Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ditional course structure, and restructuring education around the needs of the s
tudents.
Zhang Liang, a reformist educator and social entrepreneur, talks to students aft
er class at Cold Water Well Middle School. Zhang advocates breaking down the tra
ditional course structure, and restructuring education around the needs of the s
tudents.
Anthony Kuhn/NPR
Once the students' curiosity is ignited, Zhang's hopes are that students ultimat
ely can design their own courses of study, assign their own tasks, and make thei
r own rules. This is already happening at a private high school in the neighbori
ng city of Chongqing.
The kids at Cold Water Well aren't ready for that yet. They're younger
in grades
six through nine
and of the some 600 students, more than half are the children
of migrant laborers who have gone to work in other cities.
But the new teaching methods and philosophy have turned the school around, says
Vice Principal Wu Ge.
"When these kids entered the school, we ranked near the bottom of our district i
n terms of test scores," he says. "Three years later, they're graduating, and we
now rank first."
Zeng Liang, an eighth-grader at Cold Water Well, remembers how she was so afraid
of giving a wrong answer in class that her hands used to shake. But here, she d
oesn't need to worry about that.
Instead of listening to a teacher's lecture, the kids divide into groups, do the
ir own research using tablet computers, and discuss and debate their findings.
Students perform a creative writing exercise at Cold Water Well Middle School. S
tudents write descriptive prose from the perspective of a human statue, a blind
person feeling the statue, and an outside observer.
Students perform a creative writing exercise at Cold Water Well Middle School. S
tudents write descriptive prose from the perspective of a human statue, a blind
person feeling the statue, and an outside observer.
Anthony Kuhn/NPR
"When we were little, we all studied on our own," she recalls. "There was no ent
husiasm, and we didn't dare to speak our minds. Here we discuss and share our op
inions. Now I stand up and speak, whether I'm right or wrong."
Only a few decades ago, China had a Soviet-style education system. The state ass
igned college majors and jobs based on what the state needed, not what the stude
nt wanted. And some subjects like English
are taught the old-fashioned way, by r
epetition and rote memorization.
But in the past two or three years, Zhang Liang says, local governments have giv
en schools some leeway to try new things. Although the government retains nomina
l control over curricula and teaching plans, Zhang says they are tacitly allowin
g experimentation, or at least not interfering with it.
The implications are exciting, Zhang says.
"Look how active these kids are, how they discuss things as equals," he says. "O
nce that becomes habit, it will produce big changes in their values. They will l
ose their blind faith in the supreme authority of teachers, or of anyone else."
Students take part in a protest at the University of Hong Kong on Jan. 20. They
protested after a pro-Beijing official was appointed to a senior role, amid grow
ing worry over increasing political interference in academia.
PARALLELS
In Hong Kong, A Tussle Over Academic Freedom
Zhang is aware that the independent thinkers he trains could have a rough time f
itting into China's authoritarian system. So Zhang teaches his students how to n
avigate the political minefields of Chinese society.
"In the private sphere, you are the highest authority, and you decide everything
," he tells them. "But in the public sphere, it's not all about you, and you hav
e to regulate your behavior according to a set of public rules."
This is a novel approach in China, where students are seldom told what rights in
the private sphere the government can't touch, and what activities in the publi
c sphere citizens have a right to participate in.
Zhang says Chinese authorities haven't completely realized the impact these refo
rms could have on their authoritarian system. They're too busy trying to cope wi
th sweeping shifts in both social attitudes and demographics. And this is what i
s driving the changes.
Students connect into a "chemical reaction" during an unconventional game of tag
.
Students connect into a "chemical reaction" during an unconventional game of tag
.
Anthony Kuhn/NPR
China's population is aging. Schools have to compete for a shrinking number of s
tudents by providing more individualized instruction.
Secondary education has become a buyers' market, Zhang says, and parents with ki
ds in both public and private schools are increasingly aware of their rights as
consumers.
"School principals tell us that they're getting more and more pressure from pare
nts," Zhang says. "Parents are starting to intervene when they feel that the sch
ool is treating their kids like cramming and testing machines."
The number of children who need glasses has risen quickly across East Asia and S
outheast Asia. But some parents and doctors in China are skeptical of lenses. Th
ey think glasses weaken children's vision.
GOATS AND SODA
Why Is Nearsightedness Skyrocketing Among Chinese Youth?
The children of wealthy Chinese attend classes designed to teach them how to do
things like raise money for charity. The parents pay up to $10,000 a year to sen
d their kids to weekend classes.
PARALLELS
Children Of China's Wealthy Learn Expensive Lessons
As a result, the number of students taking the high-pressure national college en
trance exam has dropped to new lows in Beijing and other cities, as parents send
their kids overseas for study or choose alternate paths, such as homeschooling
or vocational education.
The government responded in 2014 by allowing students to choose three of six sub
jects to be tested in. Before, students were only tested in math, English and Ch
inese, and there was a strict division between students studying humanities and
sciences.
Very few of Zhang's students have taken the national college entrance exam
he ha
s been in the education business for only four years but he is confident that ba
sed on their performance at his schools they should have no problem with it.
Zhang says his foray into the education business has seen its ups and downs. He