Chinese Students Still Getting Used To How Stupid Your Kids Are

BANGOR, Maine — More than 6,000 miles from home, Chinese students in Maine high schools are finding that the United States’ system of learning is worlds away from education in the People’s Republic. Reflecting on their first year of education in the United States, Chinese students from John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor and Orono High School said they made the right call in coming to America, even if it means they might not be learning as much as they could be learning at home. In China, high schoolers trudge through long days of rigorous coursework that stretch from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at most schools, with a short break in the middle of the day to eat and rest. When students go home, they chip away at piles of homework and thumb through stacks of books in an attempt to keep on top of assignments. Contact between students and teacher is largely kept to the classroom, where dozens of students listen to their instructor’s lecture with little to no chance for participation or input. Avoiding disrespect is a major concern. Competition among peers is intense, the high schoolers said. Students in schools with enrollment numbers sometimes as high as 6,000 push hard to learn as much as possible before taking one of the most important tests of their lives — the gaokao — a standardized test taken during the last year of high school that almost single-handedly determines what, if any, university a student qualifies to attend. (read more, if you’re Chinese or homeschooled, at BangorDailyNews)

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Posted by Aubuchon Connery on Jun 3 2012. Filed under featured, Nope Not Homeschooled. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.