CHINESE CRAM SCHOOLS Stress is something that everyone experiences. Pressure to excel at what you do, pressure to impress others, pressure to succeed in life: these are all stresses that we deal with on a daily basis. Our school-related stresses usually have to do with grades, our teachers, and our peers. But look halfway around the world, and you’ll find that our stresses seem miniscule compared to those of Chinese students. In an education system that bases admission to colleges off just one exam, it is no mystery why so many Chinese teens devote all their time to studying. The Gao Kao is the one test that determines the future of so many Chinese students. It is a 2-3 day long standardized test that is the climax of Chinese …show more content…
And for some, a 7am to 11pm school day with only a few breaks (usually spent studying or eating), isn’t enough. If they do not pass the Gao Kao and get accepted into university, their only option is manual labor. High schools students dedicate their entire lives to passing an immensely challenging exam. It’s so upsetting to hear about what these teens go through. Students who attend the Cram Schools usually are lower/middle class, and their parents have to invest in their children’s future by trying to pay for their tuition. This likely means working extra hours and living in tiny homes, in hope that their child will have a better life. The pressure put on Chinese students is almost unimaginable to us.
AN EDUCATION WALK THROUGH
Elementary school in China is quite similar to how it is in America. School generally begins at 8, and ends around 3, with a break for lunch where students in most areas can go home for. Some Chinese elementary schools ends at 5, which is a very long day for these young kids to have. They learn how to speak Chinese, math, geography, and a little bit of natural sciences. Study of the English language usually begins in 3rd grade. There are also some special classes, such as music, painting, and gym. With middle school comes the beginning of test-prep. Middle schools generally run from 8-5, then have a break for dinner, and students return from 7-9
The first obvious difference in the education system between Canada and China is in the subjects that are offered for study. In China, there are two systems for students to choose in
These cram schools can be found all over Flushing, a town mostly occupied by Americans of Asian descent. In Flushing, NY lives a young Asian American writer named Jefferson Mao who wrote to Yang seeking guidance about “’being an Asian writer (535).’” This is a great example of how stereotypes are affecting people today. This young man should not have to worry about being an “Asian” writer, but attempt to be a great writer no matter what his background is. Unfortunately, not all people think this way, and the Asian community suffers because of it. For example, “Princeton sociologist Thomas Expenshade has calculated that an Asian applicant must, in practice, score 140 points higher on the SAT than a comparable white applicant to have the same chance of admission (536).” This is incredibly unfair to young Asian Americans who strive for greatness and must work harder to not only meet the standards that are required for an individual to receive admission, but to get the standards needed for an Asian to get in. An example of fair acceptance on the collegiate level would be UC-Berkley. Ten years after outlawing any “racial engineering” at the State’s public
A Brazilian educator and philosopher, Paulo Freire too seem to have seen the bad part of it. In his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), he criticizes the model of a teacher-student relationship that the teacher is a narrator, forcing the student, as the "container" or "receptacle", to only memorize the content she teaches. Therefore, what Freire disapproves is exactly the typical teacher-student relationship in the Chinese classroom. As a native Chinese student experienced this relationship until entered an international high school, I will agree with Freire’s view to criticize it.
The children’s whole future hinged on just one test. It is China’s version of the SAT’s, but in China it is called “GAO KAO” or “tall test”. The children prepare their whole life for this one test. If they do pass they get a pick at top
When the book began it discussed Chinese education. Their education system did not seem relevant because in America our education system is not as strict. There was mention of the long hours that children are in school, and the constant studying they do. Although we study in America we do not take it to the extent that the Chinese do, spending all day at school, and then all night studying, is not an everyday American trait. The only similarity we possess is the emphasis on standardized testing, which from previous studies, we have seen is not good. Zhao even recalls a protest that broke out about the testing and how it promotes cheating. He states, “in June 2013 in Hubei
To some people this is not be viewed as a stereotype due to the fact it is not instantly perceived as “negative”; for those readers who delve in deeper, this stereotype outlines the educational daily hidden pressure of people from Chinese descent whom do not fit this “positive” stereotype. Every day, especially in American society, classmates look to their Asian counterparts to provide the answers to questions they do not know in every subject they take. Nonetheless, this ridiculous assumption hurts the Asian students that do not feel comfortable with their intellectual abilities. Placing Asian students as the “model student” excludes the students who actually have problems and need help that other classmates are reluctant to give the students simply because their classmates do not view helping their struggling Asian classmates as an actual necessity. By “poking” fun and bringing into light both Asian stereotypes, Yang enforces view that stereotypes are in use today.
