Chapter 2 Education.docx

Chapter 2 Education.docx

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Chapter2Education

Chapter2Education

1.Whatiseducation?

Formostpart,educationreferstotrainingandinstructionofchildrenandyoungpeopleinschoolstogiveknowledgeanddevelopskills.

Educationreferstotheprocessoflearningandacquiringinformation.Educationcanbedividedintotwomaintypes:

formallearningthroughaninstitutionsuchasaschoolandself-taughtlearningorwhatisoftentermedlifeexperience.Generally,educationisimportantforlearningbasiclifeskills,aswellaslearningadvancedskillsthatcanmakeapersonmoreattractiveinthejobmarket.

2.Howtoimproveoureducation?

Mathquestionleavespupilsdazed

（ChinaDaily）Updated:

2014-04-3009:

02

Theideaoftestingstudents'facultieshaspromptededucatorstopeppertheirquestionpaperswithmanyproblematicquestions,which,toacertainextent,isunderstandable.ButwhatisnotunderstandableisamathprobleminanexaminationpaperforgradefivestudentsinXuzhou,Jiangsuprovince,becauseitisillogical,saysanarticleinYangtzeEveningNews.Excerpts:

Someunusual（ortrick）questions,whichseemquitedifficult,areactuallyaimedattestinghowmuchattentionstudentshavepaidtocurrentaffairsandhotsocialissues,aswellastotesttheircapacitytothinkoutsidethebox.Infact,thepublichasapprovedoftheseseeminglyunusualquestions,becausetheyareaimedatdevelopingstudents'faculties.

Buttheprobleminfifth-graders'mathquestionisridiculous.Itgoeslikethis:

Xiaoming'smomspent8yuanon15apples,20peachesandonewatermelon,howoldisshe?

SincetheageofXiaoming'smomhasnothingtodowithwhatshebought,whereisthelogicinthequestion?

Amongotherthings,mathematicistaughttostudentstocultivatelogicalthinkingandtosharpentheirreasoningskills.Butforthat,therehastobeaninnatelogicbetweenthequestionstheyareaskedandtheanswerstheyaresupposedtogive.Althoughmorepeoplesaystudentsshouldnotberestrictedtogivespecificanswerstospecificquestionssothattheycangivefullplaytotheirdivergentthinking,thatispossibleonlyincaseofsubjectivetopicsrelatedtohistoryorChineselanguage.Sincescienceisallaboutcorrectnessandobjectivity,itdoesn'thaveroomfordivergent,contradictoryormeaninglessanswerstoquestions.

Themathquestionhasbeenwidelycriticizedbynetizens.Andrightlyso,becauseitisrelatedtoneitherqualityeducationnordivergentthinking,andcausesnothingbutconfusion.

TheopinionsexpressedonthispagedonotnecessarilyreflectthoseofChinaDaily.（ChinaDaily04/30/2014 

Schooltestsblamedforsuicides（2014-05-14）

Pressureofexam-basedsystemleadsteenstokillthemselves,reportsaysThetest-orientededucationalsystemisthecauseofmanysuicidesamongelementaryandmiddleschoolstudentsinChina,aneducationreportsaidonTuesday.AccordingtotheAnnualReportonChina'sEducation（2014）,ortheBlueBookofEducation,releasedonTuesday,mostoftheteenagerswhokilledthemselvesareinmiddleschool,andtheydidsomainlybecausetheycouldnotbeartheheavypressureofthetest-orientededucationsystem.Thebluebookwasreleasedbythe21stCenturyEducationResearchInstitute,anonprofiteducationresearchorganizationcomposedofeducationalprofessorsandexperts.Teenagesuicideshaveraisedconcernamongpeopleafterdozensofsuchcaseswerereportedin2013.OnJan11,2013,amiddleschoolstudentinHohhot,theInnerMongoliaautonomousregion,jumpedfromthetopofabuildingafterlearningthathisscoreinarecenttestdropped.OnMay2,a13-year-oldboyinNanjing,Jiangsuprovince,hangedhimselfathomeafterhefailedtofinishhishomework.AgirlinSichuanprovincekilledherselfbycuttingherwristandtakingpoisononJune22afterthecollegeentranceexamresultswerereleased,assheknewthatshecouldn'tbeadmittedintoauniversitywithherscores.ChengPingyuan,aprofessorofNanjingNormalUniversityandtheleaderofthestudy,saidinthebluebookthatmostoftheteenagerskilledthemselvesbecauseofpressure.Analyzing79casesofprimaryandmiddleschoolstudentsuicidesin2013,Chengfoundthat92.7percentofthemdidsoafterarguingwiththeirteachersorhavinglivedundertheheavypressureofstudy."Thepursuitofhightestscoresnotonlybringspressuretostudents,butalsototeachers,makingtherelationshipbetweenteachersandstudentsworse,especiallywhenstudentsperformpoorlyinexams,whichfinallyleadstosomestudents'suicides,"hesaidinthebluebook.Thestudyalsofoundthat63percentofthesuicidesoccurredbetweenFebruaryandJuly,thesecondhalfoftheacademicyear,whensomeimportantexams,suchasthehighschoolentranceexamsandthecollegeentranceexams,areheld.Ofthe79suicidecases,33weremiddleschoolstudentsand28werehighschoolstudents,indicatingstudents'sensitivityduringtheiradolescence.However,ChuZhaohui,aseniorresearcheronbasiceducationattheNationalInstituteofEducationSciences,saidacademicpressureisonlyoneofmanyfactorsthatleadtosuicideamongteenagers.Thecircumstancesofthemiddleandhighschoolyearsshouldalsobeconsidered,hesaid."Themiddleandhighschoolperiodisaspecialstageforchildren,atransitionfromchildrentoadult.Duringthatperiod,childrentendtoberebellious."Theirthoughtsarequitedifferentfromthoseoftheirparentsorteachers.Theyareconfusedovermanythings,buttheyusuallychoosetohidetheirtruefeelingsanddealwitheverythingbythemselves,whichisverydangerous,"hesaid.Undersuchcircumstances,Chubelievedthatmorecommunicationisneededbetweenstudentsatthisstageandtheirteachersandparents."Parentsandteachersshouldoftentalktothechildren,gettoknowtheirneedsandrespecttheirthoughts,"Chusaid."Thisisasimplethingtodo,butreallyeffective."zhaoxinying@

