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Schools of thought divided over education
Li Lie, principal of the Second Experimental Primary School in Beijing, concurred. "Parents who send their children to BCIS want a Western-style education, yet retain the fine traditions of Chinese education, such as solid understanding of the rudiments. Chinese children who go abroad for schooling may lose their roots and identities, but here they can benefit from the best of both worlds." There should be a place for standardized testing, admitted the teaching staff at BCIS, but education should not be solely test-driven. "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime," said Diba Kader. Likewise, she and her colleagues are meticulous in deliberating what and how to teach. Take number counting. The custom is to count small numbers first and larger ones second, "but have you noticed, in real life, you always count big money first? Why don't we teach things in the same way they are applied?" asked Kader. Another focus is the balance of knowledge and applied skills. "We'd teach children how to write, but they will type out their stories on a computer. So, you have to remember that a kid doesn't have to perfect handwriting to create a story," said Cormel Byrne. She elaborated that, in this age of computer technology, the ability to acquire knowledge and access information is often more important than memorizing facts. "People need to adapt and retrain." It turns out that Professor Chen Ning Yang's assessment of China's education is much more comprehensive and nuanced than what was quoted in the press. "There is no simple answer for the question of which educational system is better. It varies with thousands of schools and millions of children. My conclusion is, for the majority of students, the Chinese ethos is feasible because it will guide them to the road of being useful to the society (or social functionality). But for the top 5 per cent of the kids, who are the smartest, the American system is much better because it gives full play to their potential," said Yang. Yang further analyzed that the differences lie in cultural traditions. Chinese students are docile and quiet so it is easier to impart knowledge. American kids tend to be animated and inquisitive. These are determined by cultural values, social structures and even genetic factors. If I were a teacher, I would encourage the children to have multiple interests and talents. That bodes well for a school like BCIS.
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