This is my
fourth and final blog in the 4 weekly quartet on the experiment to apply 4 weeks of Chinese teaching methods in a class of
fifty, 13 – 14 year old British students in a UK school. So which was the best
method?
At the end of
‘term’ comparative exams, between the experimental 50 British students, and the
remainder of students who had been following the normal British routine - the Chinese methods won overall. Here were
the results in averages:
METHODS USED
|
MATHS SCORE
|
MANDARIN SCORES
|
SCIENCES SCORES
|
Chinese
|
67.74%
|
46.0%
|
58.33%
|
British
|
54.84%
|
36.6%
|
6.00%
|
Differences
|
12.9
|
9.4
|
52.33
|
So clearly, the
Chinese method proved to win out in the end. However, some factors need to be considered. The average
classroom contact hours were twice as long (12 vs 6 hrs per day). Classroom size
of 50 students was large compared to average British numbers (20 – 25
students). Initially, only a small number if British students adapted well to
the rigor and discipline, and they may have done well academically, anyway. It
took the Chinese teachers 2 – 3 weeks to ‘win over’ the remainder of kids, who
were really resisting the Chinese methods, giving up easily. Had the experiment
continued, they may all have adapted, and actually done even better.
A British
teacher observed that students are grouped according to ability, and his
philosophy is that learning must be fun and students must enjoy classes. The
respect earned by British teachers is that, with smaller classes, and this
philosophy, students come to view a teacher more as facilitator and coach. The
teacher focuses more on the personality of students and helping them discover
their potential holistically and independently. Students are encouraged to
think critically and have individual opinions.
The Chinese
teachers in this said they would like to get more respect, although towards the
end, they did. When the results came out, the students were actually elated,
and hugged the Chinese teachers. Their strict discipline paid off in the end.
Also, comparing the long hours of formal classroom teaching and then review of
learning in groups, plus 3 – 4 hours
homework (up to 16 hours in total per day) the results should be better anyway.
Overall, the
comparison was probably not fair as the other British students only put in 50%
of the hours. But herein lies the big differences in a system, not just a culture!
The population of China is immense, so the competition and family pressure to
excel, is far greater. The same pressure is on teachers, so school pride is nearly
as strong as national pride.
This, is again
where British kids have it much more easy and probably enjoy school much more.
If I were to compare my own school experience, while I didn’t excel
academically until well after school, I have great memories of a rich and
holistic learning, with freedom of expression (eg: through debating, acting,
art and classes on comparative philosophies) as well as many other subjects of
choice and a wide range of co-curricula activities.
After morning
classes, every afternoon, I had a choice to swim, shoot, play squash, tennis or
fives and rugby. I could box, fence, play chess, do rowing and even play
billiards. I could join the cadet force, scouts, air or sea scouts and go
camping, hiking, mountain climbing, kayaking or sailing.
So, I am not
sure I would want to trade in all that choice, for the rigour of the Chinese education
system. But then, I am not Chinese! I’m British. Look forward to your comments.
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