A Comparison of Teacher-Student Relations under Sino-American Cultural Differences ()
1. Introduction
China is a country with a long history and an ancient civilization. It has created cultural achievements attracting worldwide attention for 5000 years. However, the history of the United States is very short, with only a history of more than 200 years. The United States is a country composed of immigrants, and the diversity of immigrants constitutes the diversity of the American nation. The diversity of society constitutes the diversity of American culture. The different cultural backgrounds of China and the United States also make great differences in education between the two countries. These differences permeate all aspects of education [1] . The cultural differences make the two countries have their own characteristics and advantages in the explicit system and implicit connotation of education. This paper tries to explain the differences between Chinese and American education from the perspective of culture.
2. The Influence of Cultural Differences on Teacher-Student Relationship
Education is a cultural phenomenon. Different education reflects different social and cultural connotations [2] . The differences between social environments and cultural traditions lead to educational differences in different countries. China’s traditional culture is centered on Confucianism, which, as the basic value system of social politics, has firmly occupied the dominant position in the ideological field for thousands of years, and has had a profound impact on China’s educational system and teaching methods; Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, took “harmony” as the core of humanistic spirit. In Chinese history, Confucianism sought “harmony” from the separation of nature, Buddhism sought “harmony” from karma, and famous scholars sought “harmony” from separation and contract. Therefore, since its birth, the thought of “harmony”, as a generalization of universal phenomena, has always run through all schools in the history of Chinese cultural development, and thus become the essence of Chinese culture. The “harmony” of Chinese culture is peace, reconciliation, harmony, harmony, harmony, beauty and auspiciousness. “Harmony is precious” is an important essence of Chinese philosophy [3] . “Harmony” culture runs through all components of Chinese culture. The United States is a multi-ethnic country of immigrants, with people from almost all countries and regions in the world, thus forming a distinct cultural tradition. In the process of cultural integration, they retained the characteristics of their respective cultures, forming the diversity of American society and culture. Chinese culture attaches importance to harmony and unity, while western culture attaches importance to separation and confrontation. In terms of teacher-student relationship, the “dignity of teachers” under the influence of Chinese traditional culture is quite different from the free and democratic teacher-student relationship under the multicultural background of the United States.
2.1. The Dignity of Teachers under the Influence of Chinese Traditional Culture
China’s traditional culture has always had the tradition of respecting teachers and respecting morality, and the dignity of teachers has always been the basic rule followed by the academic community [4] . Since the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the feudal society of China has always respected Confucianism, advocated modesty and prudence, advocated the way of the mean and the way of harmony, and tabooed the way of showing sharp edges. In other words, everything should follow certain rules, and be restricted by the concept of hierarchy. There is a saying that “one day as a teacher, one day as a father”. The younger generation should take the initiative to greet the elders when they see them, and the students should respect their teachers. Xunzi compared the relationship between teachers and students with the relationship between monarch and minister, and believed that teachers should have supreme authority as monarch, and students should obey teachers unconditionally. Therefore, the leading and authoritative position of teachers in education and teaching has been established. This position enables teachers to master the atmosphere of the classroom and control the direction of learning. The students can only listen to the teacher with respect. In this way, the relationship between teachers and students is not that of equal discussants, but that of speakers and listeners.
2.2. Free and Democratic Teacher-Student Relationship in the Multicultural Background of the United States
The United States became independent in the 18th century. It was a multi-ethnic and multicultural immigration country. Its earliest immigrants were mainly Europeans. They inherited the Protestant ideas in Christianity. Its historical background led to its social and cultural diversity. Reflected in school education, it is inevitable to establish a democratic and equal relationship in classroom teaching. There is no excessive etiquette between generations. Children call their parents by their first names and students call their teachers by their first names. Children can argue with their parents or put forward their own personal opinions. This naturally laid the foundation for equal classroom discussion between teachers and students.
3. The Influence of Different Teacher-Student Relationship on Classroom Teaching
Different cultural backgrounds lead to different teacher-student relations, which are manifested in different ways in classroom teaching, that is, the difference between teacher-centered teaching method and student-centered discussion method.
