Final Paper Draft

The Modern Chinese Education

                Since the formation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China has become one of the largest and most significant countries in the world. Through strong leadership and a well laid out plan, China has become an economic force that is influential internationally with the second largest gross domestic product (Jeffrey). This rise to power can be attributed to China’s active strides towards modernization, one of which is their educational system. The Chinese educational system is advanced and creates large amounts of educated students. Education in China is broken into four parts: Elementary, Middle, High, and Post secondary schools.

                The first step in the Chinese educational system is elementary schools. Elementary schooling is provided by the government and is free to attend by students. First year of enrollment usually will take place around age six and lasts until age eleven. The school day lasts about eight hours from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon (Ganderton).  As the students go through this primary school, their main study is math and language with other side subjects.

                A major pride of the Chinese Education is the scores that students test in both math and science. To obtain these high marks in these subjects, students start studying mathematics young. During elementary school, “Chinese and mathematics accounted for about 60 percent of the scheduled class time” (“Wikipedia”). Other subjects taught are a secondary language, often English, introduced around third grade. Also social science, natural science, physical education, and art are covered. With so many subjects covered, there is a good amount of stress put onto the children.

                In the elementary schools of china, it is regular for children to be required to take exams. Success on these tests is crucial in the eyes of both parents and teachers for the student to succeed in a very crowded and competitive place of study. “A survey of 9 to 12-year-olds in eastern China found that more than 80 per cent worried "a lot" about exams, two-thirds feared punishment by their teachers and almost three-quarters reported fearing physical punishment from their parents.” (Foster). Children also are given out of school work to help reinforce learning. This workload continues through the Chinese education system onto the next level, middle school.

                Middle school in China begins around the age twelve and or at the grade seven. Students stay in middle for three years graduating after ninth grade. The duration of school is increased during middle school by two hours with the days beginning at seven in the morning and lasting until five at night. Middle school like elementary school is provided by the government for free for students to attend. When transitioning from elementary to middle school much of the classes and schedules stay the same.

                When looking at the time allotted towards various subjects in middle school, the emphasis on math and science become clear.  Mathematics and science are given more time dedicated to allow for deeper teaching. Other subjects covered are Chinese, secondary language, social sciences, physical education, music, and drawing. These subjects covered help the student with further educational study. “The primary objective of the middle schools is to instill basic knowledge and to lay a foundation for more advanced training” (Thomas and Linda 10) With more hours in each school day, there is more material covered which also leads to faster and harder paced learning which can cause student stress.

                Middle school’s faster pace leaves some students behind or not ready for the workload. In many Chinese middle schools, out of class tutoring is promoted to help students fully learn the content. Exams, homework, and outside of class study are present at the middle school level. Teacher relationships with students are present in that a teacher will know which of the students are struggling and pressure them to get back on track. Teachers of middle school will try to get the best out of their students. Moving from middle school to high school is the first major difference between schools and student responsibility grows.

                At the age of fifteen or the grade of ten, students begin high school. High school differs from middle and elementary in that it is a crucial time to decide one’s future plans. If a student plans secondary education after high school, not only will the student take the normal twelve hours from seven to seven six days a week it is common to go to cram schools. Cram schools are out of school tutoring where the student can get one on one time with teachers. Students who plan on going to secondary are required to work more due to the competitive exams at the end of school which allow the students into university at the end of high school. High school last three years or up until twelfth grade.

                In high school topics covered are “Aside from math and science, students take Chinese, English, history, literature, music, art and physical education” (Mack) These classes most the material on the Gaokao, the university entrance exam, but students are promoted to out of school learning to prepare. Memorization is expected from the students in the fields of math and science. Since all the studying in high school leads to a large exam, stress levels are the highest at this grade range.

                Stress levels peek during high school for Chinese students because there are the most school hours, out of school work, and pressure to prepare for the Gaokao. Teachers of high school students are strict and punctual of study time, put into the words of a Chinese writer, “Teachers are a mixture of army training sergeants and Amway salesmen. The former abuses, the latter promises. A teacher is not only expected to teach, he also needs to motivate.” (Mu) A major stressor in high school is that the Gaokao exam put the students against each other as the test is competitive. It is normal for students to not help one another but to avoid it.

                Through strict study, Chinese students learn a great deal through the Chinese education system. Over the twelve years spent in school a Chinese pupil will go through elementary, middle, and high school and be ready for post secondary education if they chose so. Even though students may experience higher levels of stress than those of other nations, they are ready for a modern society.

 

Bibliography

References without quotes have been paraphrased.

"Education in the People's Republic of China." Wikipedia. N.p., 2 2012. Web. 10 Dec 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China>.

Foster, Peter. "Third of Chinese primary school children suffer stress, study finds ." Telegraph 19 1 2010, n. pag. Print.

Ganderton"How many hours a day does China students attend school in China?" Answers. N.p.. Web. 10 Dec 2012. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_hours_a_day_does_China_students_attend_school_in_China>.

Jeffrey, Hays. BASIC ECONOMIC INFORMATION ON CHINA: RANKINGS, GROWTH AND DODGY STATISTICS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec 2012. <http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=376&catid=9>.

Mack, Lauren. "School in China: Introduction to School and Education in China." About. About.com Guide. Web. 10 Dec 2012. <http://chineseculture.about.com/od/thechineselanguage/a/Introduction-To-Education-In-China.htm>.

Mu, Eric. " Confessions of a Chinese graduate." Danwei. N.p., 2 2011. Web. 10 Dec 2012. <http://www.danwei.com/confessions-of-a-chinese-high-school-student/>.

Thomas, Fingar, and A. Reed Linda. An Introduction to Education in the People's Republic of China and U.S.- China Educational Exchanges. Revised. Washington D.C.: National Acedemy of Sciences, 1982. 10. Print.