From "kyoiku mama" to "taiga mother" : stereotypes of education practice in Japan and China and its effect on New Zealand.

Abstract

A few decades ago when the Western world was caught off-guard by the unanticipated extent of the Japanese economic miracle, academics and media in and outside of Japan fiercely debated the benefits and pitfalls of the Japanese education system. Media reports about the high levels of achievement - especially in maths and science – attained by Japanese high school students in international exams at the time, strongly contributed to the idea that the secret of Japan’s economic success must be connected with its education system. Eventually the negative images of examination hell, kyôiku mama (mothers obsessed with education of their children) and gakureki shakai (society based on academic credentials) overshadowed Japanese education success and became enduring points of criticism.

In a new millennium, it is Chinese economic growth that has captured the world’s imagination, even though the Chinese education system remains far less enigmatic and popular than Japan’s was in recent decades. The heated media debate that followed the publication in 2011 of “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” written by Amy Chuo, a daughter of Chinese immigrants to America who lived all her life in the US, further dramatized the existing divide in the public imagination between Chinese, or broadly speaking “Asian”, and Western (or Anglo-Saxon) education practice.

In this presentation I contrast some generalisations about education practice in Japan, and in China, with New Zealand, by recognising the specific cultural traditions and values attached to education practice in these countries. I will also use some specific case studies to discuss the effects of these different education practices on New Zealand.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough, Chinese School (YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYGxAwRUpaI