Education – Debunking Myths of China

Early Education in China: Culture

abecklehimer / April 9, 2014May 6, 2015 / Education

By A. Becklehimer and M. Turner

With China’s modern education system clearing not living up to its potential, seen by the only mediocre performance of students and their less than desirable state of health, many people are questioning the problems and how to fix them. Similar in nature to America’s ACT, China’s “Gaokao” test is a cumulative review of their education thus far, and is state mandated (Zhao, Xu, Haste, Selman). Unlike other systems that also take large consideration of other factors, such as personal merit, experience, grades, and involvement, China’s system relies very heavily on this one test, which will forever determine where the student can attend school. The pressure to do well on this test is what has created such a hostile and counterproductive environment to learn in for these students. This pressure is only heightened by the one-child culture China has thrown itself into. As each student is now a second-generation only child, this means they will have two parents and four grandparents that dedicate their time to the child, and will expect highly of the only child to do a good job representing the family. The lack of siblings to divert attention from these students has all the more created an environment that only promotes the drilling of the highly government-regulated education into their minds. Some Chinese parents having tried to take action against this by placing their children in private schools with alternative methods of education, often labeling themselves as havens that will “emphasize the need to help children that develop as individuals.” (Johnson) The goal of these schools is to actually make sure the children leave as smarter and more well rounded individuals, as opposed to the hive-mind the government has attempted to create with state-modified accounts of every little detail.

Ian Johnson. “China’s new bourgeoisie discovers alternative education.” New Yorker Vol. 89, Issue 47 Febuary 3, 2014. 34.

Zhao, Xu, Helen Haste, and Robert L. Selman. “Questionable Lessons From China’s Recent History of Education Reform.” Education Week 33, no. 18 (January 22, 2014): 32.

Early Education in China: The Progression of Society

emartin2 / April 7, 2014May 6, 2015 / Education

By M. Turner and E. Martin

“Jiaoshike Village Boarding School In Gangcha County.” Britannica Image Quest.
N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.gettyimages.com/>.

“Students from Migrant Worker Families Have Trouble Attending School.” Britannica Image Quest. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. <http://www.gettyimages.com/>.

It is crucial when studying Early Chinese Education, that one investigates the origin of its current state. It is interesting to note that many sociologists, educational researchers, and economists have delved into this question of why Chinese Education is the way it is. With the major economic reforms in China during the 1970’s, living standards, class structure, and social mobility changed drastically, reforming the education system in the process. The structure of the education system shifted along with the development of the economy, putting more importance in the labor market on the need for education. This shift is achieved through the introduction of private schooling, for example, in which private individuals or enterprises run the school. Though it causes a divide between social classes, private schools meet the demand for education that oftentimes public schools cannot in China. The availability of resources is a aspect of early Chinese education which has the capacity to change the future of a young Chinese learner.

For children, educational and job opportunities increase with the shift in economy. According to Education and Reform in China, access to education for children was enforced in 1986 with the Law on Compulsory Education, which states that all children must have six years of primary education and three years of secondary education (Ministry of Education 1986). The value of schooling quickly increased when the focus on economy shift from agricultural to non-agricultural. Migration to the city from farms meant more jobs and subsequently, a higher demand for education. Ultimately, an education in China results in a high status job and further progress in society (Hannum and Park).

For more information on Early Education in China, check out these blogs:

Effects of Early Education

The Exciting History of Early Education in China

Citation:

Hannum, Emily, and Albert Park, eds. Education and Reform in China. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print. Asia’s Transformations.

Early Education in China: The Exciting History

mturner2 / April 6, 2014May 6, 2015 / Education

By Matt Turner

The Opium War

Examples from the Thousand Character Classic, made by the Wikipedia user Wjfy

Early childhood education in China can be traced well over a millennium into the past with The Thousand Character Essay, the first basic literary text in Chinese history. It was written by Zhou Xingxi over 1500 years ago and was used by Chinese children in much the same way that the alphabet song is used by western children. It is still partly in use in many regions of China. The Hundred Family Surnames is another educational document that has survived for centuries. Although it was written nearly a millennium ago, the 504 surnames it contains are still used by 90% of all Chinese (Shi 2014). A final classical text memorized by children was the The Three-Character Classic, a poem consisting of couplets of three characters that emphasized Confucian values and behavior. Children had to memorize this poem before they could learn to read or write.

