Once,  several years ago, I showed my ignorant arrogance by telling an Austrian woman new to South Africa and due to stay for 3 years that she would be sorry to leave. I was surprised when she disagreed. And when she explained what was wonderful about Austria, I was puzzled as to why anyone would think the things she was describing were so wonderful.

I thought I had grown up a bit since then, but I did exactly the same thing the other night during a lecture.

One of my classmates is Indian. I had heard that the preferred style of instruction in India is strongly behavioural. I asked her about this, and she confirmed that this was indeed the case. She commented on the different assessment styles between the Uk and India, citing the example of economics. She had been interested to note that, in the UK, students would be taught the principles of economics and then expected in an assessment, to apply those to a case study drawn from the commercial world. In India, however, the questions would be things like “Define supply”, “What is demand?”

On a previous occasion, speaking to representatives of a hee-uge organisation in India, I was told that Indian students would be shocked if a teacher asked them to have a group discussion on a topic. Or if the teacher referred them to another resource for material on a module. This would be considered a deriliction of duty. It is the teacher’s job to teach. For the duration of the lesson, the teacher is expected to earn his/her keep by doing just that. And “teaching” to them means disseminating knowledge and information. A friend of mine recently spent two weeks in Bangladesh teaching English to medical professionals. Her experience echoed this. What was expected was rote learning. They were most uncomfortable with the idea of group discussions – although to people in the UK, this would seem the obvious way to learn a language: to practise it conversationally, rather than repeating stock phrases.

I just assumed that my classmate would be won over to the more constructivist style of teaching and learning practised in the UK. That she would immediately appreciate that behaviourism was an outmoded approach based on flawed principles.

I was wrong. We have yet to have a discussion in which she is given the space to explain what she perceives as the advantages of behaviourism, but I look forward to it. Who knows, maybe she will convince me… although I doubt it