The American Family and it’s Changing Face

•         Studies have identified some American family values

•         7 are traditional:

-         Respecting one’s parents

-         Being responsible for one’s actions

-         Having faith in God

-         Respecting authority

-         Remaining married to the same person for life

-         Leaving the world in better shape

•         5 are more modern values

-          Giving emotional support to other members of the family

-         Respecting people for themselves

-         Developing greater skill in communicating one’s feelings

-         Respecting one’s children

-         Living up to one’s potential as an individual

•         How are typical American values different form Vietnamese family values?  How have Vietnamese family values changed in the last 50 years?

Family Structures

•         Americans usually into immediate family and extended family

•         Immediate – husband, wife, children

•         Extended – parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, cousins

•         Traditional American family = nuclear family (husband, wife, and children living together in house/apartment

•         Grandparents rarely live in the same home with married sons and daughters, and aunts/uncles almost never do – why?? (Am. Ways pg. 98)

•         1950’s – majority of households were classic, traditional family – mom, dad, 2 kids

•         Dad was “breadwinner” (the one who earns the money to support the family)

•         Mom was “homemaker/housewife” (stayed at home, cleaned house, cooked, took care of children)

•         Children lived at home until 18

•         Today – much different – very few families have working father, stay-at-home mom, and children under 18

•         Only 25% of households are families with 2 parents and children (and majority of these have women who work outside the home)

•         Majority of households today – married couples w/o children, single parents w/children, or unrelated people living together (i.e. roommates)

•         25% live alone!

•         Why did the American family shift so much???

          1) 1950s- right after World War II – men returned home, married, and     started families à baby boom

          2) Young people today are marrying and having children later in life; some       also don’t have children at all

          3) People are living longer after their children move out à more people   living alone

          4) High rate of divorce

•         To understand the deeper reason why these things happened, we need to look at some traditional values of the American family

The Emphasis of Individual Freedom

•         To Americans, family = group whose main purpose is to advance the happiness of each individual member à needs of the individual often have priority in the family

•         For many other cultures, the purpose of family is to advance the family as a group (socially or economically) and bring honor (danh giá) to the family name

•         Americans don’t do this – party because America is not an aristocratic society (thuộc về quí tộc) – no royalty or family names that must be upheld(nổi lên, nổi dậy, dâng lên)

•         Also less emphasis on family as economic unit because few families in America have self-supporting family farms or businesses (i.e. versus farming family in Africa- farm run by family, need everyone to work for success of family)

•         In family we see the typical American desire for freedom from outside control – don’t like being told what to do by other family members – want to make independent decisions

•         *What is best for the individual is usually MORE IMPORTANT than what is best for the family*

Marriage and Divorce

•         Marriages are not “arranged” in America

•         Young people find spouses on their own WITHOUT any help from their parents

•         Many parents don’t know about wedding plans until the couple decides to get married, and parents may hate the person their son or daughter is going to marry

•         People believe that you can decide for yourself who will make you happy

•         Marriage is measured by how happy you are – happiness mostly based on companionship (tình bạn)

•         Values like economic support and opportunity to have children are seen as less important

•         So if you’re not happy – get a divorce (Am. Ways pg. 90)

•         Fairly easy – most states have “no-fault” divorce – couples states that they cannot live happily together, not because its someone’s fault (tật xấu), but because they have irreconcilable differences (differences that CANNOT be solved or made better)

•         Divorce rate rose rapidly from 1960s to 1980s

•         Now 50% of marriages end in divorce

•         Most adults believe that unhappy couples should NOT stay together just because they have children (big attitude change since the 1950s)

•         Many people think children are better off living with one parent than two who are constantly arguing

•         Divorce is so common– socially acceptable (chấp nhânh được)

•         However, psychologists still wonder how much divorce affects children

•         Studies show that some children go on to do well, while others may suffer emotional stress

The Role of the Child

•         The American influence on the individual has had an effect on children in another way

•         Having children is not the definite plan for all couples – raising a child is very expensive and takes a lot of energy – many people decide against having children

•         When couples do have children, they’re preparing them from the beginning to be independent, self-reliant individuals

•         Parents also want their children to be “well-rounded,” so they focus less on academic achievements and more on extra-curricular activities

•         Related to this, people are very concerned with the psychological (tâm lý) needs of children

•         After World War II, the number of child psychologists and counselors increased enormously, in additional to several books on how to raise your children correctly

•         As time went on, many critics thought Americans were focusing on the child’s needs too much à now many people focus on teaching children about responsibility and being a good member of society and give them household chores to do

•         Also, parents often “need some time away from the children” to develop their own interests and maintain their individuality and identity outside of parenthood – similar to VN?

