What is the contemporary purpose of education in China?

Written by Emily Ausubel, Ian Chmar, Noah Dow

    What is the contemporary purpose of education in China?  There is a generally accepted goal for education- to empower the next generation of citizens. But what unique plans does China have for the education of its youth? There are two important factors to consider: China is a communist country, and it has an enormous population. The combination of the theories of the former element applied to the latter give China the ability to be an economic force. China seems focused on taking its place among the global leaders of this century. The translation of people from students into members of a society with a rapidly growing economy is an important consideration for the government. In what ways does China want to educate its students in order to continue its upward political and economic trajectory? In the following text, each of us explores a different purpose of Chinese education as well as our own ideas about education.

Noah:
    One of China’s distinguishing features is its massive population. At approximately 1.3 billion people, China is home to nearly one fifth of the world’s total population, despite having a land mass comparable to that of America. This large population is a huge asset for China. The enormous workforce that it creates has propelled China to grow at an incredible rate for the past two decades. The government has worked to fully harness the population into driving the economy forward. A wide variety of educational opportunities have been created to ensure that each member of society can contribute to the economic progress to the best of his or her respective ability. China’s large population affords the possibility of great achievement. China has done a tremendous job of fully employing all members of its society to help the country move forward.
    I believe that the purpose of education is to support people to grow as individuals.  It is to encourage them to discover their own thoughts about the world and how they want to live in it. I went to a Waldorf school for ten years and that has influenced my ideas about education to a great extent. I found that learning was much more important to me when I could investigate my studies on my own terms. Waldorf school afforded me that opportunity. The Chinese educational system is vastly different from what I experienced. Classes are large and students are encouraged to willingly absorb what the teacher says. China has well founded reasons for utilizing this style of educational system.  The diligence of the collective effort speaks to the communist values of the country. Through the rigorous school system, students realize the importance of dedication and hard work and then the benefits of both qualities when they matriculate to college.  When a particular university professor came to speak to us, she said that China was working to create a new generation of committed citizens. This is a crucial juncture in Chinese history. The subsequent era of Chinese people will help the country to take the next step from emerging economic power to eminent global player. Confucianism, a social philosophy deeply engrained in Chinese culture, espouses the value of respecting your elders. While it is a dangerous to generalize “Chinese culture,” because China is such an ethnically diverse country, there are certain tenets of Chinese society that support the present educational system. In China, students all attend the same kind of school, which promotes extreme unity, a Chinese value.  My own educational experience was unusual; it gave me a unique perspective, which, in general, is something Americans value.

Emily:
    In the past 16 years, China’s economy has taken off on one of the most acute advancements in history.  Its annual GDP growth has been hovering between 8 and 10% in recent years, and the GDP is the 4th highest in the world.  As a developing country, China is constantly looking to continue growing and remain in a position in which it is truly competitive in the global market.  In successfully advancing the economy, the Chinese government will gain approval and support from the country’s people.  Furthermore, as China’s global economic power increases, so too will its political power increase.  In shaping its educational system, China has devised a method in which each individual person is able to add to the nation’s economy.  
    All Chinese children are required to attend school for nine years: six years of elementary school and three years of middle school.  After these initial compulsory years, however, many children do not continue on in school.  Both middle and high school students are required to perform well on entrance exams to advance to the next level of education.  Those who do not are generally sent to vocational schools to learn a trade.  This system funnels those who are intelligent, hardworking and competitive into the professional sector of the economy and those who are not as academically inclined or competitive into the manual labor sector. China has realized that not everyone can contribute to the whole in the same manner and has established a way for each person to thrive using his or her abilities. For example, the blind in China are traditionally trained to be massage therapists, and many deaf and mute citizens are trained in computer technology and the arts.  By placing every person in an occupation in which he or she can succeed, China helps people feel content with their work, and enables everyone to contribute to the national economy.
    Jake Caccia, a British ex-pat living in Kunming with a son in one of the only alternative schools in the city, noted that, “Chinese education is very knowledge-heavy, learning-based - not very explorative, creative or principle-based.” After studying education for a month in China and reflecting on my education in the United States, I have drawn my own conclusion as to what the purpose of education should be: to promote curiosity and empower the student as an individual thinker, so that she can develop a method of critical analysis and feel responsible for her education.  Some schools in the United States follow a similar approach to education; however, many public schools, which educate the majority of American children, have been put under reforms by the government.  With the No Child Left Behind Act, the U.S. is transforming its education into an exam-based curriculum, similar to China’s. In shifting its educational system, is the U.S. aiming to improve its economy and global standing like China?  If so, does the U.S. pay enough attention to the approximately 70% of its citizens who do not earn a higher education?  Or, does the U.S. have another purpose for its education reforms than just expanding its economy and global standing?

Ian:
    What role does the Chinese government play in the education of its citizens?  China is a communist country and thus holds the fundamental value that the individual members of society must strive for the betterment of the whole.  Conformity is applauded; individuality is frowned upon. Yunnan Normal University professor, Shao ling Lee, imparted that education is primarily based on repetition and rote memorization with an emphasis placed on grades and exam scores.  These ideals appear to be instilled in the Chinese educational system by the Ministry of Education. A classroom pedagogy exists in which discussion is rare and students are lectured by their teachers, stifling critical thinking and analysis.  Students are told not to question what the teacher says but to accept their word as the truth.
    This classroom environment certainly does not compare with the education I received in the United States.  I have always been told to question what I learn and to pursue my curiosity.  I believe my way of thinking is because of my education in the U.S. and my opinions on education.  Public schools in the U.S. are controlled by state governments.  Chinese schools are controlled by the central government.  A centrally dictated curriculum appears to be beneficial to a communist government.  It teaches students to obey their superiors, conform to their peers’ ways, and not question what they are taught.  The Chinese communist party has only 70 million members in a country of 1.3 billion, a small percentage of the population.  As students are told to accept what the teacher tells them in school, they may be less inclined to question media put in place by the government.  Is it the goal of the government to use education as a medium for conveying political agenda?  Or do our cultural assumptions prevent us from understanding this system?  And finally, do our public schools in the U.S. reflect our government’s political agenda?

    Having witnessed education in America and now in China, we have seen how cultural values determine education’s focus.  We are left with this question: What is most important to us? The Chinese value the willing contribution of the individual to society.  In America, we value unique thought and the individual’s capacity for innovation. One cannot necessarily compare these two positions objectively. Each exists specifically because of its country’s cultural values.  In China, a purpose of the country’s educational system seems to be to perpetuate its newfound economic growth.  By focusing primarily on this purpose, the Chinese system could be overlooking the value of individual thought and critical thinking.  This may be misguided, or this may be an advisable pursuit.  Who is to say?  As the world becomes more globalized, could education become uniform?  Is it even possible to pinpoint the true purpose of education, or will it always be subjective?