On the Differences Between Chinese and American Family Education：A Case Study of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

【Abstract】Amy Chua， the lifelong professor of Law School of Yale University， has published the book called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother which refers to her own experience on educating her two daughters. The book raises wide concern and discussions about family education between China and America. Due to the social， economic， historical and cultural differences between China and America， there are great differences in purposes， contents， methods and results. This article aims to provide references and sources for Chinese family education through the comparative analysis of family education between China and America.

【Key words】Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother； family education； differences

Brief Introduction

Amy Chua was born in Illinois， Champaign in 1962， moving to Berkeley at the age of eight. She graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School with excellent honorary and being the chief editor of the Harvard Law Review when she studied at Harvard Law School. Chuas Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother turns to the parent-child education. It is a memoir， explaining her Chinese mother style， especially in developing her daughters music talent， Amy Chua has her own particular ideas.

As the second generation in the Chinese immigration to the United States， Amy Chua educates her two daughters with the Chinese parents high exception and strict ways. Under the mothers strict disciplines and great uprising， these two girls inherit the outstanding Chinese tradition and have perfect performance in study， music and etc， being called as the local music prodigy.

Chuas education methods raise great attention in America， and it leads to a discussion about the education method of china and the United States.

Family education cannot be replaced for people， because family is the first group which the children belong to and from which they form their own personality. Understanding the difference between these two countries rightly plays a very important role in the development of Chinese contemporary family education.

Differences of Family Education Purpose

Chinese parents attach great importance to social adaptability and they are often in accordance with the established model to educate their children， but they always neglect childrens physical and mental development to promote their growths. They want their children become successful and pay more attention to their studies， thinking that as long as children have great grade， every problem can be solved.

While in American families， parents put childrens independence in an important position， focusing on training childrens abilities to adapt to different environment and live independently. They think the purpose of education is not for making a living， but for survival. What they emphasize is the valuable mind and has nothing to do with the utilitarian or career.

Differences of Family Education Content

The content of American family education is very rich， trying to make children get progress at all respects， can being referred as “Qualified Education”. Chuas husband， Jed， holds the idea that they should educate their daughters with western ways. Every summer， Jed always takes the whole family to travel， sometimes going to countryside and sometimes going abroad. He also thinks that children should choose the lessons which they are really interested in. When Chua forced Lulu to practice， Jed usually tried to persuade Chua to let Lulu give up the violin.

Chinese family education content also can be divided into moral education， intellectual education， physical education and aesthetic education， but when children were at school age， the education begun to overlook the intellectual education， making the imbalance of the education content. As a Chinese mother， Chua educates her two daughters strictly. She chooses piano and violin for Sophia and Louisa without asking whether they like it or not and asks them to practice for more than four or five hours every day.

Differences of Family Education Method

Chinese parents often use the closed method in which children do not have right to express their own ideas. Parents think that housework is the responsibility of adult， and what the children should do is to follow the rules and be obedient to their parents wishes. In family， parents seem to be the authority， so the generation gap is easy to appear.

American education method advocates open education in which children have the right to speak their own voice and participate in family affairs. Parents encourage children to have their own opinions and allow them not to accept what the parents said and keep their own understandings. Parents can be friends with their children and there is an equal communication between parents and children.

Differences of Family Education Result

American children grow up in a relatively free atmosphere in the family， so they tend to be more imaginative and creative， and their minds also appear to be more powerful and unconstrained that is the reason why American childrens inventions are more than Chinese childrens. Secondly， American parents attach too much importance to cultivating the childrens independence and give children space to make them learn knowledge and skills by themselves in practices.

Chinese family education is relatively closed and rigorous. But their academic achievements are far ahead of the children in western developed countries. “Tiger Mother” Amy Chua said in an interview： after accepting this kind of education， her children， compared to other peers， get various academic achievements which other children can never get. At the same time， she is very proud of her two daughters： the litter girl is a very gifted violinist， and the older daughter has the piano performance successfully at Carnegie Hall.

The Reasons for the Differences Between Chinese and American Family Education

At the family education level， the author thinks that the cause of the formation of the family education differences between China and the United States has three aspects.

Differences of Cultural Traditions

Chinese people emphasize that the collective interests are above personal interests. They believe that the establishment of people is generated in the opposite relation. In Chinese family， parents view their children as a continuation of their own values and see the children as the hopes of their whole lives， having an inalienable integration with their children， so Chinese parents expectations to their children are often beyond the childrens abilities.

Americans emphasize personality， and their value orientation is individualism. Paying attention to personal interests， advocating personal developments and self-realization， this is the core of American culture. In the family， individual is standard， which has the most important value and does not rely on others， independent of family relationships. So in American family， parents tend to view themselves and their children as two separate individuals， “self” including parents and children themselves.

Differences of Social Conditions

In China， because of the long cultural history and the constraints of the old society， feudal ideas have been deeply ingrained in peoples brain. Due to the poor economic conditions， lacking of social security system and the old ideas， parents often consider the childrens education from the individual endowment or personal honor.

The history of the United States is shorter， and the old ideology and culture retain less， so under the influence of diverse ideological values， it can quickly accept new thoughts and culture. The United States has the good economic condition and the perfect social security system， so parents do not think their children should support them.

Conclusion

In many ways， “tiger mother” does not disappoint people. There is no doubt that this kind of family education has trained a lot of talents， and their excellent academic performances make them get to the top place.

On the other hand， people should also see that it has many disadvantages. The students from indoctrination and training may have better test scores， but referring to imagination and creativity， the ability of Chinese children will not be better than children in the west. The “tiger mother” education seriously stifles childrens imagination and creativity. Under this kind of education， the students would be the skilled worker in some fields， but they would never become the master or the pioneering figure in the field. So for the long term development of education and our country， we need not only talents， but also more creative masters. People should learn from these two kinds of family education， absorbing the refined and discarding the crude that is the most promising way to deal with the two educations.

References：

[1]Amy Chua.Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.The Penguin press，a member of Penguin Group（USA）Inc，2001.

[2]蔡美兒.张新华，译.虎妈战歌[M].北京：中信出版社.2011.

[3]王晓红.中美家庭教育的差异的比较[J].辽宁教育学院学报. 2006.

[4]魏书生.家庭教育[M].沈阳出版社.2005.

[5]张威.中美家庭教育方式的比较[J].科技信息，2008（31）.

作者简介：李玲玉（1992-），女，汉族，江苏徐州人，教育硕士，江苏师范大学外国语学院学科教学（英语）2016级研究生。