Book Write-Up: Teaching Across Cultures

James E. Plueddemann. Teaching Across Cultures: Contextualizing Education for Global Mission. IVP Academic, 2018. See here to purchase the book.

James E. Plueddemann (hereafter JEP) has taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Wheaton College. His fields include missions and educational ministries.

As the title indicates, this book is about teaching in different cultures. Of course, there is the problem that one culture may not understand another culture’s idioms, and teachers should be aware of that. But, as JEP demonstrates, different cultures also have their own propensities when it comes to education. Some emphasize lecturing, whereas others stress discussion. Some dislike ambiguity, whereas others have no problem with it. Some regard the teacher as authoritative and the students dare not challenge him or her in class, whereas others have a more informal relationship between teachers and students. Some are individualistic, whereas others are collective. Some are more rigid than others.

Part of this book is about teachers becoming more sensitive to their audiences so that they can teach them more effectively. But JEP also presents his own ideas about what education should look like. For JEP, simply passing down information and testing students on it does not really teach them anything. They can easily forget what they “learned” after taking the test. They are more likely to retain information as a result of problem solving, or if the material is related to their own life. Moreover, when it comes to teaching Christianity in a religious context, education should be not only about passing down interesting information but spiritual formation as well.

The book has its share of stories. JEP shares some of his own experiences, and most of the chapters have a blurb by someone else who learned something in teaching cross-culturally. The stories illustrate JEP’s points and add a friendly tone to the book. JEP also brings into the discussion educational theorists, such as Dewey and Piaget. John Dewey has usually gotten a bad rap in the right-wing literature that I have read, but JEP argues that Christianity had a profound influence on Dewey’s educational ideas, even if Dewey later abandoned Christianity. Piaget had the idea that we learn when our previous paradigms are challenged and we need to account for the new data in a new manner.

Personally, I am the type of student who likes to listen to lectures and take notes, and I hated the days when part of my grade depended on class participation. Consequently, I cringed at some of what JEP was saying. At the same time, JEP does well to highlight cultural differences on education, which can be helpful to students. He also discusses ways to bring shy or reluctant people into class discussions, which is commendable.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.