Overview

This group assignment case model is based on the interview of a school, situated in the Netherlands, that teaches Dutch as a second language. At the school, many people from different cultures come together on a daily basis and learn Dutch. Most people come from Iran, Syria, or Turkey. There are also a number of students from Afghanistan, the Philippines, Morocco, Pakistan, America, Eritrea, and Thailand. All students are adults and are living in the Netherlands, due to several reasons, either for example, because it was unsafe in their home country or because they wanted to move to the Netherlands.

All students aim to integrate into Dutch culture and to build a life here. For this, it is important that they learn to speak the Dutch language and that they get to know the Dutch norms and values. In Syria it is for example not a problem if you arrive late for an appointment, but in the Netherlands that is less appreciated. Being late in the Netherlands could be seen as prohibitive, being late on an appointment is considered rude. It is an unwritten rule, which makes it prohibitive. In order to build a life in Dutch society, it is necessary to integrate. Because when a person integrates, the person is more likely to understand what is inhibitive or prohibitive in the country and be better accepted in their community.

For some students, integrating into Dutch culture is more difficult than for others. Also, all these different cultures together sometimes cause confrontations or disagreements because everyone has different norms and values from their own culture. These discussions can sometimes be difficult for the teachers because they have to deal with more differences and views than the average teacher.

Hofstede Dimensions

Table 1 attached below shows the country comparison of the cultures where most students come from, which are Iran, Syria, and Turkey. The Dutch culture is also included in this since most teachers have a Dutch background and because the students are integrated into the Dutch culture.

It is remarkable that the power distance in the Netherlands is the lowest. However, this also came up during the interview. In most cultures, the teacher is seen as higher in authority, while the Dutch culture perceives this differently and everyone is seen as equal. However, individualism in the Netherlands scores much higher than the other cultures. This was also mentioned during the interview. During parties that are held at the school, for example, Sinterklaas or Christmas, many students bring a lot of food for everyone and share it with each other. It is also remarkable that the Netherlands scores extremely low on masculinity compared to the other countries. So this graph shows a nice difference in certain characteristics in the different countries and their culture.

By taking a look at the scores of uncertainty avoidance, the score of the Netherlands is the lowest of the countries we investigated (53). In the Netherlands, people would prefer to operate with certainty therefore they make their choices to avoid uncertainty. The scores of the other countries are higher because of the way they make their choices. According to Hofstede Insights, the higher score comes from maintaining rigid codes of belief and behavior. So their religious beliefs are most important and therefore it would be inhibitive for the students from Iran, Turkey, and Syria to prefer certainty over their religion.

And by looking at the scores of indulgence, the highest score comes from the Netherlands. They prefer to have a lot of time for themselves. At this language institution, the students from Iran, Turkey, or Syria, can feel uncomfortable when a teacher gives them time for themselves to do things they like. Time for yourself for these students is inhibitive.  

Comparing the different countries and their cultures in the Hofstede Insights framework, one can clearly see the cultural differences. Since teachers have to professionally work together with their students from all cultures, it is very important for them to be able to understand and implement cross-cultural communication. Geert Hofstede, a Pionier in this field, depicts with his framework the different values and behaviors of culture, since differences will obviously occur, it is important for people from different backgrounds to understand and respect one another, especially in our where example a teacher, as his role is to instruct and manage his students from all kind of cultures. If these different backgrounds are respected, there will be fewer cultural misunderstandings and cultural differences will also be better understood.

Outcome

As mentioned before in the overview, there are sometimes confrontations and disagreements in the classroom. This is often because there are many different people from different cultural backgrounds. All these people also have different norms, values, and opinions. The differences per culture are also visible above in the Hofstede Dimensions.

Several examples of discussions and disagreements that have occurred over the past few years have been given during the interview with this language institution. These are usually minor differences of opinion that do not lead to a heated discussion.

An example of this is interpreting religion differently. A student shared that his father was married in Iran, while his mother was in the Netherlands and was also still married to him. She was also aware of this and thought it was good, just like it was in her moral circle. He also needed someone in Iran to do the housework for him. According to the student, this was also allowed based on his interpretation of Islam. This led to a discussion with a fellow student who was also Muslim. According to him, you were not allowed to marry multiple women from his perspective of Islam. It was prohibitive for him, which means that it is difficult for him to understand why the father of the other student is married to two women. So, the two students interpreted Islam differently. For both people, religion is very important and so emotion came into this discussion. Compared to Islam, for example, as a Catholic, it is not common to marry several women. In this example, the differences between religions and how the different cultures deal with them come to the fore.

There has also recently been a disagreement about opinions about homosexuality. A student had fled her home country because she is a lesbian and was not accepted there and was therefore at risk. Being in love with someone of the same gender was prohibitive in her country. Dutch culture is very open-minded about homosexuality and for that, it is understandable why she fled to the Netherlands. She also felt threatened in the asylum seekers’ center. There were also many people there from cultures where homosexuality is not accepted, or prohibitive. So the reason why she felt threatened in the asylum seekers center is that people from other countries do not understand or it is difficult to understand for them that being in love with someone of the same gender is allowed in some countries. Now the student lives happily at home with a Dutch woman and she feels very free now. Yet she noticed at school that she is not accepted by all fellow students. In many cultures, for students who are in the classroom, it is prohibitive to be lesbian. This sometimes leads to small discussions.

Possible Solutions/ Best Practice

Currently, discussions and incidents are prevented by avoiding topics that are perceived as sensitive in many cultures. Examples of these topics are religion, the way of dressing, and homosexuality. Discussions on these topics are avoided as far as possible. This makes people feel safer and more comfortable in the classroom. However, not the entire topic is avoided in the classroom. It is understood that, for example, homosexuality in the Netherlands is not prohibitive or inhibitive by most people. It is important that the students know this, since they have to integrate into Dutch culture. Furthermore, the opinions of students are not asked in order to avoid discussions. Because when the students are allowed to give their opinions, they give their opinion based on their own norms and values. And these own norms and values are coming from their own cultural perspective, and this will cause discussions, which may even become heated due to emotions and therefore need to be avoided.

To make people feel comfortable, the teacher always wears clothes that fall over the knees and shoulders and without cleavage. It would be inhibitive for many students if the teacher would wear a sleeveless top or a short skirt. The culture of the students is thus accepted. They are informed that it is normal in the Netherlands to wear short clothing that does not cover the knees and shoulders.

Student Authors

Ilse de Jong (LinkedIn)
Amsterdam School of International Business, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Block 4, semester 2, 2021

Lobke Nannes (LinkedIn)
Student: Amsterdam School of International Business, University of Applied Sciences,
Block 4, semester 2, 2021

Lena Marie Janeković (LinkedIn)
Student: Kozminski University
Block 4, semester 2, 2021

Jelle Kuijpers (LinkedIn)
Student: Amsterdam School of International Business, University of Applied Sciences,
Block 4, semester 2, 2021