Chinese and Western educational systems

[cheese]

This first of a two-part blog about differences in the Chinese and Western educational systems and the following impacts is not about what is good and bad, for very little is indeed black and white. However, fact is that big differences in educational program, curriculum, and not least the whole concept of ’What is good education?’ brings out totally different skill-sets in young people coming out of high schools and universities in China and the West. A thing, are they not already, future employers better be aware of.

About a year ago I was, with great interest, reading a report done by the small but highly regarded Danish weekly magazine ’Wekend-avisen’, focusing on the differences of high school students of primarily China and Denmark, secondarily on China and the EU as a whole.

The report reached the conclusion that on all – literally all – subjects of curriculum, knowledge and mastering, the Chinese student were not only far ahead of their European counterparts, they were almost living on another much more educated and knowledgeable planet. In short, the Danish/European student had covered approximately only 40 percent of the ground the Chinese had, and the ground they had covered they were not even able to master as good as their fellow Chinese students.

Heavy figures, I thought, but further research shows, that this is likely to be the case.

Why is it so?

Explanations are simple and straight-forward. First, the curriculum in China, especially when it comes to mathematical or science-related subjects (and not only these), is simply much more demanding.  Secondly the Chinese students spend much more time not only in school but also at studying from home. Thirdly, they Chinese students seem much more motivated.

Surveys among these, typically 16-17 years old students, showed a significant difference in the perception of why one was studying.

In China it was pretty straight-forward. Motivational factor was nearly always high, you have to study in order to improve, to make better grades, to get a good education, to get a good job/career, to make good money, make your parents happy, and to generally succeed in life.

All logical, I would think, and one might think that this approach should be pretty global, but the similar survey in the West showed completely different results.

The degree of answers the like of, ‘in order to improve, to make better grades, to get a good education, and to get a good job/career’ was indeed among the answers, but in contrary to China were nearly all students agreed on this, only about a third of their European counterparts mentioned these aspects at all!

Most answers ran on a totally different line, such as: ‘Well, I have to do something.’ Or: ‘It’s what all my friends do.’ Including answers like: ‘The parties here are great!’

Time spent on study & home work

Furthermore when the questionnaire asked about time spent studying, and whether the student considered the time spent was ‘too much, acceptable, or too little’, the differences became really big. In China 10 weekly hours study at home was considered the minimum, indeed several students spend something like 15 hours (and on top of that you can add that their schedule at school is much longer) and generally this was felt as being alright.

The picture in Europe… The average study hours here varied greatly from country to country – and maybe a little bit surprising for standard European beliefs, the further south in Europe you go, the more you study, time spent studying thus being higher in e.g. France or Italy, than lets say Denmark – but hardly anyone got above six to seven weekly hours studying at home.

If we take the Danish results as an example, the average weekly study time at home was two hours, and many students actually never studied or did any homework at all. In spite of his a lot of these ‘lazy’ students were actually doing pretty good by the country’s standards.

Furthermore, when you analyzed their answers to the question ‘Do you think you study too much, acceptable, or too little’, the answers only fell into two categories. Nobody felt that they were studying too little.

Inter-cultural exchanges

The report included several observations done by journalists following Danish/Chinese high school exchange visits, a Danish High school class going to China for two weeks, a Chinese high school class going to Denmark for two weeks, and so on, and also other interactions between high school students and classes from China and EU countries.

Afterwards the students and their teachers were interviewed about their experiences working, interacting and socializing with their counterparts from the other continent.

Basically they all agreed on one thing, that the visits and interactions were highly positive and that they from the social interaction learned a lot. That was, however, the only thing on which they agreed. Being together, talking and socializing, they were all positive and on the surface in agreement about most things. The following interviews, however, showed big differences.

The Chinese said:

Let me take the Chinese students and teachers first: They were, not surprisingly, very positive and reluctant to say anything negative about their visitors/hosts, but when the surface was scratched, they were all amazed about how little – or rather not at all – the Danish/European students were thinking ahead.

Reactions could run like this: ‘We have been talking about our study, and what we are going to do in the future, but what they are studying now (same age-group, mind you) we were covering three years ago…’ And: ‘It seems like they don’t realize that the world is becoming more and more globalized, how are they going to find good jobs? And they don’t even seem to worry about this!’

From the interviews with the Chinese teachers very little was to be said. If the reader would excuse me from doing a little personal interpretation here… it seamed they were hell-bent on saying nothing negative at all. Maybe culture, tradition and respect.

The Danish/Europeans said:

Over to the Danish/European students: They enjoyed the interaction just as much as their now new Chinese student friends. There were, however, a few things they wondered about: ‘I don’t understand they can spend so much time studying,’ was the typical one. Some even went as far as to state: ‘They seem a bit nerdy.’ What is interesting is that nobody showed any concern, that the Chinese students were learning much more than they themselves were. And nobody showed any concern at all about this when it came to the future.

