China and America Educational System - Essay Example

China and America Educational System Similarities and Differences of China and America Educational System Introduction There are many notable similarities and differences between China and America educational system due to their unique social environment and government policies that influenced the education systems (Li, 2007). The class size is one of the evident differences between China and America education systems since Chinese classes comprise about 55 to 65 students at the high school level. On the other hand, American high schools comprise of smaller class sizes of 25 to 30 students and the teachers often teach 5 to 6 classes unlike in China where the teachers have two classes in a eight-period day. In this case, American education system provides more personalized attention to the students thus leading to better education outcomes (Stambach, 2014). China’s curriculum is standardized since students are allowed only few elective choices. The education system in China is guided by national education goals, national curriculum content and national learning outcomes that are outlined by the national government (Clotfelter, 2010). On the other hand, America education system accords the state governments the primary responsibility of education since the various state governments provide directions to schools under their jurisdiction (Sowell, 1993). For instance, the various state governments will control the district schools, the teacher contracts and working conditions unlike in China where the education sector is entirely controlled by the national government (Ma, 2014). There are structural dissimilarities in the two education systems especially the college application process since the American system uses a wider and more holistic application process that that take in to account high school grade, extra-curriculum activities and personal interview with the prospective students (Sowell, 1993). The college application in America considers the student’s own future career expectations unlike in China’s system were the college selection process is entirely determined by standardized tests that are administered annually. The pressure to pass these tests creates a burden since prospective college students will have to spend long hours while doing their revisions in order to ensure preparedness (Clotfelter, 2010). Most higher education institutions in America have their own admission criteria and requirements depending on the preferred study program and thus comprehensive abilities and attributes of the prospective student are important in the selection criteria (Sowell, 1993). Furthermore, the universities extend the admission criteria to include other unique attributes such as conditional disability or unique talents like football that may bring honor and fame to the institution thus allowing students who may have performed poorly in academics, but excellently in extracurricular activities such as games to get an opportunity to join a university of their choice (Sowell, 1993). Another notable difference is the semester arrangement in higher education system between the two countries since both systems prefer four year undergraduate programs, but there is a difference in the semester arrangement. For instance, American universities and colleges have the option to have two semesters each year comprising of 10 to 16 weeks, but others prefer four semesters in a year (Sowell, 1993). The four semester system in America offers shorter learning time and adequate time for participation in other individual activities unlike in China where universities and colleges have only two semesters that are referred as autumn and spring. The China system offers less amount of time for students to participate in extracurricular activities of their interest thus creating boredom in learning (Clotfelter, 2010). China and America education system differ from the way the curriculum is taught since American system values personal expression in the teaching strategies unlike Chinese system that values teacher lecturing (Clotfelter, 2010). The American classrooms are based on discussion of materials and posing questions to students thus ensuring students actively participate in learning unlike China’s curriculum delivery methods that mainly involve lecturing and minimal participation of students during the learning process (Sowell, 1993). The difference is evident in the differing attitudes of students while in classroom since American students are more likely to engage in group discussions that may sometimes be boisterous unlike Chinese classrooms where students remain more attentive to the teacher unlike they are called upon by the teacher to answer to questions while learning (Clotfelter, 2010). Chinese education system relies on a cohort concept where the students beginning their schooling are placed in one classroom until the test scores allow them to progress to the next class. Chinese students thus learn each of the subjects together unlike in American education system where students are not grouped in to classes since students are allowed to join other classes after learning one of the subjects. For instance, American students joining the proceeding year will mix up with other students from different classes. In this case, China education system allows the students to form strong and lasting friendships with each other due to learning together for a long period of time while American education system allows the students to meet friends from different social-economic and cultural backgrounds during their period of study (Clotfelter, 2010). The education system in China allows the same teachers to instruct the same students in the next grade level unlike in America where the teachers will hand a class at the same level on not instruct the same group of students in the next level. For instance, Chinese teachers will teach a class each year through primary school unlike American teachers who specialize in content and curriculum at a particular grade level (Robinson & Latchem, 2003). China education system relies on the concept of head teachers to create