education in China
Michael Moser
since the cultural revolution?
Do they still favor sciences over the humanities?
What do they teach as humanitarian subjects?
What is the role of Conficius nowadays?
J Yuan
mich...@sapiens.com (Michael Moser) wrote in message news:<d70280fc.03011...@posting.google.com>...
> Does anyone know how (and if) the education system of China changed
> since the cultural revolution?
a lot. During the Cultural revolution, social practice was emphasized.
Students often went to farm fields, factories for their learnings and
with almost no exams. Now they don't do that anymore.
>
> Do they still favor sciences over the humanities?
they (students) favor whatever is designated as subjects for college
entrance exams. In college, law schools and business schools
definitely are as hot, if not hotter, than traditional Math, Physics,
Chemistry and Biology, even medical schools.
>
> What do they teach as humanitarian subjects?
why don't you give us an example what you meant and I might be able to
tell whether these are taught or not, at lesat in some places in
China.
>
> What is the role of Conficius nowadays?
It's the backdrop of everything. People don't learn it from
classrooms, but from society. Its a cultural thing that tell you what
to do, what to say, so on and so forth, no matter how illiterate a
place is or how remote it is from cultural centers.
Michael Moser
> why don't you give us an example what you meant and I might be able to
> tell whether these are taught or not, at lesat in some places in
> China.
if you come to think of it, that's a good question.
what importance is given to foreign languages? (how many years are
they taught).
are Chinese schools good at teaching History / Literature ?
to what extend is the curriculum centered around China (i.e. Chinese
literature/art/history), does the rest of the world matter, and to
what extent?
> > What is the role of Conficius nowadays?
> It's the backdrop of everything. People don't learn it from
> classrooms, but from society. Its a cultural thing that tell you what
> to do, what to say, so on and so forth, no matter how illiterate a
> place is or how remote it is from cultural centers.
what are the chances of being admitted to a University of a major
city, if
you were raised in a provincial town?
J Yuan
> > why don't you give us an example what you meant and I might be able to
> > tell whether these are taught or not, at lesat in some places in
> > China.
>
> if you come to think of it, that's a good question.
> what importance is given to foreign languages? (how many years are
> they taught).
I grew up in Beijing so I could only speak for what I know. Even
during the cultural revolution, English was manatory. Children started
learning English at equivalent to US's 6th/7th grade (12 13 years
old). Then it stays manatory throughout high school. So typically
you'll have 6 years of english before going to college, at least in
big cities. Some schools might pick French, Russian, or Japanese but
English is more popular. Although English is often taught 4 or 6 hours
a week but a foreign language is madatory in college entrace exams. So
it's pretty important. During a recent trip to Beijing a few months
back, I was surprised to learn that there are many bi-lingual daycare
centers in the city. My 3-year old niece could speak some English, of
course her parents had enough money to send her to one of those
schools.
> are Chinese schools good at teaching History / Literature ?
At least 4-5 years before high school graduation. there is Chinese
History and World history, both mandatory. Literature, I think from
the second year in secondary school (8or9th grades), students are
taught with those old literature in their original forms, ie. ancient
Chinese, which is also a requirement in college entrance exams. In
addtion, there are translated literature from foreign authors
(Russian, French, Indian, etc).
>
> to what extend is the curriculum centered around China (i.e. Chinese
> literature/art/history), does the rest of the world matter, and to
> what extent?
Besides Chinese history, Chinese Geography and ancient Chinese, I
think the world history, world literature and world geography are also
emphasized. After all, History and Geography in college entrance exams
inlcude both China and the World. I'd say 65% Chinese and 35 World.
>
>
> > > What is the role of Conficius nowadays?
> > It's the backdrop of everything. People don't learn it from
> > classrooms, but from society. Its a cultural thing that tell you what
> > to do, what to say, so on and so forth, no matter how illiterate a
> > place is or how remote it is from cultural centers.
>
> what are the chances of being admitted to a University of a major
> city, if
> you were raised in a provincial town?
This is a complex question. In the cities, you expect 60-70% admission
rate for highschool graduates. In small towns the rate is much lower.
there are several factors here, 1) some colleges in big cities only
enroll those from that city and 2) colleges set quotas for each
province in advance for the current year admissions. For example,
Beijing Univerisity may only have 50 seats for Jiangxi province but
usually may have 600 seats for Beijing, 200 for Shanghai and only 10
for Tibet. So to go to top universities, the competition is usually
fierce. If the province you are from has very few colleges, your
chance to get admitted will largely reduced. But all applicants will
have to take college entrance exams. They used to be nationally
uniformed, but have had some changes, in which the applicants may take
3 required, but choose another 3 from the pool. The total score will
be used for admission. BTW, the exams usually take 3 days, 6-7
subjects, with each taking about 2 -2.5 hrs on July 7, 8 and 9 each
year. The national college entrance exams are held once a year and
most of them are not multiple choices but question and answer/proof
styles.