3.1. Teacher-Centered English Classroom Teaching in China
A typical Chinese classroom is one where the teacher talks, the students take notes and ask few questions [5] . If there is a problem, hands must be raised, after teacher’s permission, he stands up to speak, the other students keep quiet. Chinese teachers teach in strict accordance with textbooks, they prepare lessons together, take part in teaching and research group activities, and keep curriculum schedule consistently. In the Chinese classroom, the teacher is explaining almost all, the students should pay attention, keep quiet. The teacher repeatedly explains the topic so that the students can pass the exam smoothly. Chinese students are learning in full accordance with the teaching plan, students lack initiative, they do not have sufficient independent thinking time. China’s one-word classroom teaching can not but be said to be a reflection of the culture of harmony, it is caused by the dignity of teachers.
3.2. Student-Centered Classroom Discussion in the United States
Classroom teaching in the United States is group discussion. Teachers ask questions, students can look up information, debate, learn by students independently, full of personality. Teachers have free choice, being independent of the entire classroom teaching, they do not have to consider the practice of other schools or teachers. American teachers pay great attention to students’ interests, personality and creativity. They guide students in the process of overcoming obstacles to show their own observation, imagination and thinking. They are also good at connecting with real life and stimulating students’ thirst for knowledge. American classrooms are student-centered and emphasize the importance of communication. It is in line with the traditional European educational thoughts. It was the earliest Western understanding of education that led to the development of children’s inherent abilities, and this understanding led them to pay more attention to the guiding role of education in the implementation of education. In the history of Western education, many educationists advocate adapting to the natural development of human beings when they talk about education. From Aristotle of the Ancient Greeks to Dewey in the 20th century, the guiding role of education was maximized.
4. A Comparison of the Teaching Effects Due to Different Teacher-Student Relations and Classroom Teaching
Table 1 compares Chinese and American classrooms from four aspects. First, the American classroom is student-centered, emphasizing the importance of communication, and equal classroom discussion between teachers and students is conducive to cultivating students’ independence and autonomy [6] ; The one-talk Hall under the concept of teacher’s dignity makes students dependent and lazy. Chinese students are the best at solving problems, but they lack the ability to solve practical problems independently. Second, Chinese students are passive in class, while Western students are active [5] . Chinese students are used to waiting for the teacher to point out the problem and announce the answer, while American teachers think that the problem should be put forward by the students, and come to a conclusion after their own thinking. Chinese students tend to think long and hard before asking questions and giving answers, while American students’ questions are mostly improvised and divergent. Third, because Chinese students are usually more modest and introverted, respect for teachers, so their inner world is not easy to be perceived by teachers. The equal relationship between teachers and students in the United States stimulates students’ extroversion. Teachers can easily grasp teaching methods in class, but sometimes classroom order becomes a difficult thing for teachers to grasp. Fourth, due to the influence of the dignity of the teaching profession, Chinese students follow the rules and study hard in class. Students respect the teachers and cooperate with them in teaching. However, they often believe in the authority and conclusions of the teachers, American students have a distinct personality, dare to challenge teachers, with a strong creative spirit and rich imagination, while teachers readily accept the challenges of students, encourage the development of students’ personality, such a democratic and equal relationship between teachers and students is conducive to the cultivation of independent, innovative spirit of talent.
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Table 1. Comparison of Chinese and American classrooms.
5. Conclusions
Based on the above comparison of teaching effects between Chinese and American cultures, the author believes that we should change the traditional Chinese concept of the dignity of teachers, establish a more democratic and more equal relationship between teachers and students, and carry forward the spirit of Chinese students’ assiduous study, stimulate imagination, cultivate creative spirit, and form a more ideal classroom teaching model, to combine the systematic teaching of Chinese teachers with the individualized teaching of American teachers, and combine the traditional “Teaching and dispelling” of Chinese teachers with the guiding teaching of American teachers. We should not only pay attention to the systematic knowledge imparting but also emphasize the students’ autonomous learning ability, arrange abundant classroom activities, arouse the students’ learning enthusiasm, let the students participate in the activities, and encourage the students to be good at asking questions and have the courage to speak. If we are diligent to give play to their independence and creativity, tap their critical spirit and divergent thinking, we can form a more perfect way of education and teaching.
In the process of accelerating globalization today, the kind of talents we need is to have an independent personality. Those teachers who only teach textbook knowledge can not meet the needs of teaching. It is important to teach students how to acquire knowledge and improve their ability to analyze, understand and solve problems. Therefore, education and teaching in China need to be reformed, but we can not blindly copy the American classroom teaching model without considering different social and cultural backgrounds. We should learn from the American teacher-student relationship and the advantages of classroom teaching, according to the actual situation of our country, to establish the education and teaching mode which is suitable for the social and cultural background of our country.