WhenlearningislaborlostByChengFucai（ChinaDaily）Updated:

2014-05-1009:

44

Thetruevalueofeducationisnoteconomicsuccessbutpursuitofknowledgeanddevelopmentofpersonality

StudentsfromShanghaicontinuedtheirimpressiveperformanceatthe2012ProgramforInternationalStudentAssessment,takingthefirstplaceinmathematic,readingandscience.Theresultsofthetests,conductedbytheOrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopmenteverythreeyears,hasonceagainsparkedadebateoverwhetherothercountriesandregionsshoulddrawinspirationfromShanghai's"success".Incidentally,Shanghaistudentshadalsoledthefieldin2009,whenthelasttestswereheld.

InFebruary,BritishEducationMinisterElizabethTrussledadelegationtoShanghaiandvisitedalocaljuniorhighschooltoobservethecity'steachingpractices.AlthoughitmaynotbeinChinesepeople'sinteresttocommentontheBritishdelegation'sfact-findingmission,atleasttwofactsrevealedbythemediadeserveattention.

ThefirstwasrevealedinaphotographofTrusswatchingChinesechildrenduringaphysicaleducationclass:

fiveofthesixstudentswerewearingglasses.ItishardtosaywhetherthehighrateofshortsightednessamongShanghaistudentshasanythingtodowiththelonghourstheyspendporingoverbooks（andhencetheirstrongperformanceatPISA）.ButstatisticsdoshowthatahigherpercentageofstudentsinShanghaisuffersfrommyopiathanthoseinSingaporeorBritain.

ThehighincidenceofmyopiaamongShanghaistudentscanbeattributedtotheirheavyworkload,becauseonaveragetheyspend13.8hoursaweekdoinghomework.Incontrast,childreninOECDmemberstatesspendonlysevenhoursaweekonhomework.Shanghaistudentscontinuetooutperformtheircounterpartsfromothercountriesandregionsbecausetheyspendtwiceasmuchtimeonhomework.Thisisabigburdenforchildrenwhichforcesmanytoplaytruant,dropoutofschoolor,inextremecases,commitsuicide.

ThesecondfactwasrevealedinwhatTrusssaidaboutherinteractionwiththestudents.Shesaidthemostpopularanswertoherquestion,"whatdoyouwanttobe",was"scientist"or"engineer".Thisisnotsurprisinggiventhedeep-rootedconceptamongChinesepeoplethateducationisameansofachievingsuccessinlifeandclimbingthesocialladder.

Manyparents,teachersandschoolsevenbelievethateducationisofnouseifitcannotbringeconomicsuccess,andthefirstconcretesteptowardthatsuccessisforastudenttogethighmarks.Becauseofthisdeep-rootedbelief,thedelightinthepursuitofknowledge,andthedevelopmentofpersonalityandsenseofsocialresponsibility-whichshouldbetherealpurposeofeducation-areoftencompromised,ifnotaltogetherignored.

Manyparentsandteachershavecometobelievethatagoodacademicrecordisatickettoagooduniversity,andenrollinginagooduniversityincreasesthechancesoflandingagoodjobandthusleadingagoodlife.ShanghaioccupiesthetopspotonthePISAtablebecauseitfollowsthisutilitarianlogic,raisingdoubtswhetheritsschoolsystemreallydeservestheplauditsithasbeenreceiving.

Themisguidededucationalphilosophyofutilitarianismhastakenrooteveninsecond-andthird-tiercities.Theboomingofthepre-schooleducationindustry,includingearlychildhoodeducationandextracurriculartrainingforschool-agedchildren,meansthatchildrenhavenotimeforrecreation.Gonearethedaysofcarefreechildhood.

Somepeopleattributethephenomenontotheshortageofqualityeducationresources.ButChinaisnottheonlycountryfacingtheshortageofgoodeducationresources.So,parents'andteachers'obsessionwithgradesisactuallytoblameforthephenomenon.

Thefirst30yearsofNewChinawasd