Exams...lessons or problems with the Chinese Education System

I proctored my first set of true exams this past week, and I am not sure if I walked away from the experience feeling that I learned something that should be applied to the U.S. system, or if instead I feel like the Chinese system should change. I suppose like any of the more complex issues in life (like the education system) there are bits of both.

The first thing that I would really like to change...or not...about the Chinese system is the pressure placed on this kids. There are some negatives...like expecting 7th and 8th grade students to be able to concentrate on their tests when taking 5 mid term exams in one day while there are distractions like other classes being very loud outside to keep them from concentrating on the task at hand. I think it is absurd to place 5 tests in one day, especially when we have the whole week to give exams...and then some. Because next week is the May holiday, we have classes on Saturday and Sunday to compensate for the time off. Gives a whole new definition to time off. They have plenty of opportunities to give the exams over the course of the week, but instead on Tuesday the students had a 2 hour Chinese exam, a 20 minute break, an hour history exam, a 20 minute break, an hour psychology exam, 2 hours for lunch, then two more exams in the afternoon. Five exams in one day is a lot for anyone to handle. In college, if you had more than 2 finals you could ask to get one of the changed, but not here. It is just what happens.

The part of the pressure on the students that I am not sure if I would change is that at least among the better students there is a lot of competition to do the best. These exams are all scored together and a ranking of the class is posted. We do the same thing closer to graduation, but here it starts in 6th grade. All of the kids are taking the same tests as well so it makes for a much better comparison of the different kids than the U.S. system where in some cases Honors classes and shop class grades are counted the same. Here your class rank determines where you take the tests. The first seat in the first classroom closest to the door is where the top student sits for exams. Behind her is the number 2 student and so on in a snake like pattern through all five classrooms. To be in the top 30 means a spot in the first classroom and a certain amount of prestige. There is, however, then a clear indication of who does not score well and with it a certain stigma that is attached to these kids. While the system is not perfect, I think I like it. It gives all the kids something to strive for and clearly shows who is putting in the effort to everyone else.

I have finished grading the exams and am much happier with the scores this time around than on the initial exam. Overall the kids did a lot better, probably because these scores count for rank whereas the others did not. Since about an hour after finishing the exam, I have been bombarded with kids asking what their scores were. The ones that ask are of course the ones with nothing to worry about, but they still need to remain patient. They will find out on Saturday what their grades are. I am not sure if the grades really mean much other than class rank, but for them they are very important.

I have just a few days of teaching before the break, but I am not as certain as last time if I am goin anywhere. Train tickets are in high demand over the May Holiday as this is one of just two times a year when most Chinese people travel. I find out in the next 24 hours if I have secured train tickets or not. If not, it is a week stuck in Beijing, not that this is so horrible, but I was really hoping to see some other parts of the country. If I am stuck here though, it means less expense and a chance to really explore some of the hidden parts of the city. If I am here I will write more soon, if we do go to Xi'an however, it will be after I return before I update more.

All the best...

Trial by Fire...The First Days of Teaching

So, I have obviously already begun my job here. I am teaching in a classroom for the first time in my life and so far I must say that it is going pretty well. The first week, however, was pretty rough. I have the world's best schedule...for now. I am not sure how I continue to get lucky with my jobs and class schedules, but I currently have the perfect schedule. I have 12 periods of class (with only 5 distinct lessons) every week with no classes on Monday's or Friday's. This may change however, as another teacher in the Middle School just resigned leaving a hole in the Social Studies department. I expect to hear soon if I will be adding some of her classes to my schedule. Either way, I think that I will still have at least one day free during the week to give myself more time to explore the city of Beijing.

I came here with the expectation of being primarily and ESL teacher with a chance that I would be teaching some history classes in addition to the ESL classes. When I got here I was thrilled to find out that I would be teaching primarily history with only three ESL classes. This is a great situation for me because I find it much easier to become engaged in the history material. Lesson planning is more straight forward (most of the learning in China is conducted in lecture format) and I am much more interested in History than I am in grammer. Here at Huijia (Hway-ja) there is a primary school, the bilingual middle school, an International Baccalaureate High School and the Man's College (the only all male high school in China).

I am teaching history to 7th and 8th graders. Ancient World History to the 7th graders who I only see one time per week and Modern (post 1500) World History to the 8th Graders who I see two times per week. In addition I am the first foreign teacher in Huijia's history to assist with teaching Chinese History to 7th graders (Once every two weeks). Chinese History has always been taught in Chinese, never before in English. I am excited to be able to bring a new perspective, a western perspective to Chinese History. My co-teacher (Mae) seems appreciative that I am willing to teach Chinese History and has encourage me to share my own perspective on issues, encouraging to teach a slightly different history than the book teaches. Mae sits in on almost all of my classes to (at times) translate for me. In the 7th grade classroom we split the teaching time 65%-35% with me teaching in English most of the time, interrupted by periods of clarification of technical historical terms in Chinese for the students. It is a great system and for the most part the kids seem into the lessons so far.

These classes have been going very well and I absolutely love to teach history. It is a great lesson for me to prepare lessons on topics that I am familiar with (and was in many ways before I was formally taught these subjects) to kids that have no idea what I am talking about. Topics that are so far removed from their worldview that they few of them have come across before this time. With my 7th graders I got to teach them about Reincarnation in relation to the Caste System in India and the idea of a soul, not to mention re-birth was completely foreign to them. By the end of the lesson it was clear that they did grasp the concept through their questions. In 8th grade this week I taught about the Slave Trade to the America's. In the United States we are taught about slavery (or at least I was) from a very young age and throughout our time in school we begin to grasp the realities of this embarrassing chapter in our nations history. Imagine getting all the gruesome, heart wrenching details of this period without any prior knowledge of the subject. That is what I was able to share with the kids this week, teaching them the reality of this horrible period in my nation's history, revealing to them that there are times in every nation's past that when looked back upon, does not make sense. This willingness to evaluate and critique past mistakes is something that is still pretty uncommon in Chinese culture. The status quo through propaganda is still alive and well here.

In addition to my History classes I am also teaching English in the Man's College. This is a small school (about 80 kids) that has a somewhat militiristic curriculum. I am the only foreign teacher that has been in the school this year. I teach three classes and I was given very basic instructions by the Dean of the school on how I should teach...he said "it is more important that the student's like you than it is for them to learn grammer" (through a translator so the translation may be just a bit off). I can handle those sorts of instructions. I only see these classes one time per week and so far we have had very casual conversations about a variety of topics. It is very informal and I question if I am doing enough with them. It is my hope that through these casual conversations I am able to expand their vocabularies and increase their comfort with the English language.

Life here is pretty good. I am waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, but all in all I am loving it here. There will be more updates soon. Everyone try to stay safe.