Children Education

Contrastive Analysis of Education in China and in America
1. Introduction Education has an immense impact on human society since it came into being. Primarily, education is vital to the development of an individual. It is assumed that a person is not in the proper sense till he is educated. It trains the human mind to think and make the right decision. Also education is of great importance to any country in the world. The prosperity of a nation depends on the development of education as well as the development in science and technology. There is no doubt that countries with undeveloped education will remain uncompetitive. It is especially significant in modern societies because it determines, in large measures, the success or failure of a nation in global competition. Different countries have different education systems, which in some degree result in what the countries specialize in. Here we will just take a view on Chinese education and American eduacation, and compare and analyze these two kinds of education.

2. Similarities and Differences of Chinese Education and American Education 1. Similarities As a nationwide system to train the mind of its citizens, Chinese education and American education share some similarities in some aspects. First, according to the basic education period, they both have elementary and secondary education which accept children age from 5or 6 to 16 or so. In detail, there are elementary schools, junior high schools and high schools. Second, two types of schools are found both in China and America, public schools and private schools. Generally, public schools are supported by government while private schools are paid by parents. Third, as to standardized curriculum and test, they both have their own national curriculum and tests stipulated. Within a country, every student should have basically the same curriculum and examinations and reach the standardized educational targets.

2. Differences 1. Educational Concept and Aim China emphasizes “foundation education” while American education concerns with creativity and innovation. In other words, Chinese education focuses on the knowledge to accumulate and indoctrinate, on how students use and manage the knowledge they learned in school, and on how to understand the knowledge system and structure. Reversely, American care more about how students use knowledge in society. It encourages student to challenge the knowledge, animadvert ideas, and focus on, exploit or create knowledge. So when we compare the Chinese foundation education with America’s creative education, then most people’s opinion are that Chinese education is good at foundation education, and American education does well in the cultivation of students’ creativity.

2. Educatioal Style American education values the evolution of ability and free personality. Their education style can be called “Quality-oriented Education”. It cultivates the creativity and ability of students so that they can meet the needs of society in the future. They dig up students’ responsibility and practice in teamwork. And they associate knowledge with real daily life and practice. They regard learning as a lifelong process, which not only from class, but also from other part of life such as part-time job experience, traveling and so on. At the same time, American parents treat every child as a independent individual and give them respect and some suggestion. So American student learn manifold skills and technique by themselves and make decisions by themselves. And parents and teacher play roles as senior life counselor not a strict controller. American education also pays attention to students’ imagination and creativity. They encourage students to think unlimitedly. So the free atmosphere of there is active and positive, sometimes may be unruly. Compared with American education, Chinese style of education is quite different. Chinese education style can be called “Exam-oriented Education”. At school, the class cadence is always dominated by the teacher. The atmosphere of class is usually quiet as if that a needle drops on the floor can be heard clearly. It is passive learning that the students get. Their knowledge is unfathomable but far away from the application of daily life. Chinese education comes out the student whose similarities are more noticeable than unique personalities. And they all go for high scores not enjoying the process of achievements. At home, they are controlled by their parents. Parents choose what is good for their children and make a schedule for them. Chinese students have nothing to do but follow. In the past time, creativity and imagination paid little attention in China. So slowly children's creative and free minds are restrained. Always scores come first. But Chinese students also have advantages. They are more deliberate and diligent.

3. Educational Context American professors or teachers do act occasionally as mentors to students. Consistent with the emphasis on self-reliance in an individualistic culture, however, these mentor relationships are rarely characterized by the teacher’s playing a parental role. In China, a teacher is expected to take a strong interest in the development of each student as a whole person. To a remarkable extent, the teacher role overlaps that of the students’ parents. The ways that teaching and learning are also different in China and in America. Participation in the American classroom is not only accepted but also expected of the student in many courses. American teachers hope to encourage informal discussions and debates in their classes or seminars. But Chinese students are not used to making comments or discuss questions in class. Chinese tradition does not value self-expression. In addition, in China , the transmission of knowledge is oriented more towards theory than towards practice or application, so memorization of details and facts is important. In contrast, in the United States the emphasis is on knowing where to find facts and how to use them creatively. American teachers tend to use books merely as sources of opinions or interpretations. Books in China are taken as the sources of authority.

3. Reasons of Causing the Differences China and America having different education systems resulted from several factors, historical tradition, cultural variation and social and economic development.

3.1 Historical Tradition and Cultural Variation The Chinese education system has long been influenced by Confucian thought. A lot of education experience has still been used today. In Confucian China, the major goal of education was not so much the transmission of knowledge or the learning of skills as was the internationalization of a set of ethical principles that governed human behavior in all conceivable situations. Thus the learning method at that time covered repetition and memorization. Learning things mechanically and regarding the teachers as the academic authority deeply affect the Chinese educational system, especially the examination system. As to America, it is a nation of immigrants. That means it consists of the people from all over the world, all of whom bring their traditions and habits with them.The most important and most basic characteristic of American culture is individualism. The pioneering spirit , handed down to the present generation of Americans from their American forefathers, includes the concepts of self-reliance, innovation, autonomy and personal growth. And the industrial Revolution in the 19th century had far-reaching effects on American education. To invent more machines and to operate them, a mere knowledge of classics and theories are inadequate. Education widened its range to include more practical subjects.

3.2 Social and Economic Development The social and economic development is another important factor. China is a developing country. Its economy is not as prosperous as America. As a result, there are some limitations on school facilities and teacher training. The low quality of teacher resource is really a great impediment to educational innovation. America is a developed country. The government invests a lot of money in educational development every year. Schools are equipped with modern teaching facilities and advantaged technology.And it also pays more attention to the quality of teachers.

4. Conclusion It is through education that knowledge and information is received and spread throughout the world. Education is very important to every nation. It is a must to make a study of it and try to find some ways to improve it. China and America have their own origins about culture, which affects the present educational systems in the two countries in some sense. It is not wise to judge which education system is the best, but to learn from their strengths. Nowadays the society is developing fast. Comparing between different countries can make us have a clear opinion about what we should improve. It is essential for our Chinese to adopt some good education methods from other countries. It helps to educate our child to be a more competitive talent to stand in the world.