Cultural differences between China and the West Differences of Chinese family education
- cultural differences between China and the West Differences of family education
- For years, people from all walks of life have been discussing cultural differences between China and the West, which has been reflected in more aspects than one, to name only a few, differences of religion, of family , of thinking mode and so forth. In the very aspect of the way of family education, differences are pronounced between the way Chinese families foster and the way their western counterparts have preferences for.
- First and foremost, Chinese and Western family education vary in the attitude towards independence. It is known to all that later last century, for the sake of sustainable and harmonious development, our country has introduced the one child policy for family planning, because of which there has been an increasing number of family with one child, and that Chinese children, since long ago, has been considered to be the apple in parents’ eyes. Base on the aforementioned contentions, parents tend to over-indulge their children in a surprising way that is absurd to westerns. It is not surprising to see Chinese parents do always try to do nearly everything for their children in their childhood, like helping them with dressing, having meals, bathing, etc… however, on the contrary, and much to my surprise, western parents are liable to inject the idea of independence to their children since their childhood, mainly because of which western children might have learned that they should be self-dependent and self-reliant at a very early age, and strive to handle things themselves. Therefore, whenever bogged in adversities, it is not rare to see, sometimes, Chinese children would fall back on their parents while their western counterparts would rather choose the opposite way- resorting to themselves.
- Besides, an obvious case is the way they treat children’s interests. Without deeper reflection and research, we can conclude from practices in daily life that some Chinese parents, if not many, have been strangling their children’s interests in a way that is elusive to westerners. To be concrete, under the current Chinese family education, most children are being arranged with assorted extracurricular classes where they are taught to learn piano, drawing, singing, etc., partly because parents wish children to develop in an all-round way and have a head-start in studies than other children. The fact, however, is that children may show the least interest in these classes that might seem dull and boring in their minds. In this way, children are deprived of the freedom to dip into things intriguing them to no end and chances are that finally, children are bereft of ebullience and creativity in studying finally. However, westerns may do the otherwise. Western children are encouraged and induced to development interest and to rejoice in things they’re interested in. Never will western parents prevent children from doing so, nor will they not be in stalwart support towards children.
- Despite the aforementioned facets, many other differences are still can be seen related to this topic and by comparison, we can easily discern the advantages and disadvantages of the two family educations. It’s no denying that the Chinese way of family education might have drawbacks, however, its successful experiences, like filial education, education of courtesy, and so on, could yet never to be disregarded. How baffled yet disappointed I feel whenever I read of in either in newspapers or through the internet, and hear of improper comments adverse to and downplaying Chinese family education from our compatriots.
- And here, my point is that appropriate attitude should be developed towards it – we are supposed to emulate others’ successful experiences and avoid practicing shortcomings of our own. And I believe only in this way can we improve our education and only then can be better nurture our children in an all-round way.
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One Comment on Cultural differences between China and the West Differences of Chinese family education
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FOZOE BLOG on
Wed, 20th Jan 2010 10:33 am
can’t speak my mind