cordial working relationships between the parents and schools. The head teachers are accorded additional responsibilities such as communicating with families, provide counseling services to students, and contact parents for school meetings whenever there is a need. On the other hand, American education system relies on the guidance counselor to provide career guidance to students, offer moral and social support and manage contact with families thus ensuring that head teachers concentrate on teacher supervision and managerial aspects of the schools. China’s education system uses standardized tests that determine the enrollment in to elementary, high school and universities across the country. The standardized tests draw their history from the ancient imperial exams of Sui Dynasty that were essential in selecting public officials (Robinson & Latchem, 2003). On the other hand, America system does not entail grueling test preparations until Advanced Placement courses whereby students have the option of settling to the less prestigious universities. Enrollment to a prestigious university with higher global ranking like Beijing University is a dream for many domestic Chinese students since parents take pride in those universities unlike in American system where parents are happy in admitting their students in universities that have better campus life and less tuition fees (Clotfelter, 2010). Social environment and government policy influence on China and America educational policies The differences in the two educational systems are significant and reflect social environment and government policies that influenced the nature of education in each country. China’s education system originated from the Confucius philosophy that aimed at ensuring morality and ethical conduct in the society, family harmony and social relationships (Wolff, 2011). The basic delivery mode was memorizing concepts. The different Dynasties in China experienced political turmoil due to lack of close control by the Rulers and thus Sui Dynasty saw it necessary to introduce exams that would be used in selecting the public officials. The exams were standardized and individuals wishing to get appointed to public offices had to pass the exams. Chinese societies respected the Confucius scholars and were accorded different attires that distinguished them from ordinary citizens in the society (Robinson & Latchem, 2003). For instance, Chinese culture embraces more formality than American culture since Chinese language entails more respectful and formal words when addressing other people and bestowing respect. In 1949, the state introduced a government policy of nationalization of the education system including the private schools that were initially controlled by the Nationalist Party. Other measures included building stable teaching workforce and diversification of the curriculum in secondary education in order to ensure quality improvement. The Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956-1957 aimed at entrenching a Soviet model of higher education through centralization of placements and ensuring students attended universities in the Soviet Block (Morgan & Wu, 2011). The ‘Great Leap Forward’ era (1958-1965) that was led by Mao Zedong transformed the education policies since political ideologies such as Marxism were introduced to education and the number of enrollments increased significantly. The reforms led to increase in the literacy levels due to inclusion of both full-time and part-time studies and high enrollment among the peasants who preferred the work-study schools (Morgan & Wu, 2011). However, the cultural revolution of 1966 to 1976 led to re-orientation of methods of education since various vocational-technical schools were closed and national examinations were no longer necessary for admission to universities (Morgan & Wu, 2011). Major reforms in the education sector started in 1976 through emphasis of education as a key pillar of national development and focus on the quality of education. The reforms led to re-introduction of national examinations for university admission and introduction of nine-year compulsory education (Morgan & Wu, 2011). Accordingly, Chinese students could gain admissions in US universities while the education pedagogy now aimed at ensuring students develop creativity (Wolff, 2011). The reforms saw the re-emergence of private education institutions and growth in university enrollments. Currently, the literacy level stands at 92.2 percent while degree holders account for almost 8 percent of the population thus signaling major reforms have attained significant increase in the college and university enrollment in China (Morgan & Wu, 2011). The American education policies were influenced by the Declaration of Independence since Thomas Jefferson believed that social-economic background did not influence intelligence and talent. Jefferson advocated for democratic ideals that later shaped the government policies such as equal opportunity that ensured the government would teach students subjects such as reading, writing and arithmetic (Clotfelter, 2010). The Federal government policies have played significant roles in shaping the education system in the US since a Department of Education was established in 1867 in order to help the US states in establishing effective education systems. Second Morrill Act of 1890 outlined the responsibilities of managing universities while Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 established the vocational education that received funding from the federal government. The National Defense Education Act of 1958 stimulated educational interests in mathematics, foreign languages and sciences in order to allow America compete with the Soviet Union in scientific and technical fields. Another milestone was the passage of Civil Laws in 1960s since this prohibited all forms of discrimination in access to education. The Higher Education Act provides financial assistance to needy college students in order to ensure disadvantaged students have the opportunity to pursue their education (Clotfelter, 2010). The US social environment has been dominated by