Though Where are We Going Dad was trying to be the “encyclopedia of education” for parents after 80s， five dads in the show were not almighty “model fathers”， they were also in awkward situation when facing tough and strange outdoor living conditions and in the cart when taking care of the kids alone. But the real expression of the “imperfect” brought parents to think and reflected the problems in modern Chinese family education.
　　虽然《爸爸去哪儿》节目组力图打造80后父母的“教育百科全书”，但在节目中，五位爸爸并非十项全能的“模范父亲”，他们在条件艰苦且陌生的户外生存中也是窘态百出，在独自照看孩子时也常常显得捉襟见肘。但正是通过这样“不完美”的真实展现，在带领家长一起反思的同时，也折射出了现代中国家庭教育中的一些问题所在。
　　Absence of education
　　from fathers
　　父亲教育的缺位
　　Though the modern society advocates the equality between men and women， in fact， the foundations of the patriarchal society are still deep and firm， which brings the mainstream values of male being the backbone of a family. So it is still the division of labor standards that “men in charge of external affairs and female in charge of internal affairs”， and it is naturally the main responsibility of mothers to “take care of kids”. But actually， education from fathers cannot be neglected or replaced. The famous psychologist Gardi said， “Father is a unique existence， who has a special force for cultivating kids.” The study shows that， the intelligence development of child is closely bound up to the contacts with the father. Psychologist Mike Minnie also pointed out that： kids who contact with the father no less than 2 hours a day have higher IQ than that of those who contact less than 6 hours a week.
　　尽管现代社会提倡男女平等，但实际上父系社会的根基仍然深厚牢固，由此带来的主流价值观念是男性在家庭中要充当顶梁柱。因此“男主外，女主内”仍然是普遍的社会分工标准，“照顾孩子”这项工作自然而然成为妈妈的主要职责。但实际上，父亲对孩子的教育是不可忽视的，也是不可取代的。著名的心理学家格尔迪说：“父亲是一种独特的存在，对培养孩子有一种特别的力量。”研究发现，孩子智能发展的高低与和父亲接触的密切程度息息相关。心理学家麦克·闵尼也指出：一天中，与父亲接触不少于2小时的孩子，比那些一周以内接触不到6小时的孩子智商更高。
　　In family education， father can give child gender identity that can make son become more masculine and daughter be better at coquetry. If missing something in this respect， it would slowly let child get imperfection in gender awareness when growing up. Dong Xiaoping， researcher of Institute of Teenagers of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences also said， father is the key person to show the outside world to kid. He raised the interest of kid for the outside world and leads kid to observe the reality， which not only affects kid’s emotional and cognitive development， but also let kid obtain the sense of trust to the world from the guidance of father. It is because， different from mothers who always have a lot of concerns， fathers would communicate with kids when guiding them， encourage them to boldly explore and answer their questions， so that make them get greater feeling of success than that of frustration in the real world. 　　The picture of Cameron， Prime Minister of UK， taking his daughter on foot was published in the British newspapers and raised a heated debate. The tender moment shows the image of a loving father of a country’s Prime Minister. However， when it turns to the time spend by Chinese fathers on educating children； it is not that much as expected. According to the survey of Yangtse Evening Post， over 80% of fathers of kindergarten kids admit that they have never taken part in parents meeting. In family daily life or group activities， the absence of father is not a few see. Where are We Going Dad just focused on this point by letting fathers and kids participate in interesting outdoor activities together. The time spent only by dad and child can more or less touch fathers in front of the screen and makes them be more involved in parent-child activities. After a dozen of programs， all of the star fathers said， every trip shortened the distance to their children and they would never know how the kids need them if didn’t take part in the show.