The interviews with the teachers were, however, a little bit different. Roughly you could put the Danish teachers fifty/fifty into two categories. Category one did notice the differences in the students’ level of knowledge, motivation, and efforts, but did not find it disturbing. Reactions from this group typically ran along the lines of: ‘Yes, the Chinese students study more, and they have covered a larger curriculum, but there are cultural differences to be considered, and my students are far more mature and self- independent, and I think that is at least as important.’

This might very well be, but the other half of the Danish teachers or professors were really worried. Reactions could run like this: ‘Our kids don’t see it. They don’t worry about the future, because they don’t know what is going to hit them.’ And: ‘They know nothing compared to these Chinese kids.’

Elaborating a little further several of these teachers were also disillusioned: ‘It’s impossible to get them to study any more than the very little they do, they simply won’t do it.’ Also: ‘Government/public support is diminished almost year by year (red.: although it on average pr. student still is vastly higher in Denmark than in China) and the requirements and demands of the education (red.: curriculum and studying efforts) are lowered gradually. We are fighting a losing battle, and nobody seems to care about it.’

 

This is the end of  the blog ‘Educational Differences, part I’. It paints a rather grim future for the coming Western generation in the more and more globalized job market. But is the situation really that simple? Maybe, and yet again maybe not entirely. The blog next week, ‘Educational Differences, part II’, will focus on why the Chinese system might not be entirely positive. As mentioned in the beginning, nothing is 100 percent black or white. Also in next blog there will be a few considerations for further employers of these coming job seekers from China and the West. The up-coming young professionals will be of different character, so how can you, as their potential boss-to-be, hire the most suitable person for the specific position and how can you get the best out of this person? It comes a lot down to the educational systems’ strong and weak sides.

[Jason]

2 Million Minutes: The 21st Century Solution <click here> is a series of short documentary films exploring how students in the United States of America, India and the People's Republic of China spend the nominal 2,000,000 minutes of their high school years.

For more information please consult: Harvard Educational Review.

Enjoy.

[Richard ridealgh]

Next post please!!

[Marcella Caprario]

I, too, am interested to read the next post.  As far as Chinese students "living on another much more educated...planet," this opinion depends on one's definition of education.  It seems that this study regards the accumulation of facts as the definition of education.  Did they measure other skills such as critical thinking, creativity and problem solving?  I haven't read the report first-hand, so I'm only inferring from your blog post.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  Of course, accumulation of knowledge is an important part of one's education, but, in my opinion, it is only one part. 

In addition, while studying hard is important for educational success, leaving some time for other activities can be equally important for developing and maintaining emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual health, as well as interpersonal relationships.  Of course, this opinion comes from an American, raised on the idea that becoming a well-rounded person is an important goal.  What constitutes each educational system's "strong and weak sides" depends to a large extent on what each culture values, as well as what skills are most needed for success in the modern world. 

 

Richard, I couldn't agree more about the business side of things here.  My particular teaching context here in Changchun is a prime example of business overriding actual education.

 

Interesting conversation!  Let's keep it going!!!

 

[Richard Roman]

Waiting with interest for the second blog before I comment!

[Richard ridealgh]

Interesting read! I feel that this study hasn't really unearthed anything too radical or new, since we all know that Chinese (perhaps I should say Asian) students, all study much harder than we do in the Western world. I know families who live all over Europe and they are more concerned with the fact that when their children are of university entry age, their kids won't want to go into higher education simply because the "younger ones" are fully aware of the stagnant job market.

More interesting for me as an English Teacher is the fact that China's undergraduate programs have no real sway outside her huge walls. Until they seek assistance, and drag themselves up to the same academic level as the Western Universities adhere to, then in fact I am not really that concerned with what standard our high school kids are, as long as they graduate university!

China last year had 2 universities (3 if you count Hong Kong) in the top 200 universities in the world. So despite what the study infers, the West has a good balance when one looks at "high end" education. I also recollect an earlier blog posted by Professor Reed about the numbers of Chinese students applying for further education in the west and how the study showed a lack of English language ability in these students. Off the top of my head, I think he quoted 16% of the students traveling abroad had what it takes to graduate. That hardly sounds right when we consider that they are supposed to be that much smarter than us does it?

I think the real problem is that although all cultures put emphasis on education, "the business side" of education in the East over-shadows the "academic side"...and thats WRONG! Programs from the west will have to be implemented into the language art in China, and that doesn't just mean IELTS/TOEFL and SAT programs, It means Teachers! Educated, thoroughly experienced TEACHERS. 

I have perhaps deviated from the original post, I apologize Cheese!!