Teaching Across Cultures: Contextualizing Education for Global Mission

by James E. Plueddemann, Duane Elmer (Foreword)

In our globalized world, ideas are constantly being exchanged between people of different cultural backgrounds. But educators often struggle to adapt to the contexts of diverse learners. Some focus so much on content delivery that they overlook crosscultural barriers to effective teaching.
Educator and missiologist James Plueddemann offers field-tested insights for teaching across cultural differences. He unpacks how different cultural dynamics may inhibit learning and offers a framework for integrating conceptual ideas into practical experience. He provides a model of teaching as pilgrimage, where the aim is not merely the mastery of information but the use of knowledge to foster the development of the pilgrim learner.
Plueddemann's crosscultural experience shows how teachers can make connections between content and context, bridging truth and life. Those who teach in educational institutions, mission organizations, churches, and other ministries will find insights here for transformational crosscultural learning.

Genres: Cultural, Teaching, Nonfiction

153 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 27, 2018

About the author

James E. Plueddemann (PhD, Michigan State), now retired, taught for many years as professor of missions at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He also previously served as the chair of the educational ministries department at Wheaton College. He is the author of Leading Across Cultures: Effective Ministry and Mission in the Global Church.

Reviews

[Brian Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plueddemann says, “In a sense all teaching is crosscultural” (151), and because of that I would highly recommend this short and simple book to everyone, from seminary professors to homeschool moms.

This is a very helpful book in thinking through our teaching aims and methods. Our aim is to develop pilgrims who will attain "to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:11-13). This means we must connect the content (Bible) with the context (life).

Effective teachers will factor in the culture and context of their students. Plueddemann explains cultural diferences, including low/high contexts, tolerance for ambiguity, power distance, and individual/collectivistic (chs. 3-6).

In this sense, teaching is more an art than a science. “Teaching is the art of fostering development in the student” (112). The effective teachers are “connoisseurs of teaching” (143), continually observing, adjusting, reconnecting, and observing again. In this way, he or she is integrating their visionary aims and teaching methods with the cultural context, and they will arrive at their ultimate goal. “The goal is not the mastery of information but the use of information to foster the development of the pilgrim” (147).

[C.J. Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, Plueddemann gives us some helpful considerations and how our teaching has to change depending on the learning style of the student. However, I don't know that this will be helpful for those who are limited by institution-wide standards. In his "pilgrim" model, he moves away from measurable outcomes to ones that are not, but he believes the true goal of teaching is equipping students for life-long learning, something that actually takes quite a bit of time to assess.

My main qualm with the book is that it seems to be more about education in general than about how educational practices must change in each given culture. To him, it seems that he believes the "pilgrim" model will work in all cultures. I also wished he had said more about those teachers who have to teach many different cultures and worldviews at once. And are students ever required to adapt their learning styles, or is it solely the professor/teacher who must seek to change his ways?

My full review can be found in the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry (Vol. 17.1, pgs. 168-171): http://baptistcenter.net/journals/JBT...

[Luke Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book on teaching, period. But it was also helpful for its aim. I loved the way Plueddemann shows both the strengths and weaknesses of competing perspectives on teaching (e.g., a production/manufacturing model vs. a gardener model), as well as the assumptions beneath them (e.g., teaching is a product to be mass-produced, one-size-fits-all vs. teaching is about cultivating wildflowers to be and do whatever they want). He affirms the importance of both the content of teaching (i.e., we need to master an objective body of knowledge and teach it well) and the context of the student (i.e., we need to see and understand the needs, values, and context of the student). And connecting the two is key. Connecting the content to the student's context over and over in meaningful ways is the task of teaching. Because the main goal of teaching is personal development (into all that God intends us to be). And this all happens on pilgrimage, through dialogue, listening and responding. Wonderful. I highly recommend.

[Deb Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not impressed with this book. It was about his teaching model and how it can work in different cultures that have different educational expectations.

[Ryan Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book for anyone that is teaching across cultures whether in North America or abroad. This is a great follow-up to Plueddemann's book, 'Leading Across Cultures,' which provides good framework for high/low context, high/low-power distance, high/low ambiguity, and individualistic/collectivistic cultures. Plueddemann builds on that book with how to take this foundation and apply it in a teaching context. This book provides a great illustration for how to take the context of the culture one is teaching in, rightly teach the truth of Scripture, and then apply it with appropriate application and implications for the students. This book not only has good theory, but also wonderful illustrations to provide a picture for how to teach in a way that helps develop students' discipleship with the Word of God as our guide.

[Sandra Paetkau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had hoped Plueddemann's book was going to be filled with current research and practices relating to teaching across cultures but was disappointed. It's more of one man's life experiences and reflections with other first hand experiences sprinkled throughout. That being said, Plueddemann is a good story teller and I was captivated by some of the stories told. While my teaching may not be transformed by the author's work, he did provide enough material for me to question and reflect on teaching across cultures.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to Lingenfelter's books, this is an excellent tool for teachers no matter their context. All teaching is cross-cultural.

[Nicholas Abraham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, practical advice on teaching across cultures. He suggests a pilgrim metaphor for teaching wherein teachers and students are on a journey together towards learning.

[DHK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pilgrim teaching metaphor and the rail-fence model for preaching. Good thoughts for improving Sunday School worship.

"The triune God is the master teacher, and we are called to be teaching assistants, playing a small but significant part in the most important and rewarding task in the universe."