Chinese Education vs British Education

Five Chinese teachers came to Bohunt School, which is one of the best schools in Liphook, Hampshire, to shake up the British education system, and they really did. This is a new documentary from BBC. Neil Strowger, head teacher of Bohunt School, said that in the international league tables, British pupils are falling behind in the international race today, especially against China. That’s the reason why they set up this experiment. They want to know if the Chinese education system really is better than the British one. If Chinese do better, they want to identify what it is in the Chinese education that makes them better, and transfer it back into U.K’s classroom.

Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School – Episode 1

In this unique experiment, five Chinese teachers set up a Chinese School in Bohunt School, and took about 50 year-nine students’ to try the traditional Chinese teaching style. After 4 weeks learning, all the pupils had final exams in math, science and Mandarin. The students in the experimental Chinese education were later tested against British counterparts. Chinese won.

The five Chinese teachers

As a Chinese student who finished middle school and high school in China and then studied abroad, I can tell there are huge differences between Chinese and western teaching styles. Moreover, I can also tell that Chinese will always win in a paper test.

From the documentary, people summarized Chinese education system as a high- pressure study system, which based on authority, discipline and ruthless competition. Chinese students usually spend every second studying. They have to arrive at school before 7:30 am every weekday, and they leave at 9 pm. After 5 pm, the students are on their own. They start self-study to review the knowledge they learned that day. But that’s still not enough. Chinese students also go to extra classes on the weekend, and make sure they acquire all the knowledge they need.

After a-half-day study, Miss Yang Jun taught students eyes exercise

Chinese style of class delivery has a huge difference with British style, and Chinese class has better discipline than British. Without discipline, students do not learn well. For instance, Chinese science classes do not use science equipment very often; Chinese teachers deliver most of the knowledge by writing it on the board. All the students would write down all the main points during the class without chatting or losing concentration. It’s all done in books and note taking. On the contrary, British students are trained to find the answers by themselves in a science laboratory because British teachers place more emphasis on self-discovery.

Chinese students also outrank British students. In China, students have a lot of exams. Teachers rank their grades for every test and show them in public. Because of it, Chinese students are much more care about their grades and want to keep on being the top. But British schools never do this.

Chinese classes are also a lot larger. They usually have 50 or more students, and so are much bigger than British classes. So Chinese students are all well-behaved, and they don’t do anything to disturb themselves or other classmates.

Furthermore, P.E. is a part of the national examination system in China. Chinese teachers do not want students to only focus on academic study, but also do well in physical exercise to keep healthy. They have morning exercise every weekday, and it not only for keeping healthy but also reminds them that they are members of a team. On the other hand, it means if Chinese students do not do well in P.E. they still cannot go to a better high school.

A Chinese style P.E. class

“Chinese education is not only delivery of the subject knowledge; Chinese education is cultivating a human being, too. We teach them how to be sensible, responsible citizens of the country, because we serve out country”, said Miss Li in the video.

Even though different education systems have different way of teaching, success all depend on if students want to learn or not. Students’ attitude towards school effects how well they study. For example, about math, Chinese students learn it as a skill, which might help their life in the future, so they are willing to learn it. But for British students, they prefer to learn how to pay their taxes, because they don’t think they would use math in their life.

British students learned Chinese traditional fan dance

Why are most Chinese students hard workers? In my opinion, basically, it’s because of the difference between the two countries. In China, students were educated that knowledge changes one’s destiny, and knowledge is the only ticket to have a better life, so students have a strong willingness to learn for their own future. As Miss Yang Jun said, Chinese students realized that they need knowledge, qualifications and the ability to survive in such a tough society. All the students use one syllabus, one standard, you survive or you die, it’s up to you. But in U.K, the situation absolutely different. British students are too comfortable, and they don’t feel any danger. They give up easily, because they still have a plan B. Even if they don’t work, they still can get money from the government, so they don’t have the absolute drive to succeed. But for Chinese people, because of the large population and high-pressure of competition, no job means no money.

Their education success is not about which education system is better, but about the students. Although, Chinese School won the exam, it still has its shortcomings. Miss Li said: “ Chinese education also have a week point. To some extent, Chinese education system kills the students’ imagination, freedom of thinking, critical thinking and creativity.” Overall, in my words, the thing we should focus on is letting students know that studying is not only right, but also a responsibility for their future.

[Topic 2. Education]