It takes a long time to change technology trends. Today's nobel winners were born in the 30's and 40's typically. American kids back then were different than today's. Today is about entertainment and gratification, back then depression kids were about economic survival and achievement. The american high tech scene today is like a foreign country. Immigrants from Asia and Russia dominate.
Nobel prize for math? I never heard of it. Do you know the equivalent award for Nobel prize in Math? Do you know how many chinese have won Nobel prize in Physics? Do you know how big China is? Do you know how many different cultures we have? Do you know how different we are even we are all chinese? If you know the answers, you should know that you know very little about China.
Chinese schools get creative High standards are the norm in this Chinese school. But can students think creatively? By Linda Baker | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor SUZHOU, CHINA â It's 7:30 on a Monday morning, and the 3,500 students who attend Suzhou Middle School No. 9 are streaming toward the school field. The kids are getting their midterm exams back today, and the nervousness in the air is palpable. "We call it 'the last breakfast,' " jokes 17-year-old Shen Wenjie, a somewhat unexpected Christian reference to the morning meal before the exams are returned. Like all schools in China, School No. 9, located in the city of Suzhou in the Jiangsu Province, revolves around a competitive system of standardized tests and exams. This process culminates with three "black days" in July: a comprehensive national college entrance examination for high school graduates that determines placement in the nation's university system. But as China's economy continues to grow at a breakneck pace, the nation's education system is beginning to change. Just like the United States, the world's most populous country is in the midst of national school reform. But the US, under No Child Left Behind, is moving toward national standards with a focus on reading, writing, and math. China, on the other hand, is restructuring its system to stress creative thinking and local control. "In the past, education was very rigid; we call it 'force-fed' education," says Gu Yue Hua, deputy director general of the Suzhou Education Bureau. The teacher used to be the authority, she says. "Now the teacher's job is to promote, cooperate, and guide. Now we emphasize hands-on experience for students." Located 30 miles from Shanghai, Suzhou has a population of 2.2 million people and a reputation as a sophisticated high-tech metropolis. Many of its public schools, including No. 9, are considered national models of excellence. No. 9 may represent one end of the spectrum. But it also exemplifies the challenges associated with fostering ingenuity and innovation in a culture that has valued rote memorization since the days of Confucius. "The students' endurance for work and their ability to focus is amazing," says Kevin Crotchett, a principal in Portland, Ore., who spent the 2001-02 school year teaching English at Suzhou Middle School No. 10. "We're constantly talking in the US about creating lifelong learners," he says. "The kids I was with [in Suzhou] were lifelong learners." Still, says Crotchett, China's social and political history of conformity complicates efforts to create a more student- centered, exploratory curriculum. "The Chinese do a phenomenal job in the sciences and mathematics," he says. "But the students don't have the discussion skills." Several Suzhou teachers and administrators had their own reasons for being skeptical about school reform. "Education reform in theory gives principals more choice," says Ni Zhenmin, principal of No 9. "But we still must give the same national exam. So it still determines the curriculum." Accustomed to budget and program cuts, parents in urban school districts in the US might find much to envy about schools in the wealthier Chinese cities. At Suzhou Experimental Elementary School, for example, the school budget increased 40 percent over the past six years, the majority of it going to teachers' salaries and programs. In most of the city's primary and middle schools, art, music, and physical education are staples of the curriculum. Many schools stay open as late as 11 p.m, helping build what Crotchett describes as a powerful sense of community in the schools. Of course, the kids also double as janitors, sweeping the floors and cleaning desks before and after each school day. And state of-the-art computer labs belie the universal lack of heating in the schools, even though temperatures fall to 32 degrees F. during the winter. China's national school reform debuted last year in 500 counties, serving 25 percent of the Chinese student population. At School No. 9, incorporating "progressive" ideas about education means that senior math students are sometimes called on to lead the lecture and discussion themselves. It means new history textbooks, ones that acknowledge the role the Chinese Nationalists - who lost to the Communists during the 1949 revolution - played in fighting the Japanese during the 1930s. And it means extracurricular activities like the drama club. A top English and speech student, Shen says he notices teachers interact more with students than they used to. "We call them friends," he says. But Shen also says rote methods still dominate, especially when it comes to homework: "Exercises, exercises, that's all we do. It's so boring." As part of the move toward local innovation, School No. 9 has published five of its own textbooks, on topics ranging from the school's 1,000-year history to Kung Fu. "The students are interested," says Ni, "but since it doesn't help them on the exam, they are useless." More exchanges with American students and teachers would facilitate efforts to retool teaching methods and curriculum, say some Suzhou teachers. Last year, a teacher from Suzhou Primary School No.1 spent a year at Woodstock Elementary in Portland, Suzhou's sister city. This spring, a group of Portland students will travel to Suzhou. "Tell American teachers we would like them to teach here," says Xu Tainzhong, principal of the Suzhou Experimental Elementary School.
