Stephanie Donald, School of Media Communication and Culture, Murdoch University

sdonald@central.murdoch.edu.au

'There are big differences between films in China and films in Australia. Chinese films have a variety of subject themes, stories from history, from myths, folklore, legend and so on. Australian films tend to be close to 'everyday life' (shenghuo hua). They have no history, perhaps that is the reason. Not like China, it has thousands of years of history.' (male respondent, aged 40)

This comment was made by a Mainland Chinese Australian man, who arrived in Australia from the People's Republic of China sometime between 1985 and 1999. His description of the differences between Australian and Chinese children's film and television programming indicates one of the core perceptions of the respondents to a recent questionnaire and focus group program conducted in Western Australia. Whilst recognising the educational drive of domestic programming in Australia, mainland Chinese parents questioned the concept of education at work in these productions. Did they have an underlying morality? Were they suitable for their children's development? How could they share in them, and so help their children unpick what values were at their heart? Were they perhaps, ultimately, without meaning? To quote the parents: 'Australian cartoons are direct and entertaining but have no real educational value (jiaoyu)',.' This paper discusses their perspectives and suggests that conceptual translations of words like 'education' carry strong implications for effective plurality in social and mediated life.