ChinaDaily[971226-8]
Chinese News
China Daily
97 / 12 / 26 /
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1. Mathematics essential for children
2. Notes (Page 9, Date: 12/26/97)
3. Model prison prepares prisoners for society
4. What's on (Page 10, Date: 12/26/97)
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Mathematics essential for children
THE teacher eats half a watermelon and you eat half a watermelon.
Who eats more? The teacher or you?"
"It's hard to say, I haven't seen the picture."
"Well, but where did you eat the watermelon? In Uncle Zhang's home
or in Aunt Chen's?"
"Enn..., it depends on the thickness of the peel."
...
It is not a joke, but a serious psychological clinical question in
a test to check seven-year-olds' capacity for relative
mathematical thinking.
"It is hard for a seven-year-old pupil to tell the difference with
clear relative mathematical thinking. However, if we train them in
proper ways, they can understand the concept which is the
foundation of their future mathematical study,"said Zhang Meiling,
who heads a research group for children's mathematical development
with the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"In the previous test, some children had an ambiguous concept,
such as that, in different places, the size of the watermelon
varied," she explained.
Zhang believes that, like a building which must be supported by
pillars, a human being's comprehensive merit in the coming century
should be judged by his or her three main qualities: philosophical
accomplishment, linguistic accomplishment, and mathematical
accomplishment.
"One cannot be perfect without mathematics, so I choose the way of
promoting the development of children's mathematical thinking,"
said Zhang.
Devoted for years to the exploration and the study of "how to make
children become clever" for years, Zhang has introduced her own
method -- modern primary school mathematics -- in several schools
and made outstanding achievements in the course of combining her
study with practice.
"Mathematics has its own objective laws," she said. To reveal some
of these laws -- as is the case with the textbooks -- is to
promote children's grasp of mathematical concepts and hence their
cognitive development.
"Children are born curious. They like using their heads and asking
questions," said Zhang, looking at her three-year-old
grand-daughter Nannan. "It is adults' fault that children lose
their creativeness."
One day when Nannan was two years old, she found that there was a
seal on the skin of the pork. She pointed to the seal and asked
Zhang: "Grandma, what is it?"
"It is a seal."
"Why did they fix the seal on the pork?"
"Because without this seal we will have a bellyache."
Zhang said that she never overlooked any single question the child
raised and praised her highly for doing so: "Nannan, it's very
good to ask questions."
"Grandma, look! They haven't got the seals." Nannan held a pile of
food in her arms, apples, cakes, and even a box of bean curd. That
day, Nannan kept asking, asking, and asking.
Adults often feel a great deal of frustration in their roles as
parents, Zhang said.
"But they must remember parents play multiple roles in the family
education as seniors, teachers, friends, students, and authority
figures," Zhang said.
Before children enter elementary school, they spend more time with
their parents, so the parents' influence is much stronger in the
early years of a child's life.
Active, curious, mobile young children require parents to be more
than holders, feeders, and comforters.
However, Zhang points out that many Chinese parents believe that,
as long as their children get high academic scores, there is no
need for them to share the family burdens or participate in
decision-making with them.
Many children do not even decide for themselves what time they
should study or play, or what kind of housework they can do.
But Zhang said that, if children are excluded from using their
brains and making decisions on their own at home and school, they
may develop a sense of powerlessness, and that may make them
diffident.
Zhang recalled one event when Nannan was two years old.
Zhang took her to a supermarket and asked her to take five bags of
milk. Nannan ran to the shelf and took some bags from it, counting
carefully, "one, two, three, four, five," and then happily ran
back to Zhang.
"Grandma, here you are!" Zhang smiled. "Nannan, it isn't milk but
soya-bean milk."
"Soya-bean milk? What is soya-bean milk?"
Zhang explained the difference between the two.
She has become familiar with such situations, but she never laughs
at the child. "For children, knowledge comes from daily life and
day to day matters more than from the classroom."
Do not always blame the child when she/he makes mistakes, Zhang
said. Give children more opportunities to show what they can do,
and they can learn more.
Her own experience has greatly enriched Zhang's work in developing
five principles to promote the development of children's
mathematical thinking.
By the five principles, children are encouraged to participate
initiatively, think positively, co-operate creatively, experience
joyfully, and develop harmoniously.
In her experimental textbook "Modern Primary School Mathematics,"
which has been introduced in several schools, there are a great
deal of multiple-choice exercises that require pupils to circle
correct numbers or proper connections. These exercises are the
popular part of the textbook. "In this part, pupils are given more
chances to make decisions, because there is always more than one
correct answer to a question," Zhang explained.
