The Difference Between Teachers in China and the West
Hello Steem Blockchain!
I'm sure most of us know that the education system is China is quite different from the West. It really is. So how does our differences in the education system affect the behaviours of the teachers in their respective countries?
Allow me to explain.
Students in China spend a lot of time in school. I teach at the top school in the city of Qinhuangdao so I have definitely been able to learn how teachers are compared to back in Canada when I was a student.
Students have to come to school before 8am for independent studies and they commence their classes at 8am. From 11:45am to 2:15pm, they have their lunch break and then from 2:15pm to 5:45pm they have more classes.
Is that all?
Nope!
They will have dinner from 6pm to 6:30pm and then continue independent studies until 8:20pm!
But wait, there's more!
If the student does not live on campus, they are finally free to go home at 8:20pm, otherwise, they must continue their independent studies until 10:30pm! At 10:30pm, they must go back to their dorms and go to sleep and the cycle continues.
Students literally see their teachers more often then their own parents. That is why I have noticed that the teachers in China also act very much like the students' parents. Since they are around them for so long, they often times act like parents or babysitters.
Back in the West, I don't think teachers have this same relationship with the students. From what I remember, when I was a student, everybody would go to school and learn from the teachers, but after school, we generally didn't communicate with each other anymore until the next day. Teachers in the West have a more professional relationship while teachers in China are like caregivers.
Chinese teachers are strict.
But they are strict like a caring parent. They are strict because they care about the success of the students and don't want their real parents to feel disappointed in them.
I have been invited by students to go with them to karaoke as well as to eat lunch and dinner. Initially, I felt a little awkward because that isn't too common in the West. Students in the West don't even want to see their teachers outside of school hahah.
But here, it seems to be more normal because you can't spend the whole day with someone almost 24/7 and not get to know them as a person instead of just a teacher.
I don't see this is better or worse. It's just different. When you spend so much time around someone, it's hard to maintain this professional relationship. But back in the West, we usually go home at 2:30-4:00pm, so we don't necessarily need to bond to the teachers as much.
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But is it okay for students to basically give up their childhood in exchange for studying so much? If a student is on school from 8am to 10pm, we'll, that's basically the entire day! Every student is learning more or less the same things, they don't have much time to do hobbies and such other than maybe weekends (I assume karaoke happens on weekends) which is something but not as much.
I guess an alternative way to think of it is that kids are wasting time doing stupid things anyway, they should always be improving themselves and China is still a developing, competitive country, for example the gaokao is ridiculous competitive and China has a lot of people... But i still can't help but think China is cutting some of its own potential because too much studying,I think, also has diminishing returns.
And while kids bond with their teachers more; might they also weaken their bonds with their parents?
That's how it is. To each student, they are expected to attend the most famous universities in China which means they need a high score on the Gao Kao. The most common way for students to try and escape reality is by playing computer games. Sports and art aren't encouraged that much (but basketball is really popular here) so in any chance they have to not study, they will play computer games instead.
The students know their education system is flawed, but there isn't any other choice for them right now. They all are expected to go to university, which is super competitive because of how many people are in China and there aren't enough universities for all of them. So to them, studying 24/7 and constantly doing homework is how they think they can become smarter and more capable.
I'm not sure about the bond with their parents, but Asian parents don't really show much affection to their children in general.
Its still quite shocking to me how cold hearted some Chinese parents can be, call it tough love I guess.
Its no wonder that there is a lack of creativity.
Most of these students never have a chance to find out who they really are.
They don't know any better. They are doing what their parents did to them. If you can't get into a good university, then you should pretty much give up on life.
That's how they see it. Once they realize that it isn't insanely hard to be successful without a university education, then the parents will relax. For the time being, it's a dog eat dog world to them.
I deal with the aftermath in corporate culture, lots of highly educated individuals, who haven't really experienced life.
Earn $, buy a car, property, get married, have a kid, take care of parents, and continue to repeat the cycle with their own children.
Once and awhile I do come across someone who can think for themselves and charts a different course in life, they often don't stay in China for long though.
I can see why you never leave!
Thats a clean school! (1:32) Cleaner than many hospitals in China that I have been to as well.
Not like some of the places I've taught at...LOL
I remember it being so cold (no heat or a/c in many buildings that I have worked in) that I couldn't write on the whiteboard very well, and in the summer, never again, not in southern China, no a/c, no way.
Correct! This is a really good school to teach and live in. In the south, you guys don't get central heating and the summers can be unbearably hot. I was in Shanghai in August and it was hot. I took a trip to a water town (XiTang) from Shanghai and it was brutal. Holy crap that town was hot.
I stayed in Xitang overnight in December or January ten years ago, also brutal, quite cold, and no place to warm up.
Yeah, it's probably cold because there isn't any heating.
Btw, how come I get so many notifications every time you post a comment?
You only made 2 comments recently and this is what my notifications look like lol. Are you editing your comments multiple times?
Yeah, its the edits.
Thanks for letting me know, didn't realize it was that obvious.
Lol! No worries. Every time I see I have 9+ notifications for no reason, I'm like "damn, did one of my videos go viral or something?"
Then I just see it's all you hahaha
I figure, if what I post will be permanently stored on the block-chain, I should make an effort to be as concise as I can. I do like that we have 7 days to make changes, its very convenient when you have additional information to add or mistakes to correct.
Haha , who would think that this kind of post would be posted on steemit ?
I mean i have never heard about this topic . Differences between teachers in different regions...
Really cool , i enjoyed the content and i must say it worths the appreciation .
Bravo , interesting topic , quite connected ideas and bright convincing words .
Roll on .
Appreciate it @natanaelbara. I'm proud of what I post on Steem. Good luck to you
Thanks
really very interesting article .... very beautiful
Thank you @caspersteem. Good to see you around!
thanks also my brother, please guidance her in steemit to be better
Good post!
Good post!