GLOBALISATION MAY BRING CHANGES TO LEARNING

Written by Caroline Meyer

In more Westernised societies, children tend to learn things in a specific way. The toddlers in a Westernised society are known to show curiosity through endless “What” and “Why” questions. This is not the same way that toddlers in many other non-Western cultures learn. With the digitalisation of countries, this way of learning may become more of a norm.  In general, we work from some basic principles of how intelligent children behave. Children from different cultures and upbringings may not react in the same way even if they are of similar intelligence.  

When looking at children from very different backgrounds, in the past they had different ways of seeking knowledge. With globalisation, it has become more obvious that children are starting to seek information in a more western way such as asking What and Why. However, it was noted that when it came to seeking explanations, children in non-western societies may not react in the same way as those in more industrialised countries. Children in more traditional societies may be taught to ask why less often. This is possibly due to the hierarchy in these types of societies and children demanding answers may be seen as challenging authority. In these societies, everyday living is generally stable and predictable. The children tend to learn from observation and as the same things happen all the time, they are able to observe connections between things and need to ask less questions. Observational learning is well documented and researched and shows how these children learn in a way that does not require asking too many questions. They are also able to watch what others do and mimic without any formal instructions. Children are able to observe adults in these traditional societies that is generally not possible in western societies. Children from less traditional societies are also distracted from observational learning by the vast number of devices and objects available to them. This may also be why they then need to ask explanatory questions a lot more. 

Even when they are very young, children adapt to their economic and social systems and to the technology they are surrounded with. This has no real relation to how intelligent the child is but does show that they express their intelligence in different ways. It is not fair to look at specific behaviours such as requests for information as a measure of intelligence across all levels of society. Information seeking behaviour is driven more by societal and familial environments as opposed to being a direct measure of curiosity or intelligence. From a young age, children learn how much they are permitted to ask adults. Even in western societies, they learn that certain topics are offensive and learn to not ask these types of questions in future. While asking questions is generally encouraged, children learn to not ask off-limit questions quite quickly. Even in the more traditional societies, children have a variety of different ways of getting information without asking questions that are discouraged. Children develop and learn in different ways and these may not always be the same as the way their parents learned.  

As the digital spread continues, it is anticipated to have social and economic impacts and children will have more access to technology from a younger age. This is most likely to result in a change in early development. This will more than likely be very noticeable in non-westernised areas. While the changes are likely to be more gradual in the societies that are governed by authoritarian relationships and there may be a higher resistance to changes especially in response to new technologies, changes will start happening. In western societies, some questions are still off-limits, but even this may change as they have access to technology that can answer these questions for them. 

It is important to still be a part of the learning process even while children now have access to vast amounts of technology. Parents should still practise some of the more traditional methods of teaching such as reading and telling stories to their children. Parents in traditional homes can still teach their children the old methods and the stories that form part of their culture. Learning should still be driven largely by social and familial interactions as opposed to technology. Researchers will need to look into these changes and base investigations on a much wider framework than in previous when trying to determine intelligence and curiosity, taking in to account traditional structures and the changes that technology brings in to these societies. Things are changing and the way children learn are changing along with it. While it may be embraced in varying degrees, it cannot be simply ignored. Changes will occur and the global way of learning may become very similar across all societies eventually.