Course Paper

for Contrastive Study on Chinese and English 2020-2021(2)

英汉语言对比课程期末论文

Title of the Paper:

A Contrastive study on the Method of Education between

Chinese and English

Name of the student: 林正志

Student ID No.: 201906100312

Name of the Teacher: 刘星

June 2021
 Abstract
In the twenty-first century, the level of education has become an important basis
for measuring the strength of a country, as it is said that education is the foundation of
the country, the root of the rise and fall of the nation. Therefore, education should not
be neglected at any time. Chinese and Western education methods are different, and
their cultural backgrounds are different, but they are not superior or inferior. This
paper focuses on analyzing the similarities and differences between Chinese and
Western educational approaches by comparing the phenomena that exist in Chinese
and Western education.

Key words: Chinese and western education, similarities, differences

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 摘要
以儒家思想为核心的中国传统文化，主张尊卑有别，长幼有序。“师道尊
严”的理念也充分体现在中国的教育思想上。教师被认为是传道、授业、解惑
的形象，成为学生眼中权威的对象。西方文化的基本特征是个体主义，强调个
人的价值与尊严，提倡创新，鼓励独特的风格。教育的作用就在把这些个人价
值引发出来。在两种不同文化背景的影响之下，中西方教育的方式也存在很大
差别。本文重在通过对中西方教育中存在的现象进行对比，分析中西方教育方
式的相似之处和不同之处。

关键字：中西方教育，相似之处，不同之处

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 Content

I. Introduction

II. Similarities

2.1 Forms of education

2.2 Purpose of education
2.3 Content of education

III. Difference
3.1 Purpose of education.
3.2 Classroom format
3.3 Measure of educational success

IV. Conclusion

V. Reference

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Ⅰ. Introduction
Traditional Chinese culture, with Confucianism at its core, advocates the
distinction between inferiority and superiority and the orderliness of the young and
the old. The concept of "the dignity of the teacher" is also fully reflected in Chinese
educational thought. The teacher is considered to be the image of preaching, teaching
and solving problems, and becomes the object of authority in the eyes of students. The
basic characteristic of Western culture is individualism, which emphasizes the value
and dignity of the individual, promotes innovation, and encourages unique styles. The
role of education is in bringing out these individual values. Under the influence of two
different cultural backgrounds, there are also significant differences in the ways of
education between China and the West. This paper focuses on analyzing the
similarities and differences between Chinese and Western educational approaches by
comparing the phenomena that exist in Chinese and Western education.

Ⅱ. Similarity
2.1 Forms of education
Both Chinese and Western education exists with two necessary objects, the
teacher and the student. The method of education is that students learn and explore
various knowledge under the guidance of the teacher. In the form of lessons, the
teacher transmits the knowledge he/she has learned to the students and solves any
problems that arise in the process of learning. This is a common feature of both
Chinese and Western approaches to education.

2.2 Purpose of education

In both Chinese and Western approaches to education, education is linked to
national and social development. Education in both China and the West is designed to
produce sufficient talents. Education is not only to improve the quality and value of
individuals, but is also an important means to achieve the progress of society and the
development of the country. In Chinese elementary school textbooks, students are

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taught to "study for the rise of China"1. Albert Einstein also said, "The goal of school
should be to produce individuals who act and think independently, but who see the
service of society and the development of the nation as the highest goal of life."
Therefore, during the teaching process, teachers will closely integrate the textbook
knowledge with the national situation, so as to arouse the same enthusiasm for
learning and strengthen the students' passion to serve the country through their
studies.

2.3 Education Content

Other common features of the Chinese and Western approaches to education
include a focus on multidisciplinary and multifaceted teaching. Education is people-
oriented and focuses on the multifaceted development of students. In the process of
education, we focus on taking the best and removing the worst, and educate in a
selective way. In moral education, it focuses on cultivating students' correct outlook
on life and values, cultivating students with good moral qualities and cultivating them
to form correct methods of thinking. In intellectual education, students are given
systematic scientific and cultural knowledge and skills to develop their intelligence
and learning ability. In physical education, it focuses on the cultivation of students'
healthy knowledge and skills, the development of their physical strength, the
enhancement of their physique, and the cultivation of their willpower. In aesthetic
education, it is an education to cultivate students' aesthetic beauty, develop their
ability to appreciate beauty and create beauty, and cultivate their noble sentiment and
civilization. In labor education, it focuses on cultivating students to carry out the
concept of labor and labor skills.

