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6 Differences Between Teaching Chinese Kids and American Kids

1. Strive for perfection
Chinese kids receive a lot of pressure from their parents and teachers to focus on perfectionism. When they receive a grade of 98%, instead of receiving praise on how well they did, their parents will often focus on the 2% that the child failed to answer correctly. Americans tend to focus less on scores. The American grading systems convey a more general message on how to judge academic progress. Instead of putting a number, they would put a star, a smiling face or for older kids, an “S” or “S+”.


2. Self-esteem
The Confucian mindset teaches Chinese kids to work hard, persevere and respect authority. These are the keys to succeeding in life, with feeling good about yourself given less of a priority. Over 40 years ago, it was introduced to Americans that a young learner’s self-esteem plays a significant role in developing their social and psychological skills. Less pressure is exerted on achieving 100% in every test and success is linked to a wider range of things beyond just test scores.


3. Respect for Teachers
According to an international study reported on by the BBC based on surveys of 1,000 adults from different countries, China has the highest level of public respect. The cultural difference in how the teaching role is perceived plays an important part on how the students behave inside the class and how they value education. In China, parents are more likely to take the side of the teachers instead of going against them, while in America, teachers are not seen by both parents and students as the last word in authority. These differences have implications for classroom management techniques required in the Chinese and American classrooms.


4. Level of dependence
Chinese parents and teachers are not generally inclined to develop their children to be as independent as their American counterparts. Instead of training the students to think and find the answers on their own, in the Chinese education system, the answers are spoon-fed to them. They focus a lot on rote-learning and a lot of repetition. American kids are generally better at thinking on their own. American schools put strong emphasis on critical thinking and questioning things while Chinese kids are not expected to learn this in school; they have to learn this on their own.


5. Creativity
Chinese kids do a lot more homework than American kids. After their regular school, most of them still have to go to after school programs which give them less opportunity to do extracurricular activities and sports compared to American kids. As a result, it gives them less time to imagine, think, create and play. American kids have a lot of time to do other things outside school which gives them a wider perspective on life and allows them to explore other things on their own.


6. Personal happiness
- This is where Chinese kids are far behind American kids. Chinese people believe that education can push their economic status forward and can fuel social mobility. Chinese kids focus too much on education as they receive a lot of pressure from their parents, teachers and even their peers, while their personal happiness is not considered nearly as important. Studies have shown that the most common emotional health concern for Chinese kids is stress especially from academic pressure.
- American kids are more likely to have leisure activities, do sports and devote time to doing things they enjoy which releases them from the pressures of school and allows them to experience a more varied and happy life outside of school.

- The influence of culture, society and family plays a strong part on the differences between American kids and Chinese kids inside the classroom. There are a lot of other factors that could affect a student’s behavior inside the classroom like socio-economic status, parental background and a lot more. It is best if the teacher spends time to find out more about each students’ individual needs, learning styles and personality and teaches to them as best as they can.