Transcript Education in China - Powerpoint Palooza

Education in China
National Consortium for Teaching
about Asia Study Tour
July,2004
If you think about education in
China, what images come to
your mind?
You may have images which are
no longer valid, I know that I
learned a lot about modern
China from seeing these
schools.
As teachers touring China we
had the opportunity to visit
several schools. We saw their
best schools and sat down to
talk with both teachers and
students. It amazed us how
fluent their English was
compared to our Chinese!
Changping # 1 High School
Two groups of American
teachers, about 55 people,
visited the Changping # 1 High
School outside Beijing. We
spent about 2 hours touring it
and talking with students and
faculty.
Students practice English
School is out in July, so the
students and faculty returned
just to talk to us. The students
English was very good but
many were very worried they
would not say something right
and were very shy as a result.
Learning calligraphy
A calligraphy demonstration
Their computer lab
The Professor from Beijing
introduces their Principal
Beijing University
Entrance to Beijing Universitry is by
exams given in early July. Our Beijing
guide was one of 200,000 who took the
exam from her province. Only 22 were
accepted to study at Beida. It is China’s
Harvard, MIT and Princeton all rolled
into one university . Admittance carries
enormous prestige and can also bring
excellent job offers after graduation.
Beijing University is one of the
few reforms made in the 1890’s
which survived the Empress
Cixi’s scrutiny. It’s creation was
controversial but it managed to
survive and grow.
Professor Zhang & Michelle OUR GUIDE
a typical meal
Serving Peking Duck
The buildings have lovely
decorations
No Name Lake
A stone boat
A palace on No Name Lake
Morning lessons in Tai Chi
A sculpture on campus
81 year old Professor Yang lectured on
Chinese architecture
Explaining how the Forbiden City is
designed to compliment Feng Shui.
The center of the Forbidden City is the Hall of
Supreme Harmony where the Emperor held his
audiences.
The Forbidden City sits on a northsouth axis. It has an “ man made
mountain “ created at the north called
Coal Hill. The city is surrounded by a
moat because a water feature is
required for good Feng Shui. This was
considered the center of the world by
the Chinese and symbolized the power
of the Emperor.
A calligraphy lecture &
demonstration
Professor Yang is a living treasure in
China and celebrated for his
exceptional talent as a master
calligrapher. His poetry has been
carved into a mountain to celebrate
this. He has incredible energy which
he attributes to practicing calligraphy
every day.
“ Spring “ character
How a character evolves
Chengdu, China
• Chengdu is in far western China. It is the
gateway city to travel to Tibet.Many
foreigners only stop here to get the
needed permits to enter Tibet. Chengdu is
an industrial city with a long history of silk
production. The river running through
Chendgu is called the Brocade river
because it used to be brightly colored by
the process of dying silk brocades.
Chengdu Primary School
• This primary school takes children 2-6
years of age. It combines daycare and
pre-school and is extremely expensive .
• It has a teacher to student ratio of 1
teacher for every 5 students. No class has
more than 20 students and children help to
grow the food they eat at snack and lunch
in a small garden plot.
A small waterfall.
A mountain to improve children’s motor skills
A swimming pool for
children to play in .
A water element to play on
Pre school children are
constantly shown written
Chinese characters so they
become familiar with them. This
is the beginning of learning how
to write them .
A padded play ground
A tour of the playground
This school has every possible
advantage and a very low
teacher to pupil ratio. The tuition
makes it unaffordable for the
majority of people in Chengdu.
The environment was creative
and designed to make students
more creative.
What questions do you have
about Chinese education after
seeing these slides? Do you
have more choice about your
education or do the Chinese
students ?
Each students who is accepted
into a college or university has
to pay for it but it is much less
expensive than our own system.
There are few scholarships so
often families go into debt to
help pay the fees.
Upon graduation, you have to
find a job yourself, the
government no longer gives you
one. It is a very competative
market. There are financial
incentives for people who will
work in western China since few
want to do so.