News on China's scientific and technological development.

[bladerunner]

Actually, Shanghai's high school performance is one of the lowest in the country, so much for your elite city argument.

Well the organizers and writer appear to project Shanghai as a educational showpiece through their opening paragraph and throughout the article, with a passage suggesting the academically gifted being allowed to stay to study at school instead of returning home, as one example.

 

[AssassinsMace]

Never heard of Shanghai being where parents from all over China send their kids to school just because they have better schools. That's sounds like what the rich do. Now all of the sudden this is a practice all over China where they send their best and brightest which counters the other stereotype that most Chinese can't afford anything. Maybe these kids are commuting on all those high speed rail no one in China can afford too. The conditions sound no different from any other place.

 

[Quickie]

Actually, Shanghai's high school performance is one of the lowest in the country, so much for your elite city argument.

Another commentator on the test results did mention about doing the test on other cities in China, and he's of the opinion that the results will be quite similar.

 

[bladerunner]

Another commentator on the test results did mention about doing the test on other cities in China, and he's of the opinion that the results will be quite similar.

He may be correct in his assessment, however it comes across as an after thought after realising that there may be criticism in the way the test was applied in China I think it belittles? the efforts of all the students who took part.

 

[Quickie]

He may be correct in his assessment, however it comes across as an after thought after realising that there may be criticism in the way the test was applied in China I think it belittles? the efforts of all the students who took part.

Some of his comments are speculation on his part, like for example, there's actually an effort to retain smart students in Shanghai . And then it's hard to imagine a few minutes of pep talk or briefing would make any difference to the students performance irrespective of which country they are from.

 

[bladerunner]

Some of his comments are speculation on his part, like for example, there's actually an effort to retain smart students in Shanghai . And then it's hard to imagine a few minutes of pep talk or briefing would make any difference to the students performance irrespective of which country they are from.

Those tests got a mention in our morning paper, and weve bumped ourselves up a few places, coming in at 5th position in Science and Reading. WE got around from ever having to mention. China by comparing ourselves with the rest of the OECD countries. (Actually China was never mentioned at all)

I note that theres a footnote in the countries placings with the various tests in
Martins post @491. where it states that China was represented by Shanghai, and the administrative regions of HK and Macao. In which case wouldn't you add up the three scores and average them out?

Upon doing so I found that China would have scored 527 for Science placing it in 8th place: 524 for reading placing it in 4th place and 560 for maths placing it in 2nd place.

Do I feel better now? nope ..... wasted time actually

 

[Blitzo]

Those tests got a mention in our morning paper, and weve bumped ourselves up a few places, coming in at 5th position in Science and Reading. WE got around from ever having to mention. China by comparing ourselves with the rest of the OECD countries. (Actually China was never mentioned at all)

I note that theres a footnote in the countries placings with the various tests in
Martins post @491. where it states that China was represented by Shanghai, and the administrative regions of HK and Macao. In which case wouldn't you add up the three scores and average them out?

Upon doing so I found that China would have scored 527 for Science placing it in 8th place: 524 for reading placing it in 4th place and 560 for maths placing it in 2nd place.

Do I feel better now? nope ..... wasted time actually

:O Why would you feel bad in the first place?

(And Macau and HK may be considered "different" because they're under a "different system")

 

[solarz]

The test scores are misleading because they present only a tiny slice of the complex process that Education is.

From my personal experience, and from that of my cousins in China, I can say that each educational system has its pros and cons.

Without a doubt, China's pre-university schools are a lot more demanding than Canadian pre-university schools (which I assume are similiar to US schools). Reading and Math skills are taught at an earlier age and at a much more rapid pace.

Further, the attitude of parents are a huge factor in this. Chinese parents place education at the top of their priority list. Many parents push their kids to take on a host of extra-curricular activities in addition to their huge load of school work. Compare that with Canadian schools asking for a reduction in homework "because kids and parents are too stressed from the current load". There is absolutely no surprise that Chinese high school students out perform US high school students.

However, the game changes completely when we come to university. In US/Canada, where bright kids were forced to share classrooms with kids who had no interest in school, now they can go to university with other motivated students. In contrast, kids who had been under the "iron fist" of their parents suddenly get to live on their own, with no parental supervision whatsoever....

In addition, I would argue that the methods of the Chinese education system, while very good as building a strong foundation, is not as effective in fostering creativity. Due to political reasons, critical thinking is not given much importance either. Plus, everyone knows that the mandatory Political Science courses are pure BS. Those are the real weaknesses of the Chinese education system.

 

[montyp165]

The test scores are misleading because they present only a tiny slice of the complex process that Education is.

From my personal experience, and from that of my cousins in China, I can say that each educational system has its pros and cons.

Without a doubt, China's pre-university schools are a lot more demanding than Canadian pre-university schools (which I assume are similiar to US schools). Reading and Math skills are taught at an earlier age and at a much more rapid pace.

Further, the attitude of parents are a huge factor in this. Chinese parents place education at the top of their priority list. Many parents push their kids to take on a host of extra-curricular activities in addition to their huge load of school work. Compare that with Canadian schools asking for a reduction in homework "because kids and parents are too stressed from the current load". There is absolutely no surprise that Chinese high school students out perform US high school students.

However, the game changes completely when we come to university. In US/Canada, where bright kids were forced to share classrooms with kids who had no interest in school, now they can go to university with other motivated students. In contrast, kids who had been under the "iron fist" of their parents suddenly get to live on their own, with no parental supervision whatsoever....

In addition, I would argue that the methods of the Chinese education system, while very good as building a strong foundation, is not as effective in fostering creativity. Due to political reasons, critical thinking is not given much importance either. Plus, everyone knows that the mandatory Political Science courses are pure BS. Those are the real weaknesses of the Chinese education system.

The underlying dynamism shown in the Shanghai education system is a good building block upon which to transform the university educational system too, since people would be less wedded to the same old doctrinaire methods.

 

[solarz]

The underlying dynamism shown in the Shanghai education system is a good building block upon which to transform the university educational system too, since people would be less wedded to the same old doctrinaire methods.

What dynamism?