Abstract:This thesis tries to explore the cultural differences of family education between China and America through two movies, a Chinese movie and an American movie. The Chinese movie, Sunflower, chiefly tells us about a story of a Chinese family and reflects Chinese people’s educational methods and values. The American movie, Little Miss Sunshine, chiefly tells us a story about an American family, and reflects a typical mode of American family education and American people's life style. The differences of family members' relationships between these two countries can be found in these two movies. This thesis tries to find out the cultural differences of family education between China and America and analyses two different perceptions on family education, namely the Chinese one, “Holding high hopes for children” and the American one, “expecting children to grow up naturally”. In addition, this thesis makes a study on the influences of cultural differences on family education between these two countries and gives some suggestive measures to improve family education. 

Key words: Sunflower; Little Miss Sunshine; family education; educational perception; cultural differences

Table of Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-2

2.1 Previous studies on cultural differences among China and Western countries-2

2.2 Previous studies on family education among China and Western countries-2

2.3 An overview of the two movies Sunflower and Little Miss Sunshine-3

3. Cultural Differences of Family Education between China and America from Sunflower and Little Miss Sunshine-4

3.1 Different relationships among family members between China and America-4

3.1.1 Being unequal and equal-5

3.1.2 Being non-negotiable and negotiable -5

3.2 Different modes of family education between China and America-6

3.2.1 Different substances of family education between China and America-6

3.2.2 Different objectives of family education between China and America-6

3.2.3 Different methods of family education between China and America-7

3.3 Different values of Chinese people and American people-7

3.3.1 Different educational perceptions: "Holding high hopes for children" and "expecting children to grow up naturally"-7

3.3.2 Collectivism and individualism-8

4. The Influences of the Two Modes of Family Education on Future Development of Chinese and American Educational Systems-9

4.1 The influence of Chinese mode of family education on future development of Chinese educational system-9

4.2 The influence of American mode of family education on future development of American educational system-9

4.3 Suggestive improvements on family education-10

4.3.1 National level-10

4.3.2 Individual level-11

5. Conclusion-12

References-13

Acknowledgements-14