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Q: As a foreigner, would you trust Chinese public schools or teachers to teach your child?
Since creativity, fantasy and imagination are not part of the teaching methods in Chinese public schools, would you dare to have your child to just sit tight on a chair, listen to the teacher and answer only when asked?
12 years 31 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
hell no. having worked with middle and high school students in the past i can say they are the most uninspired, unimaginative, uncreative bunch of people i've ever met.
i guess if its for the short term i wouldn't hurt. but anything more than a year i wouldn't put my kids trough that.
Nessquick:
Yes, seems that I have to struggle also to put my son for 1 year in chinese kindergarden. I am strongly opposite, but the current situation, does not give me much choices ( for me is clear, but my wife ... I guess she will not leave Czech after the mointh visit in summer, so than will be everything well done for me :D:D )
nope not even the international schools. education here is a joke. teachers encourage the students to cheat so that the high scores makes the teacher look good but everyone knows and accepts the students cheating (backwards thinking) teacher lets her class cheat , everyone knows she lets her class cheat (everyone else does it) and they get good reviews anyway 
schools here are purely about money and nothing else
I think its only oral English that a joke here,, the other subjects are very serous.
Did you compare subjects and level to other schools in the west?
rich45:
sure theyr good at math. and the only serous thing about other subjects are the tests. chinese students are good only for one thing, taking test. of cours even that is meaningless if you have the money to pay off the teacher.
crimochina:
good at math have you ever seen the cashiers here??????????
Nessquick:
yes, pay 8,3 rmb and use calculator for 20 rmb note change :(
I really think Chinese schools are great, the students respect teachers and are willing to learn. Most things in early schools are by rote learning, so that's not a problem. My students at University really like doing different things, even the teachers like my class. So, yes I would say Chinese schools are great!
I wouldn't... Again, anyone with money LEAVES China to pursue a BETTER education... Think about that... 
I wouldn't consider it.
Having worked in public schools, and having seen the way the bribery works, and how little they value their students, I would never let a child of mine near one of those shitholes. The whole operation disgusted me. I can't believe such unscrupulous, sick, depraved degenerates would work around children. Might as well have your child educated in a whorehouse.
Aside from that, there's the critical thinking thing, and the lack of history and geography. Most Chinese have only the vaguest notion about the Greeks and Romans and know even less about their own country. The history texts dealing with pre-nineteenth century China would better be called "pamphlets".
But worst of all is language. How much effort do the Chinese waste on beginner's English learning, which they consider onerous and difficult beyond belief (or else delude themselves into thinking their weak mastery of elementary English is "speaka so guda Engrish"), when there are countries out there where being at least bilingual is a normal state of affairs. My university wouldn't accept anyone who wasn't at least trilingual.
I was raised to believe that education is, first and foremost, about love of learning. Second of all, about marking out a career path. Third, about making yourself more free, and more independent. The first and third are low priorities for the Chinese so I guess that's why they screw it up so badly. For the Chinese, it's just another status trinket you purchase, akin to a Justin Beeber haircut or a iPhone.
Even math is taught as rote learning, so if you memorize all the steps to solve an algebra equation, but don't understand it, does that mean you're good at math?
I don't have children, but if I did, I absolutely would not RAISE them in China yet alone send them to school here. Possibly when very young, but around 5 years old I'd be too afraid the "culture" would rub off on them.
Never. If I have kids in China, which I hope that doesn't happen because I don't trust Chinese hospitals at all, then they'll be put into a Western school for sure. No party indoctrination or outdated and ineffective teaching techniques for my child.
I thank everybody for their comments.......
My mind was set to go back home so that child can get a proper education (and free), and people's comments make my decision even clearer.
Well, I would. There are other subjects, not only English. We can teach our kids English ourselves, right? Here all the craze is about Math and Chinese. I am spending the Spring Festival at home, and I've taken my 3.5-year-old home to see my parents at last and you know thy are amazed at how she does math like 67+9=etc. with no mistakes (yes, a foreign kid who was born in China and studied at a Chinese kindergarten). I am not even speaking about Chinese characters. To compare, my 6-year-old niece who was born in my country can barely count from 1 to 10. Maybe Chinese teachers can't teach English, but that is why we will have our jobs forever, so this is good news. Chinese teachers teach Math and Chinese very well.
crimochina:
your 6 y/o niece can barely count to 10? you're full of it.
Oh and yes, how many American kids know about Greeks and Romans? Give me a break. It's all about parents, parents and parents, as well as home environment. It's not about the schools and teachers only. Even in a perfect school with perfect teachers a rich brat will study terribly and behave like shit.
xinyuren:
You're forgetting one very important element: the learning culture here. If you leave your child to this school system, your child's individuality and creativity will be beaten down and in it's place will be blind obedience, complacency and conformity. You will have a very difficult time counteracting it, nearly impossible. Then your child will be truly Chinese.
Not a snowball's chance in h#ll! Every day i see the products of this education system. There is no way my child is going to see the inside of those buildings. If I stay in China that long, she will be schooled at home in a creative and dynamic environment. She will take field trips to Rome and Greece. I can't even fathom my child thinking like these bots here in China.
I'm afraid to post my thoughts here, for fear that I'll "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."
No. And not wanting to expose my children to the educational system here is probably the greatest single reason that I have for wanting to raise my kids in the US rather than here.
My daughter will go to a Chinese Kindergarten and Primary school as in my opinion the work ethos they instill is invaluable. The UK schools just don't teach that, it's all every child counts which in reality means teach nothing because little Johnny dumbf*&% will feel stupid, (CLUE: he IS stupid so why hold other children back?). When she gets to age 11 (in her case she will be nearer 12) we will return to the UK so she can go to a UK High School and learn in a scenario that values creative / reasoning skills.