Equality in the Family

•         In addition to individual freedom, there’s a strong belief on equality in the family

•         In aristocratic societies, the father was the head of the household and children feared him – relationship was very formal, must obey all orders

•         In the US, father and children can be more informal, closer, and less fear

•         Some Americans worry that there’s too much equality- that children are the ones controlling parents – many people see decline in respect for parents, think children have too much freedom, rebellious (bất trị) – “child-centered household” (pg. 93)

•         Even with bad behavior, punishment is rarely physical – parents usually give “time out(thời gian hội ý, kiểm điểm)” or “positive redirection” (pg. 96)

•         Children have quite a bit of personal freedom- many parents allow this because they want to teach their children to be independent and self-reliant

•         American children typically leave the house when they turn 18 – “leave the nest”– go to college, get a job, support themselves

•         If children still live at home in their mid-twenties, it’s considered very odd, even unacceptable (không thể chấp nhận được)

•         However, due to the recent economic crisis, many children are now moving back in with parents and relatives moving in with extended family members

Four Stages of Marriage Relationships

•         The idea of equality has also affected marriage relationships, especially for women

•         Women have seen increasing equality in the late 150 years – Scanzoni study – four stages of marriage development

Stage I: Wife as Servant to Husband

•         19th century – wives completely obedient, wife-beating (đánh đập) legal, wife had no power in family matters, not allowed to vote

Stage II: Husband-head, Wife-Helper

•         Late 19th/early 20th centuries – opportunities for women to work outside the home increased, made family decisions with husband, freer to disagree with husband

•         Still full-time helper and had to ultimately follow man’s orders

•         Still find this in some marriages

Stage III: Husband-Senior Partner, Wife-Junior Partner

•         20th century- more and more wives working outside the home à wife’s income becomes important to maintaining family’s standard of living à greater power within the family

•         Still not an equal partner – husband still provides more money, jobs seen as higher priority

•         Still many marriages like this, but more and more are moving to Stage IV

Stage IV: Husband-Wife Equal Partners

•         Beginning in late 1960s – women expressed strong dissatisfaction (sự bất mãn) with unequal marriage arrangements

•         Late 1970s- less than 50% believed they should put husbands and children before their own careers

•         2000s- most women believed they should be equal partners (both should do housework and child raising)

•         Wife has full-time job that has equal or greater importance than the husband’s – household duties, money, decisions shared equally by both

•         However, in reality, most women still earn less money than men, and many women still do most of the housework

•         This has created resentment (oán giận, sự bực tức) among many American women –

      feel like two full-time jobs- not possible to “have it all” as they

      were told in the 1980s

The Role of the Family in Society

•         There is a price that comes from placing so much emphasis on the needs of individuals

•         American families may be less stable than some other cultures – high rate of divorce

•         While so many people are willing to get divorced and create instability, many people still think family is one of the best lifestyles

What different types of family are there?

•         Many people remarry and create blended families- children from both parents separately

•         Single parents

•         Gay and lesbian parents

What is a family?

•         Definition has become much broader – now defined as “people who live together and love each other”

•         Anyone can be a family!

•         Many Americans feel this has weakened the institution of family and that American family values are being lost because of single parents and gay parents

•         Still hotly debated in the US (i.e. gay marriage and gay adoption) – “Modern Family”

 Education in America

Basics of the American School System

•         The American school system is often seen as an Educational Ladder – people rise from elementary to primary …… to college and beyond

•         In America, education is compulsory – every child HAS TO go to school – follows the ideal of equality for all people – p. 104 – “universal literacy”

•         The compulsory age is from 5-8 to 14-18 (it varies with each state)

•         Most children start school at the age of 5 in kindergarten

•         Many children now also attend preschool at the age of 3 or 4!

