Chinese Top In Tests, But Educators Call For Reform
http://www.npr.org/2010/12/29/132416889/chinese-top-in-tests-but-still-have-lots-to-learnChinese academic Zhang Minxuan is a happy man. The jovial administrator has just learned that the Shanghai school system he oversees has topped the global PISA tests.
"All Chinese people, no matter poor or rich, they have very high expectations in education. That kind of culture pushes people to study and study and study. I think this is very important," Zhang says.
Limitations Of The System
At the Zhabei No. 8 Middle School in the northern part of Shanghai, it's business as usual.
The teacher teaches, the students repeat, and even the principal admits the feared final high school exam that gets you into college — known as the gaokao — is all simply about memorization and rote learning. That principal, Liu Jinghai, though he is proud of his students for testing well, says the West shouldn't worry about the PISA results.
"Developed countries like the U.S. shouldn't be too surprised by these results. They're just one index, one measure that shows off the good points of Shanghai's and China's education system. But the results can't cover up our problems," he says.
Liu is very frank about those problems — the continuing reliance on rote learning, the lack of analysis or critical thinking — and he says the system is in dire need of reform.
