Characteristics of Societies with Weak and Strong Uncertainty Avoidance

 Uncertainty avoidance correlates to the amount of ambiguity tolerance of a society or the amount of stress experienced when faced with unknown situations.  

How might issues be resolved in each society structure? How can you teach a student to adapt to conflict resolution in an unfamiliar society structure?

How might the society structure of stakeholders affect school policy?

What sort of reactions to new situations would you expect from each society structure? How would this affect how you present new policy implementation to stakeholders?

What type of parent or community volunteerism might you expect from each society structure?

What are some strategies to receive the support you require or utilize the assistance provided?

How might each society structure affect questioning within the classroom? How can you help teachers ensure the needs of all students in diverse society structures?

How might each society structure react to a sudden influx of displaced immigrants? What can you do to ease the transition for all students?

How might language arts curriculum be influenced by the society structure?

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations : software 

of the mind : intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. New 

York: McGraw Hill. 

Characteristics of Feminine and Masculine Societies

How might the society structure modify how teachers interact with parents?

Examine the differences between each society structure in regards to puberty, sexual relationships, and sexual orientation. How will you ensure that students value themselves and one another in the school setting?

How might the society structure change the classroom climate? How can teachers modify the climate?

What are the differences desired in an employee in each society structure? How can the school ensure that students are career ready in each society structure?

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations : software 

of the mind : intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. New 

York: McGraw Hill. 

Collectivist and Individualistic Societies: School, Workplace, and Information and Communication Technologies

How do views on education differ in each society structure? How do these beliefs mold instructional practices?

Collectivist and Individualistic Societies: Language, Personality, and Behavior

How could you provide information or communicate effectively within each society structure? Across societies?

How might the acceptance of special services for students change in each society structure? What can you do to ensure that all student needs are met?

 

Collectivism and Individualism- Norms and Family

How might a school best serve each society structure when interacting with student families? 

Where might be the best place to socialize within the community to reach the most stakeholders?

Five Configurations of Organizations:

Mintzberg's Five Configurations of Organizations

This figure represents the link between Mintzberg’s five configurations and the quadrants of power distance – uncertainty avoidance with a typical country inserted for each configuration.  In looking at this and applying it to the education of future leaders, communication skills and cultural understanding are paramount to creating successful outcomes for organizations in the global setting. 

Competitive Advantages of Different Cultural Profiles in International Competition

This figure represents competitive advantages of different cultural profiles in international competition.  This also lends itself to developing communication and cultural awareness classes for secondary and post-secondary students.  It is essential to have the ability to function in the foreign subculture, even if the organizations function on their own set of ideals within.

Collectivist & Individualists in School & In the Workplace

The table below contrasts differences between collectivist and individualistic societies in school, in the workplace, and in the use of information and communication technologies.
Do you see these differences among your students?

Collectivist	Individualist
Group approval to speak in class	Individuals encouraged to speak up
Purpose of education: how to do	Purpose of education: learning how to learn
Entry into higher status group with a diploma	Increase in economic worth and self respect with diploma
Low occupational mobility	High occupational mobility
Employees pursue in-group interests	Employees pursue employer's interests, if they coincide with their own
Hiring and promotion based upon group interests	Hiring and promotion based upon skills and rules
Family like employee-employer link	Employee-employer contractual market relationship
Relationships prevail over tasks	Tasks prevail over relationships
Internet/ email infrequently utilized	Internet/ email frequently used

Differences between Collectivist and Individualistic Societies: School, Workplace, and Information and Communication Technologies (patterned after Table 4.4 Hofstede, et al., 2010) 

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. (3rd Ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN-978-0-07-166418-9