In one test, four wooden cubes were placed in front of each pupil,
each with one side painted half red and half white. The cubes were
arranged in one big cube in such a way that the red and white
colours formed four triangles.
The pupils were asked to re-assemble the four blocks and turn the
four triangles into one big red or white square.
There are many ways to do it. But the simplest one is to reverse
the positions of the two pairs of cubes, Zhang said. That simplest
method involves what professional educators call the principle of
reversibility.
She said that she was happy to see that more than half of the
seven and eight-year-olds using her textbook adopted the simplest
method, whereas only 23 per cent and 6 per cent of the pupils of
the same grade in two control classes did so.
The gratifying results of the psychological clinical tests show
how well pupils will perform reversible, complementary and
relative mathematical thinking if they are encouraged to think
positively and co-operate creatively, she said.
Zhang's methods have won acknowledgement from her American
colleagues.
Robert Glaser and Lauren B.Rosnick, famous American educational
psychologists, said to Zhang at an international academic
gathering in 1991: "As to how to make children become clever, we
Americans choose the way of improving teaching methods and you try
to develop the structure of knowledge, which is as advanced as
ours. Thank you for bringing Chinese child psychology to America."
Herbert A. Simon, a Nobel Prize- winning psychologist, commented
on Zhang and her group's achievements: "Your way of
re-establishing the structure of mathematics in primary schools
is, undoubtedly, the key aspect of the substance of the
programme."
Zhang said that the principles are suitable for family education
as well as for mathematics exercises in class.
"Obviously, parents can't abdicate their role as decision-makers,
but they can seek ways in which their children can participate,"
she said.
Parents should let their children at least put fresh eggs into the
refrigerator or take food from the shelf of the supermarket.
Always leave the child knowing what he or she can do.
"That should inspire positive action," Zhang said, watching Nannan
collecting her toys.
"In the kindergarten, according to her teacher, Nannan always
tidies up her bed and straightens up her own things. Nannan tells
us that she enjoys doing such things," Zhang smiled with
satisfaction.
However, that good habit sometimes makes Zhang find the little
girl both funny and annoying.
"Grandma, last time you wanted to give a lesson to the children
and you borrowed four wooden cubes from me," Nannan blinked her
bright and intelligent eyes. "Don't forget to give them back. I
want to pack them up."
_____________________________________________________________
_Date: 12/26/97_
_Author: Hu Qihua_
_Copyright© by China Daily_
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Notes (Page 9, Date: 12/26/97)
Dance drama
On December 27, a large-scale dance drama titled "The Road" about
the construction of the Beijing-Kowloon railway will be staged in
Guo'an Theatre, Beijing.
In the '97 National Dance Drama Festival which ended on December
19, "The Road" by the Jiujiang Song and Dance Ensemble got the
"Special Award" as the only dance drama with an industrial theme
among the 11 plays performed.
Ancient drum
NANNING -- A bronze drum that dates from the Sui Dynasty (AD
581-618) was recently discovered in Hengxian County, South China's
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The discovery is expected to provide valuable clues for research
into the history of the Zhuang ethnic group.
The drum is 64.5 centimetres in diametre, stands 41 centimetres in
height and weighs 30 kilograms. The face of the drum features four
frogs, with the sun in the centre.
Prose collection
A collection of prose about their lives written by 44 Chinese
women professors from 23 Beijing universities and colleges has
been published.
The 200,000-word book consists of four sections entitled "Spring,"
"Summer," "Autumn" and "Winter."
The book gives detailed descriptions of the ups and downs in their
lives as well as their efforts, happiness and sorrow.
The collection contains dialogues between the professors and women
students. The professors, with their own experiences and
understanding, answer questions encountered by students on the
topics of study, career, love and marriage.
(Xinhua-CD)
_____________________________________________________________
_Date: 12/26/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_
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Model prison prepares prisoners for society
THE Jining Prison of Shandong Province, with 2,500 inmates, has
been conferred the title of model prison. In the past six years,
none of the prisoners has ever tried to escape, and cases
involving fights or other law breaking events within the prison
have been near zero.
A major reason for the prisoners to feel easy when serving their
sentences is that the jail's working staff have been trying to
create an atmosphere of "Being strict like a military camp but
warm as a family".
The prisoners with a better education and some special skills are
encouraged to give full play to their abilities. For example, they
set up a school, a TV station and a magazine in the prison, from
which they regain their self-esteem and love of life. Many of the
prisoners, however, received little schooling. During their stay
in the prison, they are taught basic life skills.
Besides, a variety of entertaining activities are arranged for the
prisoners so they won't get bored or lonely.