•         5-6 years of elementary school

•         2-3 years of middle school

•         4 years of high school

•         Can be divided differently (depends on state)

•         Pg. 107 – parental involvement, PTA, parent-teach conferences

•         After high school – most go to college – 2 types

1)    2-year Colleges – get associate’s degree (usually local “community colleges” that provide technical or vocational degrees (i.e. nursing, mechanics, computers))

2)    4-year University – get bachelor’s degree (what most people mean when they say “college degree;” more professional than associate’s degree)

•         Further studies – master’s or PhD (lawyer, doctor, professor, scientist, etc)

Climbing the Ladder

•         Education ladder reflects American vales(lời từ biệt, rãnh nước, thung lũng) – working your way to the top, to success

•         There is one public education system that is open to everyone à everyone should have an equal opportunity

•         The abilities of each individual (not family status or wealth) should determine how high on the ladder they go – so everyone is given an equal chance at the beginning

•         Pg. 104- “academic rigor tends to come later than in most other systems”

Public vs. Private

•         There are 2 types of schools:

1)    Public

       - the biggest kind (about 90% attend)

       - funded by the government (tax payer money) -- free for all through high school

       -Problem: majority of funding comes from local taxes à school districts with                     wealthy families have more money to spend on education à better          teachers and much nicer schools (new building, computer equipment, new          books, etc.)

          - pg. 105- “highly decentralized” education system - the standards and     curriculum of each state and       district are all different – controlled by Board     of Education

          - So quality of public education varies widely in the US – not good!

2) Private

       - 10% of students go – have to pay tuition (usually very expensive)

       - often religious schools (parents want children to learn religion- illegal in public school)

       - also some elitist schools that serve mostly upper-class children – only very rich parents can afford the tuition fees

       - These elitist schools CONFLICT with American ideal of equality or opportunity – give an extra advantage to the rich – have so much money that they have the best teachers, best equipment, best everything!

Educating the Individual

•         American schools put more focus on developing critical-thinking than memorizing facts – pg. 107 – “analysis and synthesis”- productive vs. receptive learning (ex. poem)

•         Goal: teach children how to think for themselves, reach maximum individual potential, express their own opinions

•         Development of social and interpersonal skills just as important as intellectual skills – a “well-rounded” person

•         To help develop, school have wide array of Extracurricular Activities

–       Chess club, volunteer organization, math club, cultural club, student government, charity, art, music, drama, debate, photography, foreign languages

–       Competitive sports also very important – many can get scholarship if they play a sport well (but too emphasized in your book; actually better to have more intellectual and/or leadership activities rather than sports)

•         Extracurricular activities are EXTREMELY important for getting accepted to a university – colleges want to see a “well-rounded” student

•         Students take these activities very seriously, and often spend as much time doing these activities as they do studying

      Attending an American University

•         Once you get to University, you have to pay tuition to attend -- very expensive and getting more expensive

•         2009- average cost was $13,000 for public and $25,000 for private (that’s just average- many good schools are $35,000 - $40,000!!!)

•         Same division between private and public – public is cheaper, private expensive

•         There are scholarships for tuition available, but when you + books, housing, food, etc. à most can’t afford it à wealthy students have more options

•         Despite this, more and more Americans want a college education every year

•         Now, many are choosing 2-year community colleges (as little as $2,000/year)

•         Some people are also doing 2 years at a community college then transferring to a University for the other 2 years in order to save money

•         Currently more than 20.5 million in college now; about 4,500 different colleges and universities

The Monetary Value of Education

•         Typical American definition of success = making a lot of money and having high standard of living

•         So, most Americans value education for its monetary value  -- believe that more school = more money

•         Monetary value of post-graduate degrees is highest (i.e. doctor, lawyer, scientist)

•         Having a college degree is more important than ever before in America – a lot of jobs that you didn’t need a degree for in the past, now you do (new technologies à need to have more skills to do the job right)

•         Because higher education is important, many people work and go to school at the same time (as you know, most people can’t afford to go to school and not make any money!)

•         Distance learning – using the internet for materials and lectures

•         Online learning is becoming more and more common

•         However, many people think an online degree is not

       as good as the real thing (no one to really talk to,

       don’t learn information as well, etc.) – not a

       guaranteed solution for success

Racial Equality and Education

•         We learned how public and private school don’t always follow the American ideal of equality, but the biggest way this happens is with African American education

•         It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the majority of schools were integrated!

