Another conversation in China
This summer when teaching in China, I have several conversations with professors and college students about their current education system. According to government’s news, college enrollment is higher than ever, more students graduate and more private universities are opening to meet the high demand. Currently China has more college students than any country in the world. It seems that the transition to a knowledge society is making a lot of progress there. However, there are few things that I also observed.
A professor told me: “I went to college in the 60s, it was a difficult time. There were a lot of changes and turmoils but we put all efforts in our study and I can say that most college students in the 60s and 70s were the bests. We did not have enough text books, we did not have computer, but we all did well. Today students have everything. They have laptops and search engine to find any information that they need. They have air conditioned libraries and books of any topic that they want. They have all the time to study without have to work in commune farms but few want to study. It is the most puzzling things I have seen in my lifetime. Today we are graduating a new generation of selfish, lazy, and demanding students who would rather spend their parent’s money than do anything good for themselves or for the country.”
Another professor agreed: “Today students are not the same as 30 years ago. They do not read books or helping their parents but spend most of their times glued to a TV, a PC, or video games such as Xbox or Play-station. They do not play sports in the outdoor fields but play sports in the “Virtual world” of videogames. They do not have friends to play with or talk to but chat with strangers in virtual chat room. They have many “friends” in their social network that they never meet face to face. They demand their parents to buy them newest laptop, latest iPhone, iPad and throw away things that are broken rather than fix them. In school, they do not want to learn anything but only do minimum works just to pass tests. Many copy homeworks from friends or cheat on exams. They do not want to think about their future but only react to what happen to them.”
Another professor added: “Without a lot of readings, students become lazy and do not want to think much. Critical thinking depends on reading and analyzing information. When they read, they are processing information and thinking which make their brain active. Today students do not read but watch TV, DVD, YouTube, and other media which do not require much thinking. They are more reactive than active thus it is hard for them to think anymore. Without thinking, they will not learn much. That is why we have generations of college graduates with degrees but no knowledge.”
As a visiting professor I have not encountered these problems. I found that most students who attend my summer classes were bright and studious. They like my method of teaching which advocates more class discussions and less lecturing. They admire the latest technology trends and stories that I share with them. They like my blogs as it is translated into Chinese. I spent a lot of time with them as we talk about many things. Students admit that they do not read much as some professors have told me. However the most surprising to me was when they read, they only follow news about movies stars, rock stars or current sport events. Few read classic novels and do not pay attention to their historical past. When I mentioned to them about classic books such as “The Three Kingdoms” or “The Analects” they all shook their heads. One student laughed and asked: “Why a computer scientist like you would read stories for children like that?” They said that only children like to hear about those novels from their grandparents but not young people like them. Few know about poetries of To Fu, Su Dong Fa, or Li Po and almost no one know much about Lao Tzu, Mencius, or Wang Zhang Ming. One student explained: “Those are the past and no one want to look back, we are living in the 21st century and we must look forward. Why a scientist like you who live in the U.S would pay attention to something that happens a long time ago?” They do not want to discuss about their heritage but interest in knowing more about technology like what are happening in Silicon Valley. How do they know that the latest technology that I teach them today, that they consider highly valuable, will be obsolete in few years. How do they know that their culture heritage, that they no longer consider valuable, have lasted for thousands of year and could last forever, if they know how to preserve it?
There is a dynamic atmosphere in most universities. The student enrollment is up significantly and most state schools are full to capacity. That creates opportunities to private universities with attractive curriculum, some with programs licensed from top western universities and taught strictly in English. These schools are experiencing surging application rates, due to the international connection. Of course, they are charging more money, but their enrollments are much higher than state schools. One professor told me: “The future of education in China will belong to the private schools. They have better professors, better training programs, and better connections with the industry, especially to international companies. Just like the U.S. where private schools are the best. Few years from now you may see some private universities compete directly with our best state schools.”
More schools, better training programs are supposed to produce better students. But according to several professors, today students showed no gain in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills as compare with several years ago. Several professors said that student motivation actually declines over the past few years. Meanwhile, according to an industry survey, only a quarter of college graduates have the writing and thinking skills necessary to do their jobs. With over six million students graduate each year, it is difficult to find them jobs because there are not enough skilled jobs in China. A majority of jobs are in the manufacturing sectors which do not required college degrees. That is why today China has a large group of unemployed college graduates.
This is a major dilemma for the Chinese government. For many years they have invested in manufacturing to provide jobs to large number of people who come from the country side with minimum education. Become the “manufacturing capital” of the world has advantage of bring in a lot of revenues via exports. It allows China to build modern cities, modern highways, and modern transportation infrastructures. Everywhere you go in China, you see buildings under construction and technology parks are everywhere. It provides jobs to hundred millions of people as they leave their farming villages and seek work in cities. Their children grow up in the cities, attending schools in the cities, and now many of them are going to college. Since China has “One child policy”, every parent save money for their child’s education and attending college is a great dream, the dream of not having their children to work in the rice fields or in the factories. However, these children are not like their parents. They do not understand the sacrifice of their parents. They do not know how hard their parents have worked to save money for their education. When their parents are working 40 hours to 60 hours in factories or construction sites, many of their children are enjoying lives in coffee shops, video game parlors, bars, dance hall, movies etc. Even some go to colleges, few really learn anything and the dropout rate is high, even in a culture that considers education as a high priority.
For thousand years, Chinese education systems not only provide students with knowledge, but also teach them to become filial to their parents, good persons to their family, good workers to their society, and good citizens to their country. Somehow this system is broken. The approach in education is now focusing mostly on passing exams. There is not much evidence on teaching students about being ethical and responsible person. When I asked about this, many professors shook their head and told me that these things are no longer taught in school. It surprised me since China is the center of learning under the tradition of Confucius where education trains people to make ethical decision and effective thinking, not just for oneself but also for the society. Few years ago, there was a movement to revise the training to teach moral and ethic. The goal is to develop graduates with honesty and integrity so when they go to work, no matter what position they have, they will not violate the laws or hurt others for their own advantage. However, in a fast growing society where material things and short term profits are highly valued, some people consider it a waste of time so it was dropped.
In my own opinion, it is not enough to just measure inputs, such as high college enrollment the way Chinese government did. It is the quality of outputs that is important. Universities must be able to provide a balance education that preserves the best of both views. Students need to be taught about technical knowledge but also responsibilities and ethic. There has to be some way to reward schools that actually do provide quality learning. There has to be a better way to get data so schools themselves can figure out how they are doing in comparison with others. Improving education by having more schools, more programs but not paying attention to the quality or the motivation of students is not a good solution.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