　　在家庭教育中，爸爸能带给孩子性别上的认同感，可以让儿子更阳刚，让女儿更懂得撒娇。如果在这方面有所缺失，会让孩子在成长过程中慢慢显现出性别意识上的不完备。上海社会科学院青少年研究所的董小苹研究员表示，父亲是向孩子呈现外在世界的关键性人物，他激起孩子对外界的兴趣，引导孩子对现实的观察，这种作用，不仅影响孩子的情感和认知发展，而且使孩子从父亲的引导中获得对世界的信任感。这是因为，不同于母亲总是有很多顾虑，父亲在引导中会与孩子相互交流，鼓励他们大胆探索，解答他们的疑难问题，从而使他们在现实世界中获得的成功感大于挫折感。
　　英国首相卡梅伦步行送女儿上学的照片被拍下刊登在英国报纸上，曾经引起一阵热议，温情的一刻展示出了一国首相慈爱父亲的形象。但反观中国父亲在教育孩子所花的时间上，投入并不如期望中那么多。扬子晚报在调查中发现，有80%以上的幼儿园大班爸爸承认没开过家长会。在家庭日常生活或集体活动中，父亲的缺席也并不少见。《爸爸去哪儿》也正是抓住了这个看点，让爸爸带孩子进行有趣的户外活动，这种父子间的单独相处多少会让屏幕前的爸爸们有所感触，带动他们更多地参与到亲子活动中。十几期的节目后，明星爸爸们都表示，每次的出行都拉近了自己和孩子之间的距离，不参加节目都不知道原来孩子这么需要自己。
　　The confusion of spoiling things by excessive enthusiasm
　　拔苗助长的困惑
　　In the TV program Where are We Going Dad， the innocent smile and the funkiness the children show when they go back to nature moves people greatly. When the little princess Angela asked whether she could fly on the back of the swan， when Kimi wanted to become a superman and when Tiantian was planted in the desert like a tree， the audience laughed spontaneously. This is the innocence that children at this age should have. But in reality， the world of children is not all about fairy tale. They have to face the stress of various early childhood classes and interest-oriented class. Mr. Zhang said： “Nowadays children face great pressure of competition. If they acquire knowledge too early， their innocence may be harmed， if they do not， they may fall behind other children， which is found contradictory by parents.” Some parents become panicked because they see all the children around go to acquire different knowledge and skills， and different organizations try to persuade them by attaching great importance to their lessons. Therefore， they start to cultivate their “little genius”. 　　在《爸爸去哪儿》的节目中，孩子们天真无邪的笑容以及回归自然后散发的童真都令人动容。当宝贝Angela问天鹅能不能带她飞的时候，当Kimi要变身超人的时候，当天天被当成一棵树种在沙漠里的时候，观众都会发自内心地笑出来，这才是这个年龄段的孩子应该拥有的童真世界。但在现实生活中，孩子们的世界里并不都是童话，他们还面对着各种早教班、兴趣班的压力。张爸爸说，“现在小孩将会遇到很大的竞争压力，让孩子过早学习知识又怕扼杀他们的天性，但是如果不学习又怕将来落后于别的同学，其实家长也挺矛盾的。”正是因为看见周围的孩子都早早地去学习各种知识和技能，一些家长也慌了神，如果再加上早教机构添油加醋地游说，家长们便会积极地开始打造他们的“小神童”。
　　Mrs Zhu is a mother of a three-year-old child. She has just obtained a PhD in history. She extremely dislikes giving knowledge to children too early： “Attending early childhood classes or comparing with other children in their skills and hobbies will eliminate the innocence of children. But nowadays Chinese parents generally believe the idea that ‘do not let your child fall behind at the starting line’ she said with a puzzled expression， “a lot of parents I know read the Analects of Confucius to their two-year-old children， being afraid that their children will fall behind， which is so funny.” In her opinion， at the infant stage， the most important thing of children is to develop good habits and communication ability. She is pleased with her daughter： "Although she does have any knowledge or skills， I think she understands how to behave." In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child there are terms that point out clearly： "Children have the rights to rest and relax， to have games and entertaining activities that are suitable to their ages and to participate in cultural life and artistic activities freely. The right of participating in cultural life and artistic activities freely should be fully respected and that offering equal chance of cultural， artistic entertaining and relaxing activities should be encouraged." Early education should not be limited to the inculcation of knowledge， but should “be suitable to the age of children"， enable children to grow up naturally， teach them common sense and at the same time do the best they can to protect their world.