_____________________________________________________________
_Date: 12/26/97_
_Author: Hua Kan_
_Copyright© by China Daily_
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What's on (Page 10, Date: 12/26/97)
EXHIBITION
Oil Paintings Show -- Wanfung Art Gallery is holding an oil
painting exhibition entitled "Scenes of Old Beijing."
On display are more than 20 oil works by three middle-aged,
Beijing-born artists who have captured scenes like the old
hutongs, time-honoured gates, life in quadrangles with a
true-to-life effect of closeup.
Time:9 am - 6 pm, through December 30.
Place:Wanfung Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District,
Beijing.
Tel: 6512-7338.
Oil paintings -- The Beijing International Art Palace is holding a
40-day oil painting exhibition until February 6 next year.
The oil paintings on display come from the collection of the art
palace and most of them have been displayed in the gallery of the
art palace.
Set up in 1991, the Beijing International Art Palace has held more
than 200 art shows, including Chinese painting, oil painting, folk
art, and imitations of European classical oil paintings.
Time: 9 am-6 pm, until February 6, 1998.
Place: Beijing International Art Palace, 48 Wangfujing Street,
Dongcheng District
Tel: 6512-5063
CONCERTS
Children's chorus -- The Teenager and Girls Orchestra attached to
the China National Symphony Orchestra will sing famous domestic
and foreign songs to greet the coming year.
Yang Hongnian will conduct.
Time: 7:30 pm, December 29.
Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie
Tel: 6605-5812
_____________________________________________________________
_Date: 12/26/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_
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Updated on September 24, 1997
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_[1]The 15th Party Congress_
_[2]Sep. 12 - Sep.18, 1997_
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[3][LINK] _[4]General Secretary Jiang Zemin's
Report to the 15th Party Congress_
[5][LINK] _[6]New Party Leadership elected,
Top Leaders' Profiles_
[7][LINK] _[8]Communique of 15th CPC Central
Committee's First Plenum_
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Feedback: [9]cd...@chinadaily.net
_Copyright by CBnet ®, China Daily Information_
References
1. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtg124.html
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtg124.html
3. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/report.html
4. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/report.html
5. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb46.html
6. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb46.html
7. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb09.html
8. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb09.html
9. mailto:cd...@chinadaily.net
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_Chinese, U.S. Presidents Hold Press Conference _
WASHINGTON, October 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Jiang
Zemin and U.S. President Bill Clinton have agreed that China
and the United States should strengthen cooperation in
building a strategic partnership oriented toward the 21st
century, with a view to promoting world peace and
development.
This was stated by Jiang during a joint press conference by
the two presidents Wednesday.
The two presidents also shared the view of holding regular
visits between the two countries' heads of state,
facilitating a Washington-Beijing presidential communications
link, triggering the mechanism of a regular exchange of
visits by foreign ministers and other cabinet officials, as
well as strengthening cooperation in economic, scientific and
technological, cultural, educational fields and in law
enforcement.
Jiang described his talks with Clinton as "constructive and
fruitful," and believed that his ongoing visit could attain
the goal of enhancing mutual understanding, broadening common
ground, developing cooperation and building the future.
The two presidents also agreed to handle bilateral relations
and differences in line with the principles of mutual
respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs,
equality and mutual benefit, and seeking common ground while
putting aside differences.
Clinton said that Jiang's visit to the United States gave
them the opportunity and the responsibility to build a future
that is more secure, more peaceful, more prosperous for both
peoples.
The two countries share a profound interest in a stable,
prosperous and open Asia, and a strong interest in stopping
the spread of weapons of mass destruction and other
sophisticated weaponry, Clinton said.
He said he agreed to move ahead with the U.S.-China agreement
for cooperation concerning the peaceful use of nuclear
energy.
In both China and the United States, trade has been a
critical catalyst for growth, and China is the fastest
growing market in the world for America's goods and services,
Clinton said. He also said the United States would "do
everything possible to bring China into the World Trade
Organization."
Referring to the Taiwan issue, Jiang said that China wishes
to effect the peaceful reunification of the motherland by
means of implementing Deng Xiaoping's concept of "one
country, two systems."
But China is not committed to giving up the use of force in
this regard, he said, adding that this does not target the
Taiwan compatriots, but direct against the foreign force
interfering in Taiwan affairs and against the scheme that
would attempt to separate Taiwan from China.
On the human rights issue, Jiang said the current world is a
rich and diverse one, and concepts on democracy and human
rights and on freedoms are relative and specific ones.
Therefore, they should be determined by the specific national
situation of different countries.
References
1. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/report.htm
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/d1-jiang_j15.htm
3. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/comment.htm
4. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/backgrnd.htm
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