China Children Getting All Stressed Out
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Check out this article in the China Daily, entitled, "http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2008-02/15/content_6458887.htmMental Health Master Plan," on the stress China's children face from parents who want them studying constantly and reading only that which is prescribed by adults (h/t One-Eyed Panda's Journal).
This has to impact innovation/independent thinking, don't you think?
Comments (6)
Read through and enter the discussion by using the form at the endFOARP - March 31, 2008 5:21 AM
Well, it sure as H-E-double hockey-sticks has an effect on the levels of cultural awareness, the general knowledge of the populace, the level of enjoyment that people get from life, and above all the quality and variety of conversation that one finds in China.
As for all of it breeding a narrow point of view which limits innovation, I've never been as all-fired certain on this one as a lot of other people have been. Korea, Japan and Taiwan have similarly intense education systems and seem to be quite innovative in many areas of technology. Many people quote instances of extremely in-the-box thinking from Chinese people when faced with problem-solving tasks as evidence of a narrow point of view - but I would say this is only part of the story. In a recent interview, neurologist Malcolm Gladwell explained how the year-on-year increases that are seen in IQ average scores are cause not by increases in the actual intelligence of the population, but by our society increasingly being one that prepares people for taking such tests. The same skills that westerners learn through, say, creating a computer program in BASIC as a child, means that when faced with a logic question in a test they are that much more prepared to answer it. I would say that since most Chinese did not grow up in the kind of technologically-litereate world that would prepare them for facing such tasks, and that this is the reason for the perceived lack of problem-solving skills.
Finally, it has to be said that although education up to the age of 18 in China is amoung the most rigourous in the world, university is, for many Chinese students, a more relaxed time that that experienced by many western university students. Of the 50 students who started my degree, only 25 were awarded a degree - the rest either failed or dropped out. A similarly-sized class in the same subject at, say, Nanjing South East University, would only have 10% at the very most of the students either fail or drop out.
It also has to be said that many parents are not above bribing teacher and school officials to give their children better grades, and that cheating and plagiarism are rife.
John Guise - March 31, 2008 6:28 PM
Hey Dan
Thanks for the hat tip. Creativity and innovation in China is an issue that I think schools in China really need to work on. It's the only sustainable way to grow the high-tech and service sectors here.
J.
Pffefer - April 1, 2008 3:00 PM
How different is the Chinese education system from the Japanese and South Korean systems? The Japanese and South Koreans are innovative.
FOARP - April 2, 2008 5:47 PM
@Pfeffer - I think the non-similarity is in fact yours to prove. The Chinese and Korean education systems are both based on the Japanese system, which is, in turn, based on the ancient Chinese system. All work towards the exam, all teach nothing that will not be examined, all have little in the way of coursework, all allow much greater average marks (70%+) that I am used to in the UK - thus making the exams much more about not making misatkes than about coming up with innovative solutions, all rely on cram schools to fill the gaps and all define rote learning as their main objective. Please define what you mean when you say when you say that Korean/Japanese education is 'innovative'.
ZL - April 2, 2008 10:06 PM
I think what Pffefer is saying is that despite having very similar education systems (which you appear to agree with), South Korea and Japan are not typically though of as not being able to be creative and innovative (especially when considering technology fields)
FOARP - April 3, 2008 3:57 PM
Then maybe I didn't explain myself well enough. Malcolm Gladwell's theory is that people who grow up in technological societies aquire problem-solving skills through every-day contact with technology - hence the ever-increasing IQ test scores. People who grow up in a farming village in Anhui are therefore likely to be less adept at solve problems through lateral thinking than someone who grow up amidst the bright light of Seoul. Assuming this theory is true, rather than the education system being the reason for the perceived lack of innovative and problem-solving skills in China it is in fact the lack of widespread use of technology.
The main difference between the Japanese and Korean systems and the Chinese system in my opinion is simply the level of corruption currently found in Chinese schools. Communist education must also have some kind of effect, but it is hard to say the degree to which this effects innovation amoungst the students as it merely requires the same degree of rote learning and regurgitation of 'facts' as that found in many other subjects.
At any rate, many people have noted that the Chinese language itself creates the situation where the students who are best at rote learning are the most likely to succeed. You might be the most innovative free thinker in the world, but if you cannot sit down and memorise at least 3,000 words (both their pronunciation and the way in which they are written) then you will not be literate enough to set down your thoughts on paper.