Education

I once heard a story:

An education delegation from the USA visited China in early 1980s (at that moment, China just executed its famous "reform and open" policy and revealed its veil to western countries, and Chinese schools just recovered from chaos of "Great Cultural Revolution" to normal state, too).  Experts of the delegation carefully investigated Chinese elementary education: what and how Chinese teachers worked, what and how students studied in and after school and things like that.  When the delegation returned to America, it released a report and put forward an astonishing prediction-- China would catch up with or even surpass the United States in most field of science and technology in 20 years!  The experts said following: “Listen!  Chinese students not only study harder, but also learn and master much more knowledge than their peers in the US! OK, Imagine! When the kids grow up and play leading roles in the society, what will happen?”

Twenty years passed. Thirty years passed.  The world already has entered the 21^st century and Chinese science and technology still entirely lag behind the US, and it is a far far cry from the US in some important fields!

What’s wrong? Why did the experts make such a mistake?

In my opinion, as specialists on education, above experts paid too more attentions to education itself and neglected the entire society, or maybe they were over-optimistic on the prospect of Chinese political reform (as I have mentioned, it is really difficult for western people to know China--the ancient and mysterious country-- in 1980s).

Generally speaking, Chinese education is similar with western education. But when we talk about Chinese education further, especially when we compare Chinese education with western education, typically the one in the US or Canada, we should not ignore three key factors: the Chinese traditional culture, the population, and the special political situation.

Let's take a glance at these factors.

First, traditional culture - In China and some other Asian regions which are deeply influenced by the Chinese Confucian Culture, such as Korea, Japan, and Singapore, people are enthusiastic about education.  Parents usually have high expectations of their children. Teachers are thought to be priests of knowledge and wisdom, and are respected by different walks of life. Most teachers work very hard and some of them really have some dedication spirits. In other words, the society values education.  

The second aspect is the population. China has the largest population in the world, about 1.4 billion people and as a result, it is full of fierce competitions with no exception for the employment market. There is a broadly accepted quotation in China, "Do not let your children lose at the start line.” People pursue higher and higher degrees of education as proofs of knowledge and abilities.

The last but not the least point: a special politic environment. Chinese "reform and open" policy focuses on the aspect of economy. Thanks to the policy, China has transferred from a socialist plan economy to a capitalist market economy, and harvested huge achievements.  Today, China is the second largest economy entity, ranked just behind the US.  However, reforms related to the politics have lagged behind. Political reforms have stagnated or even backed since the split of the Soviet Union. China is still a one-party autocratic ruling country. Ultimately, what the ruling Chinese Communist Party thinks and does all aims to the target of enforcing its 'leadership'.  For the fear of losing power, Chinese Communist Party has even strengthened its control in recent years.

Then let us analyze simply how these three factors impact Chinese education.

Under the influence of the traditional culture, parents want children to study more; for the duty and the honour, teachers are willing to teach more and students themselves like to learn more.  A competition resulting from the huge population strengthens this tendency to be stronger and stronger. The ruling party and government, furthermore, push this situation to the utmost. Why? The busier people are, the less possibility they could think and do in the field of politics, the easier it is for the Chinese Communist Party to keep the society stable and to hold its ruling.  As a result, students lose a lot of time and space to independently and freely think and act.  When students leave schools, their room of freedom is still squeezed on purpose or even more fiercely although the society is eager for their creativeness. Everything, once it is directly or indirectly harmful to the leadership of Chinese Communist Party, may be limited or prohibited.

From the Renaissance, we all know it is the freedom of thought and respect for truth that have driven the world from Middle Ages to the modern times!

This is the reason that Chinese students study harder and learn more knowledge. This is also the cause why well-trained Chinese students cannot get more achievements in domestic conditions than their peers in western countries when they grow up. 

What is the real gap between the Chinese and western education? In conclusion, I believe it is the lack of freedom, hence the lack of creativity, the lack of accomplishment, and so on.  However, it is not the default of education itself, it is the default of the entire society. 

Maybe someone would debate with me now: Why aren’t there any similar opinions in the newspapers, magazines, TV, radios, and even on the Internet in Chinese domestically? No one in China is as smart as you?! Congratulation!  If you mention this phenomenon, you just hit the nail on the head! Maybe someone within China can have a similar opinion. But, do you believe he can get a chance to express and spread this opinion to public freely and safely? Back to one of the points: all in one, lack of freedom.