Film Review : 2 Million Minutes

In “Adapted from Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” author Amy Chua argues that, instead of constantly praising a child for the slightest success, parents should only expect perfection from their children and nothing less. She explains that Western parents are not as strict on their children as Chinese parents are. That Western parents don’t believe in stressing educational success and that education should be something fun. In contrast, Chinese parents believe that academic success is very important and to get good at something it takes practice and hard work which may not seem fun at first but in the long run the activity becomes fun once mastered. Chua also believes that Chinese parents can get away with things that Western parents cannot such as calling their child garbage after being misbehaved. Chua states three main differences between Western parents and Chinese parents.

Chinese parents and American parents differ greatly in their parenting styles and a noticeable difference can be seen in the success of their children. The children of Chinese parents often excel in various areas, including in their educational, musical, and professional lives. The children of American parents, however, usually have a harder time excelling in those areas. Chinese parents and American parents hold opposing philosophies about how they view their children, opposing methods about how they raise their children, and opposing effects on the personalities of their children.

“In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that ‘stressing academic success is not good for children’ or that ‘parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun.’ By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be ‘the best’ students, that ‘academic achievement reflects successful parenting,’ and that if children did not excel at school then there was ‘a problem’ and parents ‘were not doing their job.’ … Chinese parents spend approximately ten times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are

In the story “The Trouble with Talent: Are We Born Smart or Do We Get Smart?” by Kathy Seal explains the difference between Asian children and American children’s work ethic. Kathy explains the school systems in china work differently due to the fact that America has the idea that children are born with a set I.Q. while Asians believe that your intelligence is determined by hard work. The author of this story’s purpose is to persuade the reader by proving her thesis that intelligence is gained through hard work. She does this by using a multitude of valid evidence, having a strong thesis, and connecting with the reader though reader oriented language. The pattern of this essay is clearly a compare and contrast because the author looks at the difference between how Asian and American children are taught. She makes a strong point using the compare and contrast method by providing the reader with valid information on the American and Asian sides to point out that being smart happens though hard work and determination. Seal organizes this compare and contrast by making a point to point analysis of Asian and American culture.

The author proves how our present school system is based on an old-fashioned model designed for students who would finally work in factories. Provided that simple abilities to young pupils might have been enough by the turn of the 21st century, but it is absolutely not satisfactory in the 21st. The several and cumulative things of a broader base of knowledge and rapidly proceeding technologies need extension of access to education and overhaul of curricula, teaching styles, and learning assessments. Darling-Hammond discovers imaginative changes in Finland, South Korea, Singapore, and other places that have kept up with the rising needs for educating school children. She poignantly shows how California pales in comparison to these places.

There are quite a few differences between Western parents and Chinese parents. The author brings up these differences in her article. People often question how Chinese parents raise such successful children. They have very harsh punishments to make sure their kids are performing to their best potential. When Western parents are being harsh, they usually aren't coming close to the harshness of Chinese parents. Chinese parents think that when people see they have successful kids it means that they have successful parents. Chinese parents work their kids so much hard than Western parents because they want their kids to be academically successful. As Western parents want their kids to be successful in extracurricular activities like sports and music. Chinese parent believe that

The Asian group has strong standards regarding academic success. The United States Census Bureau reported that the percentage of Asian Americans to possess a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 54% which shows a significant increase within the past 20 years (United States Census Bureau, 2016). Throughout much of Asia, children are taught at an early age to believe that education is the only path to success. While they are a distinct minority, their indicators of success in terms of education and future income occur because of the unique style of parenting which is based on the belief of the philosopher Confucius. Within their culture, they are taught to work on self-perfection which will help them achieve self-improvement in qualities such as diligence, determination, and concentration (Seal, 2010). Parents, family members, and their community assume the responsibility for teaching and disciplining children. Furthermore, they instill the belief that a child’s achievement or lack thereof is a direct reflection on the efforts of the entire family and community (Chen & Uttal, 1988). These types of demands coupled with academic

Western parents allow their children to to accept that fact that they got a bad grade on some assignment, while Chinese parents make their children correct whatever they did wrong. Chinese parents order their children to get exceptional grades, while Western parents can only ask their children to do well. Chua says, “If a child came home with an A- on test, a Western parent will most likely praise the child, but the Chinese mother will gasp in horror and ask what went wrong”(Chua 307). Chinese parents believe their children are capable of doing anything as long as they work hard at achieving it. Western parents can only help their children do well in school by trying to prepare them, and not pushing too hard. Chinese parents think that their children owe them everything and not the other way around. This is most likely because Chinese parents work very hard at raising capable children, and that they have worked hard to make them productive in life. Therefore, the parents expect much in return. Chua says “my husband Jed actually has

The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.

with their friends. Both Americans and the Chinese value education and feel that education is

Although I have lived in America, I still feel infinitely grateful for my birth country, China. As Malcolm, Gladwell writes in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, Chinese is innate born with diligence since the thousands of their ancestors have been working on the rice paddies days and nights to cultivate the corps, in the hope of earnning the fortune to the whole family. They believed that work hard, and the reward they will attain will respectively increase. This iron rule could also efficiently apply to Chinese education. Since China is a developed country, a large part of its population struggle to make a living under the average line of poverty, therefore it has a high demand on elite, with which to progress the whole society in all

The source of this discourse can be attributed to global biases and stereotypes of Asian American students. Asian American students are stereotyped for being model students when it comes to education. Most of this academic achievement has been attributed to Asian cultural values that promote educational endeavors. Culture is a major explanation for achievement differences. The article,” Asian-American educational achievements: A phenomenon in search of an explanation” states, “demands and expectations for achievement and upward mobility, induction of guilt about parental sacrifice and the need to fulfill obligations” (Sue, S., & Okazaki, S., 2009), implying that those are key contributors to why Asian families promote educational achievements.

I do not believe Chua’s essay perpetuates a cultural stereotype; Chinese parents push their children to be smart, they feel this is the best way to show their children they care about them. Chua’s essay simply demonstrates the difference in ideals and expectations between both Chinese and Western parents. This not only shows a difference in Chinese and Western parenting but also in other cultures. My parents, who are Hispanic, would not celebrate or praise me if I brought home an A from school just because that is what was expected of me. Becoming smart was my only job; it was an easy job in their eyes. On the other hand, my daughter brought home an A and she was praised and rewarded for all the hard work she put in to make that happen. My

The second article I read was, The new whiz kids by Brand, D. According to the article, Asian Americans have set a standard for Americans on education. A researcher at the U.S. Department of Education found that Asian Americans spend more time on their homework, take more advanced classes, and graduate with more credits than other students. They are known to be high achievers. The stereotype of Asian Americans as the model minority group is not true. It is simply because they work harder. Because of their cultural background and how they were raised, they are really focused on their education. They view education as the key to success. “It’s a matter of dedication, family support and discipline,” says Julliard President Joseph Polisi. He believes that Asians are not naturally talented but because of their hard work, they are able to be successful in what they are doing. Asian American children are greatly influenced by their parents to study hard and get a good degree because the advantage the American educational system has in store for them. Asian American parents expect a lot of educational success from their children because of the sacrifice they have to make for their children to be successful in the future. Because of what they have been taught, asking for help is not easy. They have been taught to not show any emotions and be

Each country has its own kind of education, and education always plays an important role in affecting students’ life and study on many aspects. Having received ten years of education in China and two years of education in the U.S. I would like to compare and contrast a few significant aspects of these two different kinds of educations. Knowing that no two education systems are the same, the differences between American education and Chinese education allow countries to take the essence and discard the dross through learning from each other so as to improve their own current education systems.