Student teachers’ understanding of the concept of culture

Abstract

How do novice student teachers understand the concept of culture? To what extent do their understandings of the concept change after three years of teacher education? These questions are discussed based on insights about various scholarly concepts of culture, which have developed over more than a century. In addition, theories of localism and individualisation are used. We discuss findings from a longitudinal quantitative study, with data collected in 2014 and 2017 at a Norwegian teacher education institution. In addition to questions with predefined answering alternatives, the students were invited to answer the following open question: “Can you, in your own words, explain what you mean by culture?” In this paper, we analyse and compare the responses to this question in 2014, when the students began their studies, and in 2017, after three years of study. One interesting finding is that many students define culture in quite local and personalised terms, although more so in 2014 than in 2017. Another important finding is that static understandings of culture prevail in both 2014 and 2017, although less so in 2017 than in 2014.