Confucian values were heavily emphasized in much of Chinese early education throughout the centuries. For most of Chinese history, early education was focused on preparing children for the massive and strenuous civil service examinations. A high placement on the exam would allow one to take a job in the government and often offered an escape from poverty, as all classes could take the test. However, since only males could be given government positions, for the most part, only boys were educated, and the girls who were educated were a small minority. Studying for the exam mainly involved memorization of Confucian texts and values.

However, as the 19^th century came and went, Confucianism began to fall out of favor. China suffered a series of defeats to foreign powers and was humiliated by the Unequal Treaty System. Thus, schools began to switch to a more western style of teaching, culminating with the abolishment of the civil service exam in 1905, changing early Chinese education forever.

The next few decades saw early Chinese education in a constant state of flux, with the 1911 Revolution, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Civil War rocking China to its very core. Even afterwards, the Cultural Revolution kept many from becoming educated and illiterate. It wasn’t until 1978 that a series of reforms helped Chinese schools to improve. In 1986, the government passed “Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China”, which sparked a flood of pro-educational reforms and policies such as the Education for All and Millenium Goals. Today compulsory education is available to 99.7% of the Chinese populace, an incredible number.

Early education continues to improve in China; it has been made a national priority and over 100 million children have been given early education of a much higher quality (Vauqhan 1993). However, great challenges remain, and China’s government must be willing to put even more work into this incredibly important issue.

For more information on Early Education in China, check out these blogs:

Early Educaiton in China: Progression of Society

Early Education in China: Effects on Higher Education

Early Education in China: Culture

Citations:

Shi, Evelyn. “Bai Jia Xing: The Hundred Surnames.” China International Travel Service. China International Travel Service, n.d. Web. 4 Apr 2014. <http://www.cits.net/china-guide/china-traditions/baijiaxing-names.html>.

Vauqhan, Joan. “Early childhood education in China.”Childhood Education. 69.4 (1993): 196. Print.

By A. Nichols

Soon after students studying in China graduate, possibly the biggest turning point in their lives will occur: the gaokao. The gaokao is China’s university entrance examination. It is the test that goes far beyond simple academics. It often determines the financial success a student will have in life, as it is the only thing necessary for entering a university. More so than the SAT, the gaokao determines the course of the test-taker’s life. One Chinese student noted, “We can lose everything at the gaokao: a bad score in the gaokao means we go to a bad university … This means we get a bad job … and this means we will have a bad life.”* This puts so much stress on students that it is not unusual for a student to become physically and psychologically ill. In short, the gaokao is an unyielding process, a mechanism that charts not only a person’s academic path, but largely determines his or her station in life.

In secondary school, no matter where the student lives, the senior year is one long cramming session with the culmination

of everything they learned over years of diligent, difficult work in one three-day test. It is not unusual for students in secondary school to get up at four in the morning to study before school every day, and stay late into the night afterward. In one notable classroom “students [were] taking energy-boosting amino acids from intravenous drips hung from the ceiling” to continue working. In her article, Professor Lindsey Lucenta notes, “[Students] endure an exhausting high school experience because preparing for the gaokao consumes all their time academically and socially. Once in college, many admit being overwhelmed with their newly available free time, never having developed any hobbies or interests beyond studying.” The gaokao encourages schools to teach students in a way that leaves them without analytical or critical thinking skills, but full of knowledge that is not necessarily relevant.

Students in Chinese schools speak about this topic. “If they fail the gaokao, parents and teachers will view them as bad boys even if they might be good in many other respects. If you are good at study, everything is fine [said in exasperation] and there is no problem. If your grades are good, then you are good. If your grades are bad, then you are bad. You are bad. You are bad, and there is nothing you can do to change this.”*

Despite all of the headaches and heartaches it brings, the gaokao is unlikely to disappear. The general public—students among them—have ambiguous feelings toward the gaokao. Those who have taken it are conflicted between the feeling of pride and horror. “Some have said that the entrance exam deprives children of their childhood, but they also argue that the exam gives every child the same right to dream and the same opportunity to achieve their dreams.“People used to say you were not a man until you climbed the Great Wall. Now, they say you are not a man until you do the gaokao.”*

Continue reading “Gaokao, For Better or For Worse”