•         Still, many schools reflect the races that lived there (i.e. poor African Americans had terrible public schools while rich whites had great ones)

•         Some districts have developed “magnet(nam châm)” schools in black neighborhoods – have special programs that focus on arts, science and technology, foreign languages

•         However, trend of “resegregation” of school is increasing – fastest in South and among Latino communities

•         Overall, blacks and Latinos have much worse education rates than whites (College enrollment in 2009- 15 million whites, 3 million blacks, 2.5 million Latino)

Is American education really that good?

•         Recently, the standard, or quality, of US education has fallen

•         American students do not perform as well in math, science, and other subjects as do students from other developed countries

•         Since 1990’s – federal and state government more involved in controlling education standards à has set national goals for education

•         Federal government now requires annual testing in reading and mathematics (at least)

•         However, recent world education study shows that American education is just “average”

•         Reading – average (no improvement since 2000 – 14th place)

•         Math – below-average (25th among developed nations)

•         Science – average (17th place)

•         Countries like South Korea, Finland, Singapore, and China are doing better than the US

•         The big disappointment in all this is that we spend more money per student than any other nation!

•         Is American education falling apart?  Is it failing American children?  We’ll watch Waiting for Superman to give us a better idea of the problems facing the education system today

Issues Facing American Education

•         Race – black students are falling behind, but so are Hispanics and other minority groups

•         Immigration – many immigrants don’t speak fluent English – should the US pay for special bilingual education??

•         How can American ensure that schools in poorer neighborhoods and richer neighborhoods are offering the same quality of education?

•         What should students learn about American history? How should wars, minorities, etc. be treated in textbooks?

•         **Should there be national standards and a national curriculum for all schools?

•         ***How do we make sure teachers are doing a good job and continue to do so?

 Education in America

Basics of the American School System

•         The American school system is often seen as an Educational Ladder – people rise from elementary to primary …… to college and beyond

•         In America, education is compulsory – every child HAS TO go to school – follows the ideal of equality for all people – p. 104 – “universal literacy”

•         The compulsory age is from 5-8 to 14-18 (it varies with each state)

•         Most children start school at the age of 5 in kindergarten

•         Many children now also attend preschool at the age of 3 or 4!

•         5-6 years of elementary school

•         2-3 years of middle school

•         4 years of high school

•         Can be divided differently (depends on state)

•         Pg. 107 – parental involvement, PTA, parent-teach conferences

•         After high school – most go to college – 2 types

1)    2-year Colleges – get associate’s degree (usually local “community colleges” that provide technical or vocational degrees (i.e. nursing, mechanics, computers))

2)    4-year University – get bachelor’s degree (what most people mean when they say “college degree;” more professional than associate’s degree)

•         Further studies – master’s or PhD (lawyer, doctor, professor, scientist, etc)

Climbing the Ladder

•         Education ladder reflects American vales(lời từ biệt, rãnh nước, thung lũng) – working your way to the top, to success

•         There is one public education system that is open to everyone à everyone should have an equal opportunity

•         The abilities of each individual (not family status or wealth) should determine how high on the ladder they go – so everyone is given an equal chance at the beginning

•         Pg. 104- “academic rigor tends to come later than in most other systems”

Public vs. Private

•         There are 2 types of schools:

1)    Public

       - the biggest kind (about 90% attend)

       - funded by the government (tax payer money) -- free for all through high school

       -Problem: majority of funding comes from local taxes à school districts with                     wealthy families have more money to spend on education à better          teachers and much nicer schools (new building, computer equipment, new          books, etc.)

          - pg. 105- “highly decentralized” education system - the standards and     curriculum of each state and       district are all different – controlled by Board     of Education

          - So quality of public education varies widely in the US – not good!

2) Private

       - 10% of students go – have to pay tuition (usually very expensive)

       - often religious schools (parents want children to learn religion- illegal in public school)

       - also some elitist schools that serve mostly upper-class children – only very rich parents can afford the tuition fees

       - These elitist schools CONFLICT with American ideal of equality or opportunity – give an extra advantage to the rich – have so much money that they have the best teachers, best equipment, best everything!