It is sad that having spent half your existence there, you have learned so little, and only managed to bring back bitterness and prejudice. Just make sure not to transfer that to your kids. Whatever your prejudices are, there is a new world order in the making and that new world order includes a larger role for china, india, brazil, russia, africa, etc. Get used to it. Don't make things more difficult for you and your kids by carrying and spreading your bitterness around. Don't pollute their minds with your own weakness.
I am aware of the education reform that is going on in China as a new trend, which is a good thing... and hopefully it will have some momentum so that the next generation of students won't have to sacrifice their childhood, as the current generation has. Don't get me wrong, I have no axe to grind against China... it's the Chinese education system that is really despicable. Things weren't this bad when I grew up... I remember during the elementary school years I'd typically have 20 minutes of homework, then it's all free play after dinner. People were poor back then (in the '70s), we don't have any toys... all we had to play with were rocks and sticks, and each other... but we were happy. The Chinese kids today have all the material stuff they want, but they are not happy! They have no imagination. They are already damaged goods. Hopefully the next generation will benefit from the reform... it's about time.
this 'bitterness' is in your mind, not mine. I am only stating the undisputeable truth. and how I influence my kids is non of your business.
This bitterness is not in my mind, but is pervasive in your words. As for what is my business, here in north america, we have freedom of speech, so I say what I want.
In North America? Really? In the USA you also have the freedom to get your ass kicked if you talk shit about someones kids.
First of all I am from China. No Chinese national has ever won a Nobel Prize in anything. The Chinese high schoolers dominate in the world math/physics/chemistry Olympiads yet none of them has ever won a Nobel Prize, ever. The "Chinese" Nobel laureates you mentioned are ALL Americans (and one French). Most of them are second or third generation Chinese Americans. You should do more research before calling them "Chinese". You see everyone can win a Nobel Prize. The Chinese can, and the Americans can as well. It's where you are born and where you receive your education that makes the difference. As long as the political system in China does not change, there's absolutely no chance that it will make any significant scientific contribution to the world. It will be the world's factory all right, but it will never produce the next GOOG, MSFT, or INTC. The high schoolers in China are not trained to think creatively. They are taught to follow orders and find answers in textbooks. Our higher education system is a joke (if you have ever been to a Chinese university, you'd know why). The US may be falling behind in its K-12 education system but ies higher education system is THE best in the world, par none. You see what the US does best is to create an open atmosphere so that every gem will shine. You will be appreciated (and rewarded) for making original contributions. As such, top talents of the world will continue to flow to the US. And remember, it's the colleges and universities that are producing tomorrow's leaders in science, engineering and business, and as long as the US can retain its lead in higher education, it will continue to lead in these areas.
Command economies face the problem of their institutions of higher learning being dominated by political party hacks who religiously tow the party lines and crush independent thought. Soros's Civic Education Project was all about remedying this. He sent western ABD's and prof.s over to Eastern Europe to retrain these departments to teach. Interestingly, many of the students who would have languished under the old system, usually for want of connections or brown nosing, ended up creating all sorts of unique opportunities for themselves, their institutions, and their countries. A high proportion qualifyed for Fullbright scholarships and many others went on to hold public office or high level positions in governement civil service as these countries made the transition to a western economic model and democracy. The every gem can shine on its merits analogy is apropos.