What are Chinese immigrant parents' concerns with their children's education?

George Zhou

doi:10.32920/ryerson.14638872

Abstract

This study investigated teachers’ experiences of communicating with Chinese immigrant parents. Twenty teachers were recruited for interviews from local schools that had a large enrollment of Chinese immigrant students. Participating teachers reported that Chinese immigrant parents often expect high marks from their children and want to know their child’s ranking in the class. These parents also place pressure on children to achieve parentally-established goals. Participating teachers view a well-rounded education as the purpose of schooling, rather than high marks. They were frustrated by parents’ concern over children’s class ranking, and the parental focus on children’s perceived weaknesses. Teachers also reported that Chinese parents should ease the pressure they place on children, suggesting that parents should encourage children to participate in extra-curricular activities. They also suggested that Chinese parents should be more sensitive to their children’s preferences. Key words: Chinese immigrant parents, teacher-parent communication, culture, parental involvement

Highlights

This study investigated teachers’ impressions of Chinese immigrant parents’ concerns with their children’s education
All of the teacher participants conveyed that they opened the door to Chinese immigrant parents and were willing to communicate with them
Interviews demonstrated a strong perception among participating teachers that Chinese immigrant parents emphasize academics

Summary

Introduction

Children education is by no means a sole task of teachers and schools. Effective home and school communication is crucial for creating shared goals between parents and teachers, avoiding misunderstanding, and guiding parents’ involvement in activities at home. Open communication between the meso-level links must be secured if children are to grow and learn (Epstein, 2001). Well-structured home-school communication “can impart information to help parents become more knowledgeable about children’s learning activities, aware of their positive qualities and progress, and informed about how they, as parents, might help their child learn” (Ames et al, 1993, p.3). Epstein (1991) argues that healthy home and school communication should be frequent, bidirectional, and ongoing, establishing meaningful connections between teachers and parents. Current research suggests that home-school communication happens infrequently in today’s education settings, and the quality of that communication is unsatisfactory

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