Educating the Individual

•         American schools put more focus on developing critical-thinking than memorizing facts – pg. 107 – “analysis and synthesis”- productive vs. receptive learning (ex. poem)

•         Goal: teach children how to think for themselves, reach maximum individual potential, express their own opinions

•         Development of social and interpersonal skills just as important as intellectual skills – a “well-rounded” person

•         To help develop, school have wide array of Extracurricular Activities

–       Chess club, volunteer organization, math club, cultural club, student government, charity, art, music, drama, debate, photography, foreign languages

–       Competitive sports also very important – many can get scholarship if they play a sport well (but too emphasized in your book; actually better to have more intellectual and/or leadership activities rather than sports)

•         Extracurricular activities are EXTREMELY important for getting accepted to a university – colleges want to see a “well-rounded” student

•         Students take these activities very seriously, and often spend as much time doing these activities as they do studying

      Attending an American University

•         Once you get to University, you have to pay tuition to attend -- very expensive and getting more expensive

•         2009- average cost was $13,000 for public and $25,000 for private (that’s just average- many good schools are $35,000 - $40,000!!!)

•         Same division between private and public – public is cheaper, private expensive

•         There are scholarships for tuition available, but when you + books, housing, food, etc. à most can’t afford it à wealthy students have more options

•         Despite this, more and more Americans want a college education every year

•         Now, many are choosing 2-year community colleges (as little as $2,000/year)

•         Some people are also doing 2 years at a community college then transferring to a University for the other 2 years in order to save money

•         Currently more than 20.5 million in college now; about 4,500 different colleges and universities

The Monetary Value of Education

•         Typical American definition of success = making a lot of money and having high standard of living

•         So, most Americans value education for its monetary value  -- believe that more school = more money

•         Monetary value of post-graduate degrees is highest (i.e. doctor, lawyer, scientist)

•         Having a college degree is more important than ever before in America – a lot of jobs that you didn’t need a degree for in the past, now you do (new technologies à need to have more skills to do the job right)

•         Because higher education is important, many people work and go to school at the same time (as you know, most people can’t afford to go to school and not make any money!)

•         Distance learning – using the internet for materials and lectures

•         Online learning is becoming more and more common

•         However, many people think an online degree is not

       as good as the real thing (no one to really talk to,

       don’t learn information as well, etc.) – not a

       guaranteed solution for success

Racial Equality and Education

•         We learned how public and private school don’t always follow the American ideal of equality, but the biggest way this happens is with African American education

•         It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the majority of schools were integrated!

•         Still, many schools reflect the races that lived there (i.e. poor African Americans had terrible public schools while rich whites had great ones)

•         Some districts have developed “magnet(nam châm)” schools in black neighborhoods – have special programs that focus on arts, science and technology, foreign languages

•         However, trend of “resegregation” of school is increasing – fastest in South and among Latino communities

•         Overall, blacks and Latinos have much worse education rates than whites (College enrollment in 2009- 15 million whites, 3 million blacks, 2.5 million Latino)

Is American education really that good?

•         Recently, the standard, or quality, of US education has fallen

•         American students do not perform as well in math, science, and other subjects as do students from other developed countries

•         Since 1990’s – federal and state government more involved in controlling education standards à has set national goals for education

•         Federal government now requires annual testing in reading and mathematics (at least)

•         However, recent world education study shows that American education is just “average”

•         Reading – average (no improvement since 2000 – 14th place)

•         Math – below-average (25th among developed nations)

•         Science – average (17th place)

•         Countries like South Korea, Finland, Singapore, and China are doing better than the US

•         The big disappointment in all this is that we spend more money per student than any other nation!

•         Is American education falling apart?  Is it failing American children?  We’ll watch Waiting for Superman to give us a better idea of the problems facing the education system today

Issues Facing American Education

•         Race – black students are falling behind, but so are Hispanics and other minority groups

•         Immigration – many immigrants don’t speak fluent English – should the US pay for special bilingual education??

•         How can American ensure that schools in poorer neighborhoods and richer neighborhoods are offering the same quality of education?

•         What should students learn about American history? How should wars, minorities, etc. be treated in textbooks?

•         **Should there be national standards and a national curriculum for all schools?

•         ***How do we make sure teachers are doing a good job and continue to do so?