　　刚获得历史学博士学位的朱女士同时也是一个三岁孩子的妈妈，她特别反感过早给孩子灌输知识，“上早教或攀比孩子会什么其实是在扼杀孩子的童真。但是现在中国家长普遍都相信‘不要让孩子输在起跑线上’这句话，”她不解地说道，“身边有很多家长给两岁的小孩读《论语》，生怕孩子落后，这种做法很可笑。”在她看来，幼儿阶段最重要的是习惯的培养，以及与人交往能力的建立。她对自己的女儿感到很满意：“虽然她什么都不会，可是我觉得该懂的道理她什么都懂了。”在《联合国儿童权利公约》中也有条款明确指出：“儿童有权享有休息和闲暇，从事与儿童年龄相宜的游戏和娱乐活动，以及自由参加文化生活艺术活动。应尊重并促进儿童充分参加文化和艺术生活的权利，并应鼓励提供从事文化、艺术、娱乐和休闲活动的适当和均等的机会。”早教并不仅限于知识方面的灌输，而是提倡要“与儿童年龄相宜”，让孩子顺其自然地成长，在教给他们基本的道理时，也要尽可能地保护好他们童真的世界。
　　The shame of “nature-deficit”
　　“自然缺失”的遗憾
　　As what the America thinker Emerson once said： "The secret of cultivating a good person is to let him/her live in nature." Although there are both advantages and disadvantages in the teaching methods of the five fathers in Where are We Going Dad， the program’s idea of making children return to nature is worth for advocating. With the rapid development of science and technology， children can have contact with all sorts of electronic products such as computer， television， mobile phone or iPad. Young parents’ reliance on electronic products could affect their children who lack self-control easily. Some parents even use these electronic products to replace the time they spend with their children. "Given an iPad， she can sit there and play it for a whole day." Miaomiao's mother has some concerns， but when she is busy with her work， an iPad can really help her to "take care" of her seven-year-old daughter. Most children who live in cities are away from nature for too long. Farmlands and forests become more and more strange and unattractive to them， so they have a new title-- "children with nature deficit disorder". The term which comes from American writer Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods is not a professional medical item but a description of a phenomenon. In the book， Louv expressed his concern that staying at home for a long time without contact with nature may lead to higher possibility of obesity， depression and other kinds of mental diseases of children， and their attention can be distracted easily. 　　正如美国思想家爱默生曾说：“培养好人的秘诀就是让他在大自然中生活。”尽管《爸爸去哪儿》中五位爸爸的教育模式有利有弊，但节目组带孩子重返自然的理念是值得提倡的。随着日新月异的科技发展，孩子们很小就可以接触到各种如电脑、电视、iPad、手机之类的电子产品。年轻爸妈对电子产品的依赖很容易影响到仍缺乏控制力的孩子，有的父母甚至用这些电子产品取代陪伴孩子的时间。“给她一个iPad，她就能坐着玩儿一天。”苗苗的妈妈虽然有些担忧，但工作忙起来的时候iPad确实能帮她“照顾”七岁的女儿。目前大多数城市的孩子长期脱离大自然，农田和森林对他们来说变得越来越陌生，也越来越缺乏吸引力，于是，他们有了一个新的称谓——“自然缺失症儿童”。这个来自于美国作家理查德·洛夫《林间最后的小孩》一书中的名词并不是一个专业的医学名词，而只是一种现象的表述。在书中，洛夫表达出了自己的担忧，长时间宅在家里、缺乏与自然的接触，儿童肥胖的几率会增加，注意力不集中甚至抑郁等各种心理疾病都可能会接踵而来。
　　An increasing number of studies show that， the connection with nature can have a positive effect on people’s physiological， psychological and mental health. "Children who do not often go outside have poorer immunity， because once they have adapted themselves to a simple environment， they will feel discomfort about a complex environment." He Ping， director of Pediatrics of Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Yunnan Province said， "And having activities on open grass or in fresh air of the mountains is good to the move of the lung and can help maintain the respiratory system." In addition， the changeable nature could help improve the imagination and creativity of human. Howard Gardner， Professor of Institute of Education of Harvard University said： "The imagination of children who are away from nature will be fixed by existing and ordinary patterns." Lin Yutang also writes in his It's All Because of the Green Mountains： “the childhood experience of being close to nature is enough to be a strong support for my lifelong knowledge， morality and way of behavior， because I believe that I still observe the life with a farm boy's eyes." Taking children close to the ever-changing nature， retrieving the spirituality endowed by nature is also an indispensable chain of education.
