摘要：Schools are prominent arenas for development.
Schooling and its implications
for the development of a cultural
identity (self ) and competence have been,
and still are, targets of controversial debate.
On the one hand, indigenous methods and
contents of schooling are strongly advocated
as an alternative to the Western type
of schooling to support the acquisition of
locally adaptive knowledge (Nsamenang,
1992; Serpell, 1979). On the other hand, the
acquisition of similar skills across cultures is
being claimed as a necessary step for improving
peoples lives on a global scale (Kagitcibasi,
1996). ese discussions center on the
role of culture in the process of knowledge
acquisition in different cultures, including
the culture of the school. However, they
leave out the multicultural reality that is
a social fact in many immigrant societies.
One major implication of this multicultural
reality concerns the possibility of different
cultural values among students, between students
and teachers, and between home and
school. “Bridging Cultures” began with basic
research documenting cross-cultural value
conflict between Latino immigrant families
and the schools.