Chinese schools lack a lot, but they do instill a very good work ethic and as at the start (in my opinion) that is the main thing a child is learning I think that is good. Of course when the serious learning begins, (at High School) then I prefer UK schools.
However, I have 9 years before that time and there is always a chance that the Chinese system will change in that time, I'm not holding my breath, but there is always a chance.
:
Hi Hugh, what does it mean to you a "work ethos" that becomes so invaluable in China? Also, what do they lack?
Hugh.G.Rection:
Jeania: The work ethos I mean is the realisation from a very early age that learning requires effort, you don't just turn up at school (sometimes) mess around and play for 5 hours, and leave with a qualification or knowledge. I've seen primary school Children in China not only expecting homework but actually asking for more. It is that willingness and expectation that they'll have to 'knuckle down and work' if they want to be successful that I value.
The biggest asset of the Chinese education system is learning facts, which is very useful for subjects that are entirely factually based, so math and the basics of sciences are areas (in general) that Chinese students do well in. But of course it is also required before you can move on to higher levels of learning in almost any field.
What do they lack? Application of knowledge to develop that into new theories or methodologies, this requires a deeper understanding of the 'why' and 'how' parts of understanding, these are the skills needed to get to the front of whatever field a student wishes to develop, at the moment, that is what I see as lacking in China. That and the CCP propaganda (but you get propaganda in most countries it's just in 'western' nations it is more subtle.)
xinyuren:
I appreciate your comments about Chinese schoolwork ethic. There are some admirable qualities about the Chinese learning culture. But keep one important thing in mind. The reason for the lack of creativity and initiative in Chinese students is the early indoctrination of Chinese values. By turning your child over to their system his/her early formative years, you will be imprinting a pattern in your child that will be very hard to break when he gets to high school age. You want your child to suddenly get creative and independent in high school? That is an unreasonable expectation for the pattern has already been set in grade school. By putting your child in the system at an early age, you are retarding their creative development (the most important one, IMO). Chinese students do not know how to think, they learn to mimic. You can try to counteract this, but you will be facing a huge wave of intertia (a whole society vs. just your influence).
Hugh.G.Rection:
I disagree Xinyuren, in the list of most important qualities in my opinion the willingness to work ranks as the top 100!
Now I don't know about you but you've mentioned home schooling, to most of us that's just not an option as most of us have to work, however, if you are of the opinion that home schooling works then you must also be willing to accept that home correction of schooling errors can also work. From my experiences, primary school (I think that's what the US call Grade School but I'm not sure, ages 5 - 10) in the UK is mainly about learning how to learn and the BASIC building blocks of knowledge that are then applied and interpreted in High School, (at least that's how it was when I was at school and appears to be the same now in the UK), so I think learning these 'foundation' level fundamentals well will actually improve her chances later on.
Plus of course if we go back to the UK now we would have to live in the house we already own which would mean putting her in the local school which tbh I wouldn't put my cat in, (and I don't have a cat). In 9 years time all being well we will be in a financial position to move to a better area with a top ranked school.
xinyuren:
I am less concerned about the classes and the quality of teaching than I am of the culture I will be inserting my child in. I can't even hope to counter the cultural inertial of the thousands of classmates and teachers she will be in contact with every day, inculcating into my child customs and practices that will empty her mind of all creative and individual thought. I don't think I am exaggerating. You seem to be just worried about the mechanics of learning. I am talking about the mechanics of thinking! I think you underestimate how much influence school is on a young child's mental development. The classroom is CCP's breeding ground. There is where the sheep factory begins. But to each his own. As long as you know what you're up against. As for my child, she is going to be a wolf.
Hugh.G.Rection:
Xin I think you are being totally hysterical. Humanity have been creative and have used their intellect for at least 100,000 years and you are trying to say that can be stifled completely in 4 years by perhaps 20 teachers and at most 2000 students? I don't know what you've been taking, but if I were you, I'd quit.
Also, you do realise don't you in a wolf pack there is one leader and the rest are either servile pups or scheming to overthrow the leader don't you?
By just answering the question: Why not? They also trust foreign teachers to teach their kids or students.
Answering the question with the premise: China’s teaching system for a second language learning still needs time to ripe. So, maybe not now, sir. 
I will consider it, when I have one 
. Getting married this year...
My country is much more messed up than China...in many ways.
I will stay here, so I don't think I have a choice.
But anyway...I don't think the education system can take the creativity and imagination
away from him/her...
Having my own, completely foreign baby here (half Brit, half Philippine)...
I would consider Kindergaten because you can get taught more here than in the UK (languages - instruments, etc) than in the UK and that work ethic is valuable.
Hell no to highschool
What, so my children can grow up to be boring, brainwashed, and incapable of original or creative thoughts?
…No thanks.
I couldn't even consider raising a child in China. As for the education system, I did some of my university at one of Chinese top universities, and it was a complete joke. The education system back home is far from perfect and I don't trust it completely. but it's so much better than China.
Every foreigner I know is taking there kids back home to start the education process. After teaching here for 4 years. I would not want my child to learn to copy and blindly follow orders. All kids are the same. Problem here is the class size is too large. The teachers teach according to how they are told to teach. This means one method of teaching for one style of learning. This in itself breeds failure for about 40% of the school kids. I have taught University English Majors. Many are teachers now. They do want to change the system but are hamstrung to what the head teachers demands who are in-turn, tied to an outdated command and control system dependent on orders from above.