　　越来越多的研究显示，与自然的联系能对人们的生理、心理和精神健康产生积极作用。“不常出门的儿童抵抗力较差，因为适应单一环境后，复杂的环境组合容易给他们造成不适的感觉。”云南省中医院儿科主任何平表示，“而经常在空旷的草地上、空气清新的山林里活动，有利于肺脏的活动，帮助保健呼吸系统。”不仅如此，大自然的变幻无穷还会有助于提高人类的想象力和创造力。哈佛大学教育学院的霍华德·加德纳教授认为：“孩子脱离了自然，他们的想象力就会被既定的、常见的形态固化。”林语堂也在《都是因为那些青山》中写道：“童年时这种与自然接近的经验，足为我一生知识的和道德的至为强有力的后盾，因为我相信我仍然是用一个简朴的农家子弟的眼睛来观看人生。”带孩子亲近变幻无穷的自然，重新找回大自然赋予人的灵性，也是教育中不可缺少的一环。
　　The permeation of foreign education mode
　　外国教育模式的渗透
　　The present education has problems， more or less， but if we trace back to the situation of education in the past three decades， we will find that the education philosophy of parents has had many changes. From the free-range mode of “feeding the children up” only in 1950s to 1960s， to the “hoping the child will have a bright future” mode， which only focused on academic education in 1980s to 1990s， to the scientific education that parents care about the physical and psychological heath of children and hope they can have over-all education now. Such developing track cannot go without the influence of foreign teaching philosophy. The Chinese style of education still exists， but more and more education philosophies have permeated into the parenting experience of young parents. 　　虽然如今中国的教育仍然存在着或多或少的问题，但若反观一下六十年来中国的教育情况，家长的教育观念发生了许多变化。从上世纪五、六十年代的只要求“喂饱孩子”的放养模式，到八、九十年代的“望子成龙”只重视孩子学业的培养，再到如今家长更关注儿童的身心健康、提倡让孩子全面发展的科学教育。这样的发展轨迹除了中国自身发展的历史背景影响之外，不能不说同时也受到了外国教育理念的影响。中国式教育的痕迹仍然存在，但越来越多的国外教育观念和方法已经开始渗透到年轻父母的“育儿经”中。
　　The United States advocate the releasing of potential and letting children learn in games and experiences. The biggest characteristic of American education is that it puts more emphasis on "experience" than "inculcating knowledge". The teachers think it is more important to teach children the way to learn than to teach them how to solve several math problems. Teachers of kindergartens or primary schools will never inculcate children the knowledge and skills that are beyond their age， and they hope that children could obtain the ability to explore and observe， develop good values and way of learning by experiencing various hand-on puzzle games and activities. The biggest benefit of it is that children will have the habit of learning and exploring actively， become real explorers rather than accept the inculcation of the teachers. Americans also attache great importance to the cultivation of independence. The starting point of family education is to cultivate the pioneering spirit of children， and make them self-reliant persons. Children in the United States begin to live alone in their own room since the age of two or three， and the parents only come to the room to say goodbye at bedtime. American parents start to cultivate independence and self-care ability of children when they are little， so that they will have a strong ability to adapt to different environments in the future.
　　Germany places more emphasis on children’s nature. Their constitutions prohibit early development of children’s intelligence. In their opinion， the “only task” for children before they attend primary school is to grow up happily. Playing is the nature of children， so they should do what is suitable for their nature. German parents generally agree that： the cultivation of children's abstract thinking ability could lay a good foundation for the further education in the future. So parents sometimes inspire their children to draw the rooms of their home by memory or illustrate abstract objects by drawings to improve their abstract thinking ability. They also try to make their children behave precisely since they are little.
