Education in China and America - Essay Example

Literacy can be achieved through many ways which some include cultural, visual, internet, and information. Although many people in the society lack literacy skills, literacy remains an elusive target to all people. This paper discusses in depth about the difference between China education and American education. Although China has a high population, it has managed to excel in its basic education. It is depicted that China attaches a great significance to education. Education remains the first priority in China.

Chinese high schools differ immensely with American high schools primarily in structure. An American school day tends to be shorter compared to a Chinese school day. Scholarly research denotes that American students spend only seven hours in school during the weekdays whereas as a Chinese student, I used to spend stay in school spending most of my time studying at times even until 10.00 at night. The class structure too varies between the two countries. In contrast to the Chinese system where students remain in the same room all day, the teachers rotating in and out, the American students have each class in a different classroom with different classmates unlike Chinese students who have a set of the same classmates all day.

This becomes advantageous to the students since the students are able to form a strong social bond between each other. I could have the same classmates even for the whole grade division. This made us live as a family like brothers and sisters. The two countries portray a different system of grade division. In essence, America’s most common system starts with kindergarten then proceeds to fifth grade as elementary school, sixth through eighth grade as junior high school, and ultimately ninth through twelfth grade as high school.

In contrast to the American system, Chinese system begins with kindergarten through the sixth grade called the elementary school and finally the seventh grade through the twelfth grade, which is called the middle school. The two countries differ in the way information passes from the teachers to the students. America always prefers a high personal expression. Most of the classes entirely revolve around discussion materials where the teacher expects the students to engage in dialogues. American education encourages classroom participation that contributes greatly to the performance of the students.

In China, teachers do not put much emphasis on class discussions. As a Chinese student, observed the quietness in the room as the teacher came and lectured as we all listened. This reduces the teacher-student relationship since it was very rare to find a student engaging in a talk with the teacher. Some students even went to an extent of fearing the teacher. The students maintain respect amongst themselves and their teachers. The classroom is quiet as compared to the American classroom that is noisy and boisterous.

Chinese classrooms emphasize on a more formal atmosphere compared to the American classrooms. American education always lays its basis on technology. It is depicted that in America, the progress in the field of technology and knowledge occupy’s about three-quarter of their productivity output. Unlike American education