III. Difference
3.1 The purpose of education.

1
《为中华之崛起而读书》

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 The word “cramming education” which vividly describes the condition of
Chinese education at that time. From its name, we can know what it reflects. Teachers
crammed knowledge to students, while students just listened to it. What they learned
was only the knowledge on textbooks and the exact answer of questions. Chinese
education mostly aims at examinations, emphasizing memorization and
memorization, and practicing repeatedly only within the scope of examinations to
achieve familiarity. Another purpose is to imitate and learn knowledge that has been
established. Therefore, students are able to get high marks by being able to completely
retell what the teacher has taught them in class. Students' own individual creativity is
not encouraged, at least in the exam.
Western education, on the other hand, aims to stimulate the learning potential of
the individual, and the teachers' efforts in education methods are directed at how to
make the students' brains full of questions and consciously develop their courage and
ability to ask questions. They do not let students memorize a lot of formulas and
theorems, but show them how to think about problems and how to find answers to
them.

3.2 Classroom format.

British and American schools pay more attention to student-centered classroom
discussions and encourage "group talk", while Chinese schools are more accustomed
to "one-word talk".
American teachers focus on stimulating students' enthusiasm for discussion,
encouraging students to ask more questions and think more, and the grades of some
courses are based on students' performance in class discussions. Even in "talk" based
classes, American teachers will leave a little time for students to ask questions before
class ends. American education focuses on stimulating students' desire and ability to
solve problems and to develop their creative abilities.
The traditional Chinese way of teaching is that the teacher stands firmly at the
podium, explaining the knowledge point by point, and the class is orderly, without

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saying anything irrelevant to the text. Unlike American teachers, who focus on the
"performance" of students in the classroom, teachers pay attention to inspiring
students, emphasizing the vividness of classroom lectures, and advocating students to
actively ask questions and participate in discussions. For example, in a Chinese
classroom, an American professor was trying to provoke Chinese graduate students
into discussions, but all of them were silent except for a few bold "monologues". So
the professor was surprised, "You come around to me after class and ask a question,
so you have no problem expressing yourselves in English, but why don't you express
your opinions and ask your questions in class?" Most Chinese students said they
themselves were used to listening quietly to the teacher in class and did not like to
express their opinions, and were worried about being ridiculed for their wrong
answers.

3.3 Measure of educational success.

China's measure of educational success is that it is successful to educate students
who have problems to the point where they can master the textbook and get into a
prestigious school.
In the United States, success is measured by the amount of confusion and new
ideas that appear in the minds of students who had no problems.
For example, in a successful public class, during the fluent teaching of a Chinese
teacher, the students' fluently answered every question asked by the teacher. The
Chinese leaders and teachers on the sidelines thought it was a very successful and
standardized class. However, the foreign counterparts rated the class as average. They
found it strange that the students answered the questions well and were so close to the
answers that it looked like they already knew them, so why bother with the class?
This question froze the Chinese teachers in their tracks.

IV. Conclusion

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 On the whole, Chinese school teaching is very serious and formal in its outward
form, with too much pursuit of purpose, planning, and uniformity. According to the
orthodox requirements, the external norms of classroom teaching are very strict, the
students' sitting posture, the posture of raising their hands, and the teachers' need to
ensure that the teaching is in order. There is a strong emphasis on the results of
teaching.
In contrast, the teaching atmosphere in Western schools is less formalistic.
Students do not have to sit upright with their hands behind their backs in class, but
they feel more relaxed and at ease in this external atmosphere, and they dare to think,
speak, ask and do. In Western countries, teaching in schools is more about the process
of teaching.

V. Reference
[1] Yuqing He, Jiaoyang Nie Journal of Advances in Education Research[J] Volume 4,
Issue 3. 2019.
[2]谢华.论中西方教育差异与高校英语教学改革 [J]. 淮南职业技术学院学报
2019,19(01),51-52
[3]李诗琪.浅析中西教育差异[J]. 才智 2016,(28)
[4]王亚昌.浅析中外教育存在的差异[J]. 法制与社会 2015,(34)
[5]潘家宇、邹荣.中西教育对比:浅析中国教育的不足[J]. 科技信息 2006,(S4)

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