Preschool in 3 Cultures

Last night I read the article, "Preschool in Three cultures" by Tobin. It is a study done in the 80’s about the difference in preschools in Japan, China and the United States. It was really interesting because I work at a preschool center back in Okemos. The section I read was concentrated on what teacher’s thought the most important aspects of language in the classroom were and the results varied drastically between the three different countries. In China the emphasis in language development is on enunciation, dictation, memorization and self confidence. In Japan the language development is divided into formal and informal systems of discourse and is seen as less of a tool for self expression. However, in America language is a tool for individuality, autonomy, problem solving, friendship and cognitive development. The importance of expressing themselves verbally was chosen as a top choice for an important aspect of language by 38% of American teachers, 27% of Japanese teachers and only 5% of Chinese teachers. The difference between these percentages is astonishing and most of the other choices also had very different percentages between the 3 different countries. I find this study interesting because it is something extremely easy to tape and document, but it can tell you an unlimited number of cultural aspects in school systems and home life. I think this study should be duplicated to see the difference between the school systems culture in the 80’s and the culture in these countries today.