It is widely believed in the Western world. Chinese students are educated through rote and passive learning, and this educational system produces only obedient workers who lack innovation and creativity.
We argue that this is far from the truth. In fact, China’s education system produces highly talented students and a highly skilled and creative workforce. We think the world can learn something from this.
In a video that went viral earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook highlighted the unique concentration of skilled labor that drew his company’s manufacturing base to China.
In the United States, there may be a conference for tool engineers, but we don’t know if we’ll be able to fill the conference room. In China, it can fill multiple soccer fields.
In response, Tesla CEO Elon Musk immediately responded, “That’s right.”
When South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visited electric car maker BYD’s Shenzhen headquarters earlier this year, he was surprised to learn that the company plans to double its engineering force to 100,000 people within the next 10 years.
He might not have been so surprised if he had known that China’s universities produce more than 10 million graduates each year, the basis of a super-economy.
The Chinese Learner’s Paradox
Learners of Chinese achieve remarkable levels of success compared to Western learners or learners from non-Confucian traditions.
Since Shanghai first participated in the PISA education assessment in 2009, Chinese 15-year-olds have topped the league table three out of four times in reading, mathematics and science.
How can China’s supposedly passive and mechanical system outperform its Western counterpart? Many Australian academics have been trying to solve this ‘Chinese learner paradox’ since the 1990s. ” has been researched.
Their research shows that common perceptions about Chinese and other Asian learners are wrong. For example, repetition and meaningful learning are not mutually exclusive. There is a Chinese proverb as follows:
书读 100 寻其实现 – When you read something over and over again, its meaning becomes clear.
What can we learn from Western education?
The emphasis on education is a characteristic of Chinese culture. Since Confucianism became the state-sanctioned doctrine during the Han Dynasty (202 BC to 220 AD), education has permeated every structure of Chinese society.
This became especially evident after the Sui Dynasty (581-618 AD), when the Geshu system of civil service examinations was institutionalized.
Currently, the entrance examination for Gaokao universities is equivalent to modern-day Huazhou. Millions of school graduates take exams every year. For three days every July, Chinese society is largely brought to a standstill due to Gaoqiu.
The cultural drive for good education is a strong motivator for everyone involved in the system, but it is not something that can be easily learned and replicated in Western societies.
However, there are two principles that we believe are central to the success of Chinese education, both at the learner and system levels. We will use two Chinese idioms to explain these.
The first is called “orderly and gradual progress” – Circular 渐进. This principle emphasizes patient, gradual, and orderly learning sustained through grit and delayed gratification.
The second is called “thick accumulation before thin production” – thick and thin production. This principle emphasizes two important things:
A comprehensive foundation based on the accumulation of basic knowledge and skills. Assimilation, integration, and productive creativity can only occur after this solid foundation. Technique to Art: Since 2013, weekly calligraphy classes have been compulsory in Chinese elementary and middle schools. Photo: Getty Images/The Conversation
The method of learning calligraphy is the epitome of orderly, gradual progress. It changes from easy to difficult, from simple to complex, from imitation to free writing, from technique to art. Since 2013, it has been a compulsory weekly class in all elementary and middle schools in China.
The art of Chinese literature embodies patience, hard work, breathing, concentration, and an understanding of the natural beauty of rhythm. We teach Chinese values of harmony and aesthetic spirit.
“Thick accumulation” is exemplified by how students study very hard for higher national examinations and during their higher education. In this way, you will accumulate the basic knowledge and skills needed in modern society.
“Thin production” refers to the ability to narrow down or focus accumulated knowledge and skills to find and implement creative solutions in the workplace or elsewhere.
learning method
At first glance, the emphasis on gradual and steady progress and the accumulation of basic knowledge and skills may seem like a slow, tedious, and uninspiring process. This is the origin of a common myth about learning Chinese.
In reality, this boils down to a simple argument. Without a significant amount of fundamental knowledge and skills, there is little that can be absorbed and integrated for productive creativity.
Of course, Chinese language learning and teaching is particularly fraught with fierce competition and heavy emphasis on exams. However, our focus here is only to show how two basic educational principles support China’s scientific and technological progress in the modern knowledge economy.
We believe that these principles are transferable and may be useful to policy makers, scholars, and learners in other countries.
Peter Yongqi Gu is an Associate Professor in the School of Linguistics and Applied Linguistic Studies, Te Herenga Waka. Victoria University of Wellington Stephen Dobson is Professor and Head of the Faculty of Educational Arts at CQUniversity Australia.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