With China being such a massive competitor in this world, one would think that they would give their children who hope to further their education the ability to have a smooth transition and promising future. This is not the case according to Taylor Clark’s “Plight of the Little Emperors”. In this article Clark puts a magnifying glass to the shocking truth that the youth of China is forced to face. He clarifies to the rest of the world the intensity of the stress filled hardship it takes to go to a university and have a decent living. He states that China does not have enough jobs for college grads, causing students to deal with tremendous pressure, severe mental illness, and trying to escape from this harsh reality.
If school were to start at around 8 to 8:30 that gives high students an extra hour of sleep. The elementary would be the first school to start, then intermediate, then junior high, and lastly high school. As elementary and intermediate most parents have bedtimes for their kids, but junior high and high schoolers don’t have a bedtime. Most works start at 8 am. So adults usually get around eight hours of
In Canada we have five years in Elementary school, three years in Middle school, four years in high school, and four years in University. On the other hand, Chinese students have six years in Elementary school, three years in Middle school, three years in High school, and four years in University. Second of all, there are significant differences between the timespent in school each day.
Each country has its own kind of education, and education always plays an important role in affecting students’ life and study on many aspects. Having received ten years of education in China and two years of education in the U.S. I would like to compare and contrast a few significant aspects of these two different kinds of educations. Knowing that no two education systems are the same, the differences between American education and Chinese education allow countries to take the essence and discard the dross through learning from each other so as to improve their own current education systems.
The differences that exist between the Chinese and American education systems are great and obvious. However, some of these differences don’t play to the strengths of the representative country. American schools allow for greater freedom of movement and choice, while Chinese schools decide the “what”, “where”, and “how” of educational circumstance for the students (Bush, tony, and Qiang Haiyan). These differences in structure should lead to a greater educational standard being held by China, but that isn’t always the case. This paper will examine the differences in education system in the two countries and show that the Chinese system, while
A very important factor of stress is school. School can cause a lot of stress. "One of the greatest sources of pressure is school. Where we are herded like cattle from room to room, chewing on our cud, while the hay of knowledge is force fed to us as we are trying our hardest to gulp it down as more and more is shovelled in"( ).Grades can act upon stress. Students may think that you always need good grades, parents can cause this or even just their own minds. Teens want to get into a good college so they stress. "Stress is created by parental pressure to perform and to stand out among other children. When they can't rise up to that expectation, or during the process of meeting it, children may suffer from frustration, physical stress, aggression, undesirable complexes, and depression"( ). Students who are involved in extra activities, usually develope unfriendliness, jealousy, shyness, and may become loners ( ). "Over scheduling a student's life can put them under stress. A child's in school and after school activities should be carefully arranged to give them some breathing space. Parents may want him to learn music, painting, or be outstanding in a
The differences between the Chinese education and the American education are more obvious in people’s mind, not only to the international students, but also to the native students and some people who study on this. As more and more Chinese students come to America to have better education, we should think about why the American education system is better and how could we change our system to have a new education system in China. These differences have some deeply reason, like the American is the nation which loves freedom. It took long time to make such a big difference between the two education systems, and we need longer time to change it. An undeniable
Traditionally, Chinese education has been measured on the basis of merit. Those who work hard, study the right facts, and pass the test, succeed. The test is China’s National Higher Education Entrance Examination, otherwise known as the Gaokao (高考- direct translation 'high test'). It is similar to the SAT in that it's a standardized test that determines college acceptance. However, the Gaokao is much more difficult than the SAT and is, for the most part, the only determining factor for college acceptance. The pressure adds up when companies in China only hire from the top universities, so scoring well on the Gaokao not only sets the path for college but also for one's entire career. The emphasis on the Gaokao promotes an academic system based on memorization, which means that students
Hong Kong schooling can be seen as an ‘elitist’ or as a pyramidal school system. As formal schooling begins, many (if not all) parents will make every effort to help their child gain admission to prestigious primary schools such as La Salle. At Year 6, students strive for higher banding allocation so as to be assigned to better secondary schools. In sixth form, students fight for the best exam scores possible, as the students with the best exam scores are offered places of first degree courses at the eight government funded institutions. Even then, intense competition has occurred amongst this group of high achievers for admission to the more preferred institutions or courses. For example, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) have been the most preferred among the eight for many years. This scenario is exceptionally consistent with traditional chinese culture, as according to Gow et al., 199, only a small