Western students enjoy a seemingly relaxed
educational experience. This, however, is not the case for students in Asia, who face crushing workloads and are often very disciplined. In the first part of her Globalist. The decision is partly based on an inability — or unwillingness — to spend thousands of dollars in tuition fees, especially given the suspicion that local schools are better anyway. After all, what more could one want from a basic education than a strong grounding in language, math and science, all subjects in which Asian schools famously excel. Our main concern is the ability of our son — and indeed the whole family — to adapt to the strict diligence that is expected of the Chinese. Apprehension increases when talking to local friends. China has a long history of standardized tests, beginning with the ancient imperial exams initiated during the Sui Dynasty.Shelly Chen is at the top of the class at the Shanghai foreign language school, one of the city’s best middle schools. Already near fluent in English, she is studying German and ranks among the highest in her grade in physics. Her goal is to get a full
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scholarship to Harvard to study biochemistry. It is not only Western expatriates that grow anxious when hearing about students like Shelly. Throughout England, politicians, parents and pundits worry that the industriousness and discipline of kids in the East are leaving relatively relaxed Westerners trailing behind. Though there is some debate surrounding the statistics, it is widely believed that North America is failing to produce sufficient graduates in sciences and engineering.Still less controversy attends the observation that math scores throughout the West rank well below those of most Asian countries. As a result, there is a deepening consensus that, in order to maintain its petitive edge, Chinese students are taught that all questions have but one right answer and there is little room for debate.North American education needs to move away from an emphasis on fun, flexibility and individual learning styles.Instead, it has to shift towards a more strict, disciplined teaching environment that math and science, in particular, seem to demand.This shift can be discerned even in Canada, where there are no college entrance
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exams, and where, standardized testing,
memorization and rote learning have long been frowned upon. Nevertheless, there is a mounting chorus plaining that the prominence given to creativity
cheats
students
out
of
a
proper
education.People like science teacher Sumitra Rajagopalan are entreating Canadian educators to adopt a more Asian pedagogical philosophy based on “constant repetition, recitation, grilling and drilling”. In the United States, the rise of China and India is putting even more emphasis on the demand for education reform. Tougher standards,New policies — such as No Child Left Behind — have led to an increased stress on standardized testing. In the 2006 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush mentioned the threat of Asia’s giants specifically when introducing his “petitive Initiative”, a program that promises substantial funds for the teaching of basic math and science. But in an ironic twist, there is an increasing desire to make education more England in China. Many now agree that the lack of creativity in China’s education system will soon
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prove a major stumbling block in the country’s continuing development. Government and business leaders
worry
about
a
derivative,
manufacturing-based economy, which is unable to innovate core technology, lacks major research and development projects — and lags far behind in creative sectors like marketing and design. A lack of flexibility and inability of individuals to take the initiative affects the entire service sector, paralyzing employees at every level. Arriving late for the set breakfast at a five-star hotel in Chengdu, for example, I, along with a group of other foreigners, found that the coffee had run out. Our request for more threw the staff into crisis.It was not until a series of meetings had been held and permission sought from senior management
that
a
fresh
pot
could
be
brewed.Passing even trivial problems up the management hierarchy in this way is simply impossible
in
a
sophisticated
post-industrial
society. China has implemented a set of reforms known as “quality education”.This policy, which aims to teach creativity and emphasize character
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development, has resulted in certain concrete shifts including changes to textbooks, an increased emphasis on oral skills in language learning — and various attempts to get teachers to encourage student participation. Most Chinese, however, are skeptical
that
anything
other
than
surface
transformation is taking place. As they are quick to point out, the underlying issue — an education system rooted in standardized tests — has yet to be altered. Chinese students achieve near perfect scores on Western standardized exams. But when go abroad, they find themselves ill prepared for the education. Today, national tests determine which elementary, high school and university a student will attend. They are still the single most important factor in deciding one’s general career path. The weight given to testing is regularly criticized throughout Chinese society. Newspapers and magazines monly report on the extreme pressure of the general exams. Stories range from concern over the suicide rate to bizarre anecdotes like the one about girls in Guangdong province who are said to have bought
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up mass quantities of contraceptive pills and then taken them during the test period — in the hope of warding off the ill effects of their menstrual cycle.Despite these concerns, there is little real impetus for the testing system to change. In China, standardized tests are seen as the only way to guarantee meritocracy and ensure fairness. The Canadian method of granting university admission on the basis of interviews and grade point averages is seen as far too subjective.In China, many believe that in a system like this the best schools, universities and jobs would go only to those with the right guanxii (connections). China’s emphasis on memorization and rote learning has significant consequences. Students are taught that all questions have but one right answer and there is little room for debate and original thought. Subjects like history and politics are focused solely on dates and names. Even the Chinese language exam, which requires students to write essays, allocates grades according to how well one can quote classical texts and idioms. Passing trivial problems up the management hierarchy is
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simply impossible in a sophisticated post-industrial society. As a result, Chinese students develop what appears to many Westerners as a shocking capacity for memorization. Many are able to recite entire articles and there are stories of some who are capable of mitting the entire dictionary to memory. Chinese students thus regularly achieve near-perfect scores on the standardized exams of Europe and England. when they go abroad many of these students find they are ill-prepared for Western education. Chinese students with phenomenal TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores are often incapable of taking part in simple English conversation. At least one graduate school in one of England’s most elite universities has now bee wary of accepting
students
from
China
for
this
reason.Assumed skills such as in-class participation, seminar presentations and individual research projects, mon practice in elementary schools in North America, are largely unheard of in the Chinese classroom — even in most universities. National tests determine which school a student will attend. They
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are the most important factor in deciding one’s career path. Moreover, the stress on original thinking and strict rules regarding plagiarism often seem baffling to students from China. An American teacher working in Yunnan province tells of encountering this cultural divide when two students handed in the exact same essay for an in-class exam.
Because of diffrent traditions and cultures,there are many diffrences between Chinese education and British education.
Firstly,the Chinese education is \"nine year pulsory education\".Most of schools are public schools.And the tutions e from the government.And the British education is also pulsory education.But the school system is two-track system which included the public school and the private school.And the tutions are free in the public school while those e from the students' parents in the private school.
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Secondly,the Chinese schools only have some subjects,such as Chinese,maths,English,history,physics and so on.The Chinese students must study these subjects every day.And they must work hard that they hardly have spare time.But in Britain,the students have chances to choose an elective cource to expand their knowledge and visions.And they have much more spare time to play than Chinese students. Finally, the Chinese educational system is very simple.Most of students have to pass the college entrance examination.And then they can go to college to study a major.But in Britain, the students have many choices to study.There are many technology schools.Every body can enter without certisfication and limeted age.
Although there are many differences between the Chinese educantion and the British education,they have some adventages and disadventages in some aspects.
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