Lesson 1.3: Individualism versus Collectivism

WARM UP: Jogging Alone Activity: 10 Minutes Distribute worksheet #8, “Jogging Alone” After 10 minutes, in pairs discuss and share your answers with each other. Be prepared to describe how you felt when reading the story and why. Review questions with the class.

Essential Question What is the difference between an individualistic culture and a collectivistic culture?

Ilunga’s Harvest Activity: 50 minutes Ilunga’s Harvest Activity Discussion Guide: complete the questions in part A: Why was it important to Ilunga to have a fishpond? What actions in the story revealed Ilunga’s commitment to his fish pond? What was a significant incident in the story? What do you feel is the most important message in the story? Share your answers with a partner and then debrief your answers with the entire class.

Activity Continued There is one passage in the story that is very important as we consider cultural differences.  Read the passage and answer the questions in Part B.  After about 10 minutes, discuss your answers with a partner.  After the pair-share activity, process the activity with the entire group. The passage listed on Part B of the activity sheet is: You gave away too much, Ilunga. You can't keep doing this. You can't feed the whole village by yourself. It's impossible. You have to feed your own children and take care of your own immediate family. Let your brothers worry about their families. Let them dig ponds if they want to. You've got to stop giving away your harvests….Stop the giving and the community-oriented attitude and you can escape the worst ravages of poverty. Build a pond and make it yours. And when you harvest it, don't give away all the fish. Forget, for now, the bigger society. Forget the extended family. Step back and start thinking like self-enriching entrepreneurs, like good little capitalists. (pages 61-62) Discussion questions Did Ilunga give away too many fish? Why do you think Ilunga gave away so many fish? Do you agree with the statement above made by the Peace Corps volunteer, Mike Tidwell? Why?

Individualism/Collectivism Relate the individualism/collectivism to daily lives by asking students which of the following behaviors may represent individualistic or collectivistic behavior (I-Individualism & C-Collectivism): Children and parents live far apart and don’t see each other often. Individuals are very conscious of their family name and reputation. Individuals may leave and go to another country but send most of their money back home. Children move out of their home at an early age. Children do not expect parents to help them financially. Children may live with parents for a long time.

Proverb/Reflection Activity: 10 Minutes Present to the class the following proverbs/sayings and discuss whether they represent more of an individualistic culture or more of a collectivistic culture and why. (I- Individualism, C- Collectivism) “No need to know the person, only the family.”  (African) “It takes a village to raise a child.” (African) “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” (U.S.) “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” (Japanese) “The sheep separated from the flock is eaten by the wolf.” (Turkey ) “It’s up to you.” (U.S) “Hard tasks can be accomplished by collaboration.” (Turkey –)

Activity Students will research some of the countries that they will be studying to see where they might score on the individualism-collectivism continuum.  Divide the class into 9 groups associated with each linguistic region.  Assign each group the country’s pages for their region in Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands (Morrison and Conaway, 2006).  Skimming over the information, ask them to mark on the Individualism-Collectivism Activity Sheet where they think their assigned country is on the individualism-collectivism continuum and explain the reasons for their decision

Arabic-speaking World Egypt (pp. 148-158) (38) Kuwait (pp Arabic-speaking World Egypt (pp. 148-158)  (38) Kuwait (pp. 288-298)  (38) Saudi Arabia (pp.426-436)  (38) Chinese-speaking World China (pp. 89-99) (20) Hong Kong (pp. 100-103) (25) Taiwan (pp. 495-505) (17) Spanish-speaking World Colombia (pp. 104 - 112) (13) Mexico (pp. 313-321) (30) Spain (pp. 469-476)  (51)

Video Collectivism vs. Individualsim

reflection What is the difference between an individualistic culture and a collectivistic culture? Give one example of a behavior that represents each dimension.