Cultural Variations in Conceptions of Pedagogy

Filling the Pot or Lighting the Fire? Cultural Variations in Conceptions of Pedagogy by Su Wu (2002)

New Words
-She has a broad spectrum of interests.
-His bad behavior baffles me.
-The data refute his hypothesis.
-She had to attend a two weeks of intensive English course.
-The police needs to keep a wary eye on this area of town.
-The new policy changes will have many complex ramifications.
-The former Japanese Prime Minister resigned his post to abdicate responsibility.
-He was at a rebellious age.
-‘It’ll be fine,’ she replied, with a nonchalant shrug.
-She felt as though she was on the threshold of a new life

School culture in Japan
My learning style in Japan was different from British one which I deal with now. I spent a lot of time in rote learning at school and I went to private tuition and music classes after school. Nobody asked for help at school because we didn’t have such a culture. As we had strict school rules and routines which controlled rebellious students, our freedom was restricted. I don’t feel paradox, which means that we are required “both more independence and less independence at the same time, more supervision and less of it, a culture of both less and more discipline”. I probably don’t notice yet.