
The foundations for strong group work are already present for many students. However, it may still be necessary to build explicit models and structures to support effective group work for all students. Consider the following three strategies to support the effective use of group work in your school or classroom.
Start small and use collectivist talk structures: Group work does not always have to be in the form of a major project. It could be simply having students turn and talk to their neighbors about the learning that just took place. When asking students to talk with one another, it may be helpful to provide them with a sentence stem that will encourage them to remain on task, on topic, and use academic vocabulary. Provide stems for students to build on one another’s ideas too. For example, “I heard you say…and I agree/disagree because…” Consider the work of Kagan Cooperative Learning series for additional ways to encourage students to talk about what they have learned or even just build community.
Give students explicit roles and then pull back over time: When asking students to engage in group work, it can be helpful to assign roles initially. This gives students direction on how they are to interact within the group. Collaboration is not always something that comes easily and so must be practiced. Through the use of roles like notetaker, timekeeper, facilitator, and spokesperson, students have an idea of they are to contribute to the group structurally. Beyond the structural roles, some students will benefit from explicit expectations around academic contributions. For example, if students are working on a research project, it might be shared that each student in the group needs to bring two sources to the group. In elementary, it may look different. Each student may be expected to draw or write two pages in the group book.
Ask students to assess their own participation and the participation of others: Finally, it is always helpful to have students aware of how they will be assessed prior to the assessment. This is the same for group work. Have students review this assessment form that can be used for self-assessment and assessing the other group members. It asks students to think about how much they participated, how much of the work they did, was their work quality, and did they actively work with others. As students work in groups, collaboration is truly key. This assessment helps students to see the importance of sharing ideas with one another in order to build better collective ideas.
Conclusion
I know that the general rule of thumb is that you do not add new information in a conclusion but I am going to break it this once. While this article centers group work as a response to students’ cultural backgrounds, the other important news is that it is all powerfully effective at helping students to maintain what they have learn. In a recent Edutopia article, they pointed out that research supports the idea that when students talk about and explain their learning to one another, it helps to move the new learning from the working memory to the long-term memory. This is key when thinking about building life-long learners. Students in our schools will continue to show up with diverse cultural backgrounds and thus will have diverse ways of seeing the world. Group work, when well structured, can be a great way to be responsive to the needs of all students. By creating opportunities for students to work together, teachers can help them to develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and in life.
To learn more about group work and collectivist talk structures, check out our new book, Your Words Are Fire: 10 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies to Speak the Language of Belonging and Help Students Learn, Express Ideas, and Solve Problems which is expected to be released in May of 2025.
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