A unique look into children
By Enid Chen
Photos by Xiaodong



来自加拿大的布莱恩博士是一位电影迷, 同时又喜欢钻研儿童教育. 于是, 他结合了自己的两大兴趣, 开始研究起中外儿童电影, 至今, 他已著有多本儿童教育方面的书籍. 他宣称自己是该领域的第一人, 通过电影里反映的真实世界, 来研究儿童教育. 让我们一起来看看他独特的视角吧.

Canadian Brian John Low is an expert in child education as well as a fan of the movies. This combined interest has led to his research about children in a cinematic world. After coming to China, he began to devote himself to conducting surveys about cross-cultural differences and similarities between child rearing practices in China and North America.

An expert in child education

In 1999, Brian John Low received his doctorate in Educational Studies from the University of British Columbia (UBC). The topic of his dissertation was Portrayals of Children by the National Film Board of Canada over the period from 1939 to 1989. "I explored a society that existed solely in cinema and looked at how the children changed over the years in those documentary movies, which are in some aspects mirror reflections of real society."

Brian is one of very few experts in the world in cinema-ethnography. In order to explore the society in film created by the National Film Board of Canada, he screened more than 300 historical documentary movies, a half-century of films from the archival collection of the National Film Board.

"I'm very interested in movies and child education. Watching these films combined both of my interests and led to some exciting discoveries in the collection of films, which is an evolving, cinematic representation of Canadian families, schools and communities." This resulted in Brian's book NFB Kids.

A broader horizon in China

After receiving his doctorate from the UBC, Brian made a decision to come to China in 1999, where he has furthered his research on childhood and taken it in a new direction. "Children in China tend to be mentally healthier than in North America. Over the past five decades, the overall percentage of children with mental illnesses in North America has risen from 10% to 20% while it remains (according to the World Health Organization) at a steady 10% in China." This triggered Brian's curiosity and intrigued his greater interest in this topic, making comparisons of child rearing and education patterns between China and western countries and their relevance to psycho-social problems.

"You can literally see that 10% difference. Walking alone in the West, one sometimes feels anxiety if he sees a group of adolescents walking towards him. However, here in China, one rarely has that feeling." Brian observed.

Watching children in Chinese movies is an important new source for Brian's research on cross-cultural differences and similarities in child rearing and education. According to Brian, he has watched more than 100 Chinese productions thus far, both historical and contemporary. Although language might seem a barrier to other people's minds, it never really is for Brian. "Film is a language itself, which is universally understandable. I can watch and appreciate Chinese films even without English subtitles. The important thing is not the film narrative itself, but rather what is in the background to the story, unintentional reflections of a society and projections of ideas into that society."

Brian has also been conducting surveys on Chinese child rearing by talking to Chinese mothers. His students from Xiamen University have contributed to his survey as well. Talking to Chinese mothers enables him to go on with his research from different perspectives as he collects more and more first-hand information. "One day, a Chinese mother asked me for how long on average did Western children sleep with their parents. I was startled by the question because they don't as a general rule. I was suddenly enlightened and found another appealing and fantastic perspective into my research."

"After my research, I would encourage Chinese families to retain their traditional ways and practices of child rearing. The plain truth is that the development of China's child rearing practices over the past 5000 years is a natural thing, which leads to optimum mental health and well-being for its children. Children brought up in these ways are prone to be more mentally secure in their development than Western children who frequently grow up in a permissive and uncontrolled environment and pay an emotional price for it." Brian is currently working on his new book. He expresses a hope to introduce the best aspects of Chinese child-rearing practices to Western countries. Hopefully, his book will hit it big on the shelves.

Starting the first English radio call-in show in Fujian

Brian's first stop in China was Quanzhou, where he taught at Huaqiao University. "I fell in love with China from the start. The population of my home city, Vancouver, is more than one third Asian people, mostly Chinese, so I feel right at home here in China. In fact, I feel rather unnaturally like an outsider back home in my own society, while I'm a natural outsider here in China, which makes me feel much more comfortable." Brian said with a smile during the interview.

In 2000, Brian started an English radio talk show at Quanzhou FM Radio, the first call-in program of its kind in Fujian Province. The program, called the English Cafe was well received. A lot of people called in to practice their English. The program lasted for three years. Later, Brian moved to Xiamen, where he is now teaching at Xiamen University and writing in his spare time.

Vocabulary
cinematic 电影的
dissertation 论文
documentary 记录片
archival 档案的
doctorate 博士学位
subtitle 字幕