Cultural Differences Between Western And Non-Western Culture Of Young Children

Childcare in China differs in many ways compared to American childcare. Generally speaking, this occurs from generations of cultural differences. What are the differences? The main focuses are on values, punishment, actions, and education. We can also compare childhood, adolescence, and maturity. These certain values help mold a culture and shows how a parent chooses to bring their children up in society. Childcare differences show us habits, morals, and the intentions of a child in these cultures, all creating different effects.

Parenting techniques are different around the world, which is strongly related to how culture has a direct impact on families (Nelson, Nelson, Hart, Yang, & Jin, 2016). For example, East Asian parents try to teach values of honesty, honour, and individualism to their children; meanwhile, Western parents are more likely to endorse a collectivist approach to life, with characteristics like unselfishness, obedience, and respect (Park, Coello, & Lau, 2016). The ways that a Canadian child and Japanese child grow up are very different. Cultures significantly influence both parents’ perceptions and their parenting behaviors.

For example, the people of Ecuador view play as a group activity which inspires community which is highly valued in the culture; however, in the Japanese culture they view play as a weakness or an activity that distracts them from their success as an individual. The Japanese culture focuses more on the academic accomplishments of an individual rather than the success of a team in a sport or game. The intense focus of an individual is shown through this study of Japanese children being photographed around their group of friends. Rather than inviting other children into their picture the children preferred to be alone while show casing the accomplishments they had made (Izumi-Taylor, 2016). While Ecuador differs greatly from Japan when addressing their types of children’s play, the situation is quite opposite when compared to the Ecuadorian and American views of play. Throughout my childhood, my parents constantly encouraged us to be social and interact with our neighbors and friends. Because of this, once we walked into the door from school we would be fed a snack and then be sent outside to play until dark. When compared to the children’s play in Ecuador, the aspect of community is key; hence, the group games and encouragement to be outside with the neighbors. A few differences between the Ecuadorian play and mine would be the available time spent outside. As children are released from school in Ecuador

“Play is developmentally appropriate for primary-age children and can provide them with opportunities that enrich the learning experience” (Copple & Bredekamp 2009). Early childhood education holds two main focuses; a child-based focus and a family-based focus. Early childhood education has positive outcomes on the child through their learning experiences, and their growth and development. Based on the family, the results of early education happen through the communication that the family has with the educators and by the encouragement they get from within themselves, and also from the educators.

“What makes something play and what play ‘means’ to culture continues to be potential redefined through changing social practice. The strength of the concept of play relies on the binding together of many different social conditions which people may understand as play, but which cannot be collectively defined by any firm set of rules or boundaries. Because play is not a distinct, discrete set of activities, but rather a characteristic which is present to varying degrees in many different kinds of human behavior, it is necessary to look at play from multiple perspectives, drawing together threads of analysis.”26

play in childcare tend to focus primarily on the relationship between mother and child. Analysis

Children learn to act in accordance to their culture due to what their parents teach them and what they learn in school. Different countries have their own way of cooking, driving and most important, teaching. A child who is in a preschool in America, will not experience the same cultural activities as a child in China or Japan. The video Preschool in Three Cultures Revisited demonstrates how preschools in these three countries teach their students in accordance to their culture. This video also shows different Behaviorism and Constructivism aspects for each school.

The Early Years Learning Framework relates the importance of play to notions of belonging, being and becoming. It states that children make sense of their social worlds through playing with others (DEEWR, 2009). Article 13 of the UN Convention reads that every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child (Connor, 2010). It is important to note that play has multiple approaches and that children’s play varies greatly according to culture, interests,

This is an important issue due to the parents’ motivation in raising children as well as the enormous care. Parents feel the sense of responsibility towards their children’s better health and development therefore want the best possible care for them. One method of child’s development is unstructured play which allows them to freely play how he or she wants. Play differs in its meaning across time and culture so it does not have a sense of partiality (Cohen, 2006). The allowance of children to play for their improvement is that genuine that it is regarded an ideal for each children in the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (Ginsburg, 2007). The relationship between unstructured play and the development and wellbeing of a child

Play contributes to children’s “physical, emotional and social well-being” (Else, 2009, p.8) and through play, the child’s holistic development and well-being is being constantly accounted for as is it led by the individual. The child decides what s/he wants to do and does it; it is

There are multiple factors in a child’s development. Parents have a responsibility, as well as a privilege, to contribute to every milestone. Most parents stress over physical and mental stages so much so that play-time is ignored. By making decisions that sacrifice play parents hinder their social development. Parents must take action and encourage their youth to play more, before childhood is lost forever.

For as long as humans have existed, there has been the practice of two members of the human species coming together to raise their offspring. This practice is commonly known as parenting and over the course of the millenniums several styles or, ways of parenting have emerged from different cultures. The focus of this paper will be over two distinct styles of parenting: Chinese-style parenting and Western-style parenting. These two styles can be compared to the parenting style described by Psychologist Diana Baumrind; equating Chinese-style to Authoritarian parenting and Western-style to Authoritative parenting. With Chinese-style being shown as similar to a dictatorship and Western-style being shown as more of a democracy. As a result, Chinese parents believe Western-style is weaker, for focusing on a child’s emotional and mental well-being and allowing children to be independent and respected, but it can also be said these are Western parenting strongest points.

“For young children, there is no distinction between play and learning; they are one and the same. Playing is a priority in early childhood, yet not all play is the same” (Butler, 2008, p. 1). Since the beginning of mankind children have imitated adults and learned to survive through play. Evidence of this includes toys and board games from 6,000 years ago that have been found in Egypt and Asia (Dollinger, 2000). In the last two centuries, child’s play has been observed and studied by theorists and recognized as an important tool for adult life. Three theorists that studied children and spent their lives researching how children develop were Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These theorists agreed that from the time a child is

The zone of proximal development has implications for assessment, especially concerning children with learning and behavior problems. Two children can

Child development is complex because it is influenced by a wide range of factors such as culture. A child’s culture begins to influence them long before they are born. Parents from around the world hold different beliefs and raise their children in unique ways. Cultural norms can greatly affect which values parents consider important and how they share those values with children (Christensen, 2013). The timing of the development of certain skills and characteristics in children, depends on the importance the culture places on them (Buechner, 2015). For example, a good deal of value is placed on academics in many Eastern cultures, and so children spend many hours each day on math and science activities from the time they are very young. But, in the United States children are given a great deal more freedom to express themselves and experiment with things, because we as a society place value on creativity and innovation (O’Sullivan, 2016). In the U.S., the nuclear family is considered the ideal structure for raising children, but in countries like Japan and India, extended family and community members take a much larger role in child care and parenting (Christensen, 2013). Because each child is unique, caregivers need to form partnerships with families in order to meet the developmental and educational needs of their students. According to Copple and Bredekamp (2009) by understanding a child’s culture, early childhood professionals can “make classroom decisions that are