Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World

jolalee

I came across this interesting article on the examination of the US & China education systems:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/ ... nese-super-schools/
Although the bulk of the introduction was about the American legislation on education reforms, the book review in the middle section of the article is quite an interesting read--


...Yong Zhao’s Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World. Zhao, born and educated in China, now holds a presidential chair and a professorship at the University of Oregon. He tells us that China has the best education system because it can produce the highest test scores. But, he says, it has the worst education system in the world because those test scores are purchased by sacrificing creativity, divergent thinking, originality, and individualism. The imposition of standardized tests by central authorities, he argues, is a victory for authoritarianism. His book is a timely warning that we should not seek to emulate Shanghai, whose scores reflect a Confucian tradition of rote learning that is thousands of years old. Indeed, the highest-scoring nations on the PISA examinations of fifteen-year-olds are all Asian nations or cities: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, Korea, Macao (China), and Japan.

Zhao explains that China has revered a centrally administered examination system for at least two thousand years as the sure path to professional esteem and a career in government. A system called keju [科舉] lasted for thirteen hundred years, until 1905, when it was abolished by the emperor of the Qing dynasty. This system maintained Chinese civilization by requiring knowledge of the Confucian classics, based on memorization and writing about current affairs. There were local, provincial, and national examinations, each conferring privileges on the lucky or brilliant few who passed. Exam scores determined one’s rank in society. The keju was a means of social mobility, but for the ruling elite, it produced the most capable individuals for governing the country.

Keju, writes Zhao, was China’s fifth great invention, “along with gunpowder, the compass, paper, and movable type.” Because it was seen as meritocratic, the keju system was adopted in other East Asian nations such as Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. It “shaped East Asia’s most fundamental, enduring educational values.” Zhao holds keju responsible for China’s inability to evolve into a modern scientific and technological nation:

    For example, the Chinese used their compass mainly to help find building locations and burial sites with good fengshui—not to navigate the oceans and expand across the globe as the West did. Gunpowder stopped at a level good enough for fireworks, but not for the modern weaponry that gave the West its military might.

China had all the elements necessary for an industrial revolution at least four hundred years before Great Britain, but keju diverted scholars, geniuses, and thinkers away from the study or exploration of modern science. The examination system, Zhao holds, was designed to reward obedience, conformity, compliance, respect for order, and homogeneous thinking; for this reason, it purposefully supported Confucian orthodoxy and imperial order. It was an efficient means of authoritarian social control. Everyone wanted to succeed on the highly competitive exams, but few did. Success on the keju enforced orthodoxy, not innovation or dissent. As Zhao writes, emperors came and went, but China had “no Renaissance, no Enlightenment, no Industrial Revolution.”

Being raised mainly in a foreign land myself, i am not sure how well known this problem is to Chinese parents in general. I suspect friends here who has decided to send their kids to International Schools recognize this issue better than most local parents in HK. 科舉是否中國千多年科技等停滯不前的致命原因? or is the problem usually much greater than the parts to the whole? I would love to hear the views from fellow parents here in the IS forum.

tkity

回覆 jolalee 的帖子

A pretty thoughtful piece. thanks for sharing~

tkity

FattyDaddy 發表於 14-12-3 05:15
Hehe, you're right in saying here in HK some do believe in 行行出狀元, but it is literally just 行行 ...

True...but unfortunately it appears that this mentality is too deep rooted in the Asia (or at least the Chinese culture) that I do not believe that it will change soon (and so it the system in HKG).

jolalee

FattyDaddy and Samsam you both are absolutely right. At the end of the day it is a matter of fame and fortune. Asian parents and children (when they grow up) tend to aim for occupations that rakes in the money and provide a good name (or power) for themselves. It is the same 1600 years ago and will continue well into the future, and it is the same in lands tightly controlled by the government as well as free markets. Only that the occupations change to fit the existing system (ie. in China lawyers receive a pittance). This self-interest driven desires transcend time and location. Ancient Chinese, and even the British government to some extent when they ruled HK, used this to their advantage to control their citizens to promote a subdued and compliment society somewhat via education.

I think the root of the issue lies in the core values in our 'pursue of happiness' and how we define it. When most people's idea of prosperity equates to materials wealth, it is easy for the society to control its subjects. Of course, when the majority of the population is poor, any means to material betterment becomes one's life goal. Sounds like a stick-and-carrot strategy that worked quite well for a large, populated country for many centuries. Now that cultures clashes and borders are becoming almost non-existence via technological advancements, it is interesting to question what type of education systems/ methods is the most ideal.

Interesting to note too, that International Baccalaureate is founded (in respond to WWII) by the philosophy of fostering tolerance and inter-cultural understanding among young people through a specific method of teaching, which incorporates critical thinking, problem solving, and exposure to a variety of viewpoints. The fact that it turns out to be a vigorous and fitting pre-University program is a plus point, but not the original intention of the organization. How well it is working to promote peace and understanding, unfortunately, is subject to individual institution, and i can see that in practical, fame & fortune minded HK, it is becoming another tool to reach individuals' own goals. Would Asians abuse the system in the very end to render it ineffective? Only time will tell...

One can change the system, but what about the mindset?

samsam123321

其實係資源分配問題，如果所有人的待遇都是一樣，如果學業成績不再影響將來資源分配(錢途),就算大陸大媽都唔會再谷小朋友。說到底，我們都只是追求更美好的生活，不論中西，只是西方遊戲規則改變了一些。中國還未改變。

FattyDaddy

jolalee 發表於 14-12-3 04:34
The 科舉 mentality In mainland China it is especially severe as close to 50% of the students' prime aspiration is to work for the government (compared with 10% or less in western countries). Whereas in HK at least some parents do believe in 行行出狀元 ...

Hehe, you're right in saying here in HK some do believe in 行行出狀元, but it is literally just 行行, i.e. just two professions, namely medical doctor and lawyer.

Children's education is a very common conversation topic when parents meet over school social events, I usually start off with the question "what you do want your child to be when he/she grows up?", and if I hear the answer "四師" (醫師, 律師, 會計師, 建築師) I usually just hem and haw through the rest of the conversation or stray off to other topics. Not that there is anything wrong with 四師, but it does indicate a somewhat restrictive and "traditional" mindset, albeit it is already broader than the "公務員 / 幹部 / (貪)官" mindset in China :)

jolalee

回覆 964000 的帖子

That is so true. The problem is, I think many Chinese parents still carries the traditional mentality going into Int'l schools, making the school culture as stifling as a local one. Sometimes I think I get affected myself too if I hang with local parents for too long. Can't shake off the facts that the Chinese mentality runs in all our blood, and fortunately along with the good virtues too, such as hard works and diligence (If not done overboard).

The 科舉 mentality In mainland China it is especially severe as close to 50% of the students' prime aspiration is to work for the government (compared with 10% or less in western countries). Whereas in HK at least some parents do believe in 行行出狀元, China kids are all aiming at top grades instead of what he or she is naturally good at. Unfortunately many mainland parents are infiltrating the IS system as well.,..

964000

I quite agree with this article. In fact I don't like certain tradionational chinese values lsuch as 萬般皆下品，唯有讀書高。書中自有黃金屋。Like studying and education are tools for social status and monetary rewards only，but not for the sake of self fulfilment.