　　美国提倡释放潜能，让孩子在游戏和体验中学习。美国教育最大特点在于“重视体验”多于“知识传授”，老师认为交给孩子学习能力比教会他做几道算术题更重要。幼儿园或小学老师决不会将不属于这个年龄段的知识技能硬灌输给孩子，而是希望他们通过多动手、多体验来在各种益智、团队游戏中学会观察和探索的本领，形成健康的价值观和学习方法。由此带来的最大好处是，孩子从小会养成主动学习、探究的习惯，成为真正的探知者，而不是被动接受老师的灌输。美国人还十分重视独立性的培养，家庭教育是以培养孩子富有开拓精神、能够成为一个自食其力的人为出发点的。美国儿童两三岁起便独居一室，父母通常在临睡前到孩子房间里道一声晚安就走了。美国父母从小就锻炼孩子独立能力和自理能力，让小孩今后具有更强的适应能力。 　　德国更加注重保护孩子的天性。他们的宪法禁止对孩子过早开发智力，在德国人看来，孩子在上小学之前的“唯一的任务”就是快乐成长。因为孩子的天性是玩耍，所以要做符合孩子天性的事情。德国的家长还普遍认为：培养孩子的抽象思维能力能为以后更高层次教育打下良好基础。因此家长有时候会启发孩子凭记忆画出家里的房间，让他们用图形表现抽象事物，锻炼他们的抽象思维，同时也从小培养他们严谨的风格。
　　Swedes have fewer restraints for children and they will not evaluate the creativity of children by their adult standards. They think that being strict to children， teaching them to obedient unconditional will only give the children a sense of depression and inferiority， and therefore they will lack independence and creativity. However， creativity is far more important than rotate learning and test scores. Swedes also think that children should first belong to society and then the family. The parenting of parents should not infringe the rights of children. Their respect for the independence of children is showed in many ways. Apart from independent living ability， Swedes also pay attention to the cultivation of children's awareness of independence. They seldom impose their opinions on children or give their children lesson on morality. Children could do anything they want without being stopped only if they do not disturb others and can ensure their own safety.
　　Japan， the neighbor of China also values the independence of children. When children are little， their parents often inspire thinking into them： do not make troubles for others. When Japanese children go to class or travel with their family， they will carry a bag with their own luggage inside and take care of their own belongings. Such things should all be done by their own， and teachers and parents only give some guidance aside. Even after they go to school， some students need to make money by part-time jobs in their spare time. Being different from the western education philosophy of interaction between parents and children， the Japanese teaching method of cultivating independent personality also makes great contribution to Japan’s becoming one of the major powers in the world.
　　瑞典人对孩子的拘束更少，他们不会用大人的标准来对孩子的创造力进行评价。他们认为，严厉要求儿童，无条件服从的教育只会使孩子产生压抑和自卑感，让他们缺乏自主性和创造性。而创造力远比死读书和考试分数更重要。瑞典人还认为，孩子首先是社会的，其次才是家庭的，家长对孩子的管教不能侵犯孩子的权利。他们对孩子自主性的尊重体现在许多方面。除了从小就培养孩子的独立生活能力外，瑞典人很注意培养孩子的自主意识，决不把大人的意志强加给孩子，很少对孩子进行道德说教。在不妨碍他人和保证自身安全的前提下，儿童做任何事都不会被制止。
　　中国的邻居日本，同样也强调培养孩子的独立人格，父母在孩子很小的时候就给他们灌输一种思想：不要给别人添麻烦。日本的孩子上课或者全家人外出旅行的时候，都会背一个小包，里面装着自己的物品，自己的东西要自己负责看管，诸如此类的很多事情都需要孩子自己去做，家长和老师只是在一旁略加指导。即使上学后，许多学生仍然利用课余时间去打工挣钱。虽然和西方的亲子互动式教育理念有些差别，但培养独立人格的教育方式也确实为日本跻身世界大国起到重要作用。