Academic achievement of children in China: The 2002 Fulbright experience

Abstract

The 2002 Fulbright team, led by Zheng Zhou of St. John's University, consisted of 12 professionals in the fields of education, counseling psychology, and school psychology. Spending one month visiting elementary schools, universities, governmental bodies, hospitals, and private schools throughout China, the Fulbright team had an opportunity to observe educational systems and mental health services to children in multiple sites (Beijing, Kunming, Shanghai, and Suzhou). This article outlines the educational system currently utilized in China and explores the cultural factors and key variables that impact Asian children.

Relations of Parenting and Temperament to Chinese Children’s Experience of Negative Life Events, Coping Efficacy, and Externalizing Problems

“…Consistent with Chinese cultural values regarding the expression of anger/frustration (Markus & Kitayama, 1991) and encouragement of emotional and behavioral control/regulation in Chinese schools (Phelps, 2005), high temperamental susceptibility to anger showed a persistent positive relation to externalizing. The results are similar to those with Euro-American samples (e.g., Eisenberg et al, 2001;Eisenberg, Shepard, Fabes, Murphy, & Guthrie, 1998;Zahn-Waxler, Cole, Richardson, & Friedman, 1994) and extended the cross-sectional findings on Chinese children (Eisenberg et al, 2007;Zhou et al, 2004).…”

“…Second, because the open display of self-focused emotions such as anger/frustration is likely to impair interpersonal harmony (Markus & Kitayama, 1991), Chinese children with high anger/frustration may be at greater risk for maladjustment than those with low anger. Third, due to the emphasis on teachers' imparting information to students in typical Chinese classroom education, attributes such as attentiveness and self-regulation are positively reinforced (Phelps, 2005). Indeed, in two cross-sectional samples (including the first wave of the present study), effortful control was negatively related to, and anger/frustration was positively related to, Chinese children's externalizing problems and low social competence (Eisenberg et al, 2007;Zhou et al, 2004).…”

“…With the rapid rise in social competition for employment opportunities in major cities in China as a result of the economic reform (Chen et al, 2005), college education has become increasingly important for a successful career. Chinese children, from an early age, recognize the importance of academic performance and excellence in school-related activities and are under significant pressure to excel in academic tasks and school activities (Phelps, 2005). Thus, it is not surprising that children in this sample endorsed more schoolrelated negative events than other negative events.…”

You Had to Work Hard 'Cause You Didn't Know Whether You Were Going to Wear Shoes or Straw Sandals!

“…Traditionally, Chinese people have always placed a high value on education (Bai, 2006;Cheng, 1996;Lee, 2000;Phelps, 2005;Ross, 1993;Schoenhals, 1993;Turner & Acker, 2002;Yang, F. 2002). For centuries, Chinese intellectuals sought social promotion by taking extremely competitive imperial exams (e.g., Elman, 2000;Lee, 2000).…”

“…However, the traditional idea of collectivist and harmonious culture is under severe attack because of the limited educational resources for a large population and the strong cultural belief that education shapes one's place on the social and economic ladders (Cheng, 1996;Dooley, 2001;Phelps, 2005;Ross, 1993;Schoenhals, 1993;Turner & Acker, 2002;Yang, 2002). As a result, in spite of Chinese culture's portrayal as Downloaded by [University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries] at 11:14 22 December 2014 GAO collectivist in the published research literature, one does not have to go too far to discover that competition in the educational context on the Chinese mainland is epidemic, peer relationships can often be tense, and Chinese students have to pay a high emotional cost for the academic competition (Hesketh, Ding, & Jenkins, 2002;Phelps, 2005;Turner & Acker, 2002). If anything, competition is even more intense among English language learners.…”