The place to ask China-related questions!
Beijing Shanghai Guangzhou Shenzhen Chengdu Xi'an Hangzhou Qingdao Dalian Suzhou Nanjing More Cities>>

Categories

Close
Welcome to eChinacities Answers! Please or register if you wish to join conversations or ask questions relating to life in China. For help, click here.
X

Verify email

Your verification code has been sent to:

Didn`t receive your code? Resend code

By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .

Sign up with Google Sign up with Facebook
Sign up with Email Already have an account? .
Posts: 7204

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Q: Have you ever asked your Chinese students their future career choice?

I had idea's from time to time and still do
The story below shows determination however I just hope somebody will take the time ti guide her
I try to explains why education is so important to kids I meet but finding the right ways to say it is not always easy

Interested to read your thoughts

Luo Siqi, has been wandering around the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in a fake flight attendant outfit since July last year but only came to the attention of police last month, South China Morning Post reports.

Police officers questioned the girl after she was spotted at the airport wearing an imitation China Southern Airlines uniform and carrying documents about the carrier.

She was escorted to child welfare authorities twice last month but the teenager insists on returning to the airport.

"I am truly in love with the sky. Let me go to the airport," she said.

"I love blue sky and have always dreamed of flying. By doing this, I am a bit closer to my dream."

Ms Luo was reportedly abandoned by her biological parents as a child and has since been adopted and re-homed more than once.

The aviation junkie left her home in July last year to "take a look at the big city" according to reports.

She is not enrolled in school and currently lives in the nearby city of Luoding with her cousin, the relative of her adoptive father who now resides in a nursing home.

The teenager said she bought her flight attendant uniforms online.

"I once bought four suits at the same time, [to accommodate] four different seasons," she said

10 years 27 weeks ago in  Teaching & Learning - China

 
Answers (8)
Comments (4)
Posts: 9631

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

This story is tragic, but at the same time gotta like the girl for having a dream. 

Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 3837

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Very few students i have met are studying what they are interested in, or interested in what they are studying. These students are amongst the few who have a plan as to what they want to do after graduation. Most are there because their parents/family think it is a good career, regardless of the ability of their son/daughter. So to answer the question, what i hear most often is 'I don't know' when i ask what they will do after they graduate, or 'I want to be rich......" with no plan or idea. I refuse to answer the question 'what to you  think i should do?' crying

Scandinavian:

not being a teacher I of course meet less students than you teacher-folk, but I have yet to meet any teenagers in China who did not simply follow the family order "my dad says blah blah is a good business" except a couple of young Uyghur students. They also spoke English at above Hong Kong level.  

10 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1263

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Most of the time what i hear is "business" or "businessman/woman". With very little idea of what kind of business they would like to be in.

Sometimes I have had students say "international trade" or "open my own business/restaurant"

They truly have no idea what they want to do after they complete their studies.

I have a notion that 99% of these students have no idea what career their studies could prepare them for.

Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 2587

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I make it a point to ask all my friends this question.  I get the same response as sorrel above.  Not that the University prepares them for real life and a real career anyways.  My wife went to a college for teachers (Normal University) for four years and they neglected to teach her how to actually teach!  She had no idea how to teach a class upon graduation.  Everything she has learned, she learned from me.  That is a shame.

 

My hat off to the young girl in your story.  Am I the only one who doesn't see it as sad?  I wish even a small percentage of university students had the dreams and drive that she has.

Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 170

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I actually do ask a lot of my students this question and the answer always upsets me..it's usually along the lines of "I want to do what you do I want to see the world and travel...but I don't have the money and my mother would not allow me, or my husband..etc etc", or "But if I had money I would have to build a home for my family etc". 

Perhaps I'm wrong in doing so, but I have not being given a coursebook/syllabus for my teaching so I pick and use my own material, and I try and show the students as many self-empowering pieces of work as possible, of travel and foraging and expanding one's horizons.  The thought that these children/young adults will follow the same old regime that has been pre-set by their families (against their will) makes me despair, I just really hope they find it in them to break conventions and choose to lead whatever life they can dream up. 

sorrel:

for many of the students I have met, any hope they have of following their OWN dream, even if it is something modest, is sucked out of them from an early age. Tradition is so strong here still. One student I taught who LIKED and was GOOD at her major had her dream of completing her studies abroad taken from her by her family who wanted her to get married as soon as possible. She tried to put a good face on it but was upset when she spoke about her friends who did travel.

10 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse

Scandinavian:

I think, even if you do spark a dream, it will be killed by the fact that children always follow their parents, until the parents fit into the "old useless people category" (which is at a strangely early age in China) 

10 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 902

Shifu

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

I am not a teacher but the topic does come up from time to time at English corner on a Sunday morning and the reactions are pretty much as Sorrel and Slice have said. Ambition or the ability to think and have a life of your own choosing is squashed early on and they just accept being controlled by their parents and the system generally. The ones I do speak to who still have that spark of independence seem to know it is only a dream and the chances of it happening are next to nothing. Even my stepson, 25 years old, who went to university and had a first job working for a trading company has just changed jobs to a trainee insurance assessor could/would not take the job until his father approved it. I do meet quite a few students who have real potential if only they could be given the ability to act for themselves.

Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 63

Governor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

The textbook I was given here at my university had me ask a similar question to my students.  It asked, What are your opinions on the Chinese education system?  Most were negative which led me to ask the question how many of you like what your studying?  Most answered "my parents chose it for me"  This bothered as I chose my own path in College and I chose History which I knew going into the program my job options would be poor but I can honestly say I enjoyed all of my history classes and would not go back and change a thing.  But then I remember that things are different here and in even in America I have American-Korean/Chinese who sort of still abide to this and all I can think of is I respect my parents but sometimes you really just have to tell them to "-----" off, especially when you get older and start leading your own life... but i don't see this every happening in China at least in my lifetime

craigjj505:

American-Korean/Chinese friends*

10 years 27 weeks ago
Report Abuse
Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Posts: 4935

Emperor

0
0
You must be a registered user to vote!
You must be a registered user to vote!
0

Most of them say they're doing things they don't like.

Report Abuse
10 years 27 weeks ago
 
Know the answer ?
Please or register to post answer.

Report Abuse

Security Code: * Enter the text diplayed in the box below
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <u>
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Textual smileys will be replaced with graphical ones.

More information about formatting options

Forward Question

Answer of the DayMORE >>
A:  "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "S
A: "... through ..."?  Only "through" comes to mind is "Shenzhen agent can connect you with an employer, who's authorized to hire waigouren ... and can sponsor Z visa." It's not like every 10th person you meet in Shenzhen's hood can sponsor work visa ...  The only way to change from student to labourer visa is just a regular way by: 1. Finding an employer, who'll apply for an Invitation letter; 2. Exit China and apply for Z visa in your home country's Chinese embassy; 3. Enter China in 30-days after Z visa was stamped into your travelling instrument ...As I am aware, you won't be able to switch to Working permit by remaining in China....,so make ready for a return to your home .... -- icnif77