democratic ideals that foster free speech thus the educational polices encourage the students to determine their own learning outcomes and express their opinions openly during lectures (Clotfelter, 2010). On the other hand, the traditional autocratic government ideals of subsequent Chinese governments shaped the educational polices since respect and obedience are core values in Chinese societies. Similarities Despite the many differences between China and American education system, the two share common characteristics since both entail gross inequalities as students from poor social-economic backgrounds and minorities in are most likely to join schools that have no adequate learning resources (Clotfelter, 2010). In China, the rich families are able to send their schools to state-of-the art government schools that employ the most qualified teachers while American families have the freedom to migrate to regions where the public schools perform better or send their children to private schools that mainly enroll children from wealthy families (Clotfelter, 2010). The positives and negatives of China and America education systems China education system emphasizes the important of hard work ethics thus leading to better performance of the students in their examinations (Clotfelter, 2010). China education system is more strict and disciplined due to the high respect accorded to teachers unlike American education system that has seen many cases of indiscipline due to its flexibility and focus on individual learning styles. Teachers in China are among the most respected professionals in the society since they are exempted from paying taxes and have their own national holiday that is referred as the Teachers Day. China education system ensures that students learn to perform various roles since students are assigned additional tasks such as sweeping pathways and class prefects (Clotfelter, 2010). The class monitors are often assigned special armbands and supervise student tasks such as cleaning windows, distributing lunch, watering plants and collecting litter. In this case, China education system instills a spirit of responsibility through the different tasks unlike in America education system were such tasks like emptying bins and cleaning the windows are done by employed school workers. The main negative of China education system is the overemphasis on standardized tests since students are required to pass the examinations of a lower grade level before being allowed to proceed to the next grade (Clotfelter, 2010). This scenario is not good for an educational system since it leads may low performing students to drop out of their studies. China education system teaches students to master certain subjects such as geography and mathematics thus hindering creativity and critical thinking skills development among the graduates (Kaplan & Owings, 2010). The American education system has certain positive aspects since it has most of the leading global higher education institutions such as universities and colleges. The US universities and colleges are the best in the entire world due to their focus on academic research and scholarly which is essential in ensuring high quality education (Kaplan & Owings, 2010). The American universities are able to attract international students due to cultural diversity in their education. American education system focuses on nurturing individual talent and creativity. In this case, America has certain higher education institutions that are dedicated to enabling the students nurture unique talents such as music, drama and sports unlike Chinese schools that focus mainly on academic subjects (Kaplan & Owings, 2010). The main negative of America education system is the tuition costs of higher education since many students drop out of college due to the high expenses associated with pursuing a degree program (Stevenson & Stigler, 1994). America education system has been criticized for not concentrating on character and moral development of the students due to the high instances of anti-social behaviors and school violence in the country (Kaplan & Owings, 2010). Conclusion China and America education systems have certain differences and similarities due to the historical social environment and government policies that influenced the development of the education sector. China relies of standardized tests unlike America that focuses on different aspects such as extra-curriculum activities, individual creativity and other unique talents. China’s curriculum has few elective choices and students are taught to master the subjects unlike in America where students encounter many elective choices depending on their preferred learning expectations. China’s instructional strategy is mainly lecturing unlike in America system where the teacher uses different strategies such as case studies, simulations and role plays and encourages students to participate in classroom discussions. References: Clotfelter, C.T. (2010). American Universities in a Global Market. New York: University of Chicago Press. Kaplan, L & Owings, W. (2010). American Education: Building a Common Foundation. New York: Cengage Learning. Li, H. (2007). U.S-China Educational Exchange: State, Society and Intercultural Relations, 1905-1950. New York: Rutgers University Press. Ma, W. (2014). East Meets West in teacher Preparation: Crossing Chinese and American Borders. London: Teacher College Press. Morgan, W.J & Wu, B. (2011). Higher Education Reform in China: Beyond the Expansion. London: Taylor & Francis. Robinson, B & Latchem, C.R. (2003). Teacher Education Through Open and Distance Learning. New York: Psychology Press. Sowell, T. (1993). Inside American Education. New York: Simon and Schuster. Stambach, A. (2014). Confucius and Crisis in American Universities: Culture, Capital, and Diplomacy in U.S Higher Education. New York: Routledge. Stevenson, H & Stigler, J.W. (1994). Learning Gap: Why Our Schools are Failing and What we can Learn From Japanese and Chinese Education. New York: Simon and Schuster. Wolff, M. (2011). China: Current Thinking of Tomorrow’s Leaders. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More