The Differences of Education between America and China 中英教育制度差异
The Differences of Education between America and China
Abstract: In today’s information and knowledge explosion era, education particularly plays a more and more important part in modern societies，because it can lead to a different success or failure of a nation in global competition. Education is the soul of a nation; a country can’t develop without education. Therefore, education is one of the most important things in our life. China is a developing country with a large population, because the history, cultural background and economic development, China and the western developed countries are quite different from each other in education. As the education system should be based on its own society backgrounds, we can’t tell which is better between American education and Chinese education. This article will analyze the differences from several aspects.
Keywords: education, difference, comparison, development, analysis
First of all, the most obvious distinguish is that the goal of education. Chinese education is for foundation education, and American education is for the cultivation
of students’ creativity and the ability of thinking and practice. Chinese students are good at getting high marks but on mathematics, psychics and so on. However, they are lack of chances to practice skills in real world thus having no social experiences.
In that case, after graduation, most students find it difficult to find a satisfactory job though many of them get a job through the relationship net. While in America, the education system pays more attention to social skills than to marks.
Secondly, the attitude towards study is different between American and Chinese. American education tells the students learning is for them, and helps students to think about what to learn and how to learn, so American students study actively, flexibly and creatively. Meanwhile, Chinese education has many prescription about what to
learn, when to learn, and how to learn. About homework, American students have less repetitive and memory tasks, but they have some kind of activities like research, speech, roles play, and debate. In China, many parents only care about whether the children have a promising future, a good job, a good life or not and the teachers care no more than the high marks.
What’s more, China and America have totally different tradition and exams. In all ages, China pay great attention to exams, and most of the time, one exam can determine a student’s life. Exams are important as it is a kind of ways of personnel selection; however, it is cruel that our life is determined by an exam. Chinese children go to senior high at 16, the classes are all required courses, whether we do well or not, we can graduate when finish three years of learning, on conduction that I don’t want to go to university. However, base on the complex condition of China, the university degree is a survival tool we badly need, and a good university also can make students quite different, so most of the students fighting with entrance examination to enter the university, a good one. In America, children start their senior high at 15, and during their four-year’s learning they have to achieve 25.33 credit to graduate, including required courses and elective courses; Among the one hundred famous universities in the world, there are fifty four in America, if want to enter these universities, students have to take the SAT. If not, they can apply to other state universities without entrance examination. It seems that both Chinese and American senior high can determine a s tudent’s rest life, America teaches students practical skills to their life, and Chinese senior high schools teach students how to do well in the paper works, so that they can gain a different life because the university degree.
Today, the college entrance examination system has become a direction of school education in China, and to some degree, it kills the interest and hobby of the students. Schools in the United States, for example, we just mention several in last paragraph, in more detail, generally require five aspects: one is the SAT exam, but test pressure is not big, because they have seven opportunities in one year, and you can go to test
whenever you want to, also you can do the test for many times until you satisfied your score. The second is the implementation of credit system of high school, but you can complete the credit in 3 years or 5 years. The third is your test scores have to get B averagely during the high school, but it is interesting that paper work is not the most important, even if you do it very perfectly, you can just have 50 points. Usually if you make A space model, also can take 25 points or 30 points, even helping your classmates calculate points, so in total, you are A or B at least.
It heard that it is cruel and useless in Chinese education. In China there are 9.15 million senior high students take the entrance examination in 2012, the jobs are so limited that hardly afford the number. In America, as a developed country, the situation is much better than ours, smaller population, sound welfare systems and powerful economy, all these do help to release the pressure. In a word, because the economy, culture and society development, it is reasonable that Chinese education system lags behind the America’s, however, many people cann ot understand this, just admire the American one and abuse the Chinese one.
Chinese education focuses on the knowledge to accumulate and indoctrinate, on how students use and manage the knowledge they learned in school and on how to understand the knowledge system and structure. Reversibly, American care more about how students use knowledge in society. It lets student challenge the knowledge, animadvert ideas, and focus on, exploit or create knowledge. These two types of attitude about education show us the different ways to understand knowledge, and also to show two countries with different education opinions.
As to the teaching methods, the two systems have done a totally different. For school education, Chinese teachers tend to explain the known knowledge such as formulas, academic theories, and that, on the contrary, overseas teachers are more likely to enlighten students and guide them to probe into the unknown theories. Chinese teachers often give students a conclusion and it is the best if the students have no problems. But American teachers are good at enlightening the students to find
more problems. For family education, in Chinese family, affected by Chinese traditional culture, parents educate children by “control” and “seal” type. Most American pa rents emphasize more to train their children’s ability of independence once they are born because they think that children should form a self-supporting will and the capacity to live independently since their childhood.
Finally is the graduate school. Amer ican students who have obtained a bachelor’s degree can continue their education. The first is a master’s degree. This is usually a two-year degree that is highly specialized in a specific field. The second one is doctorate degree. A PhD degree can take between three and six years to complete, depending on the course of study chosen, the ability of the student, and the thesis that the student has selected. As same as American students, students in China also should obtain a bachelor’s degree to continue their study. But, either master’s study or doctorate study, the students all need to pass a crucial Entrance Examination. Most schools still need to spend three years for master’s degree as well a s doctorate degree.
Generally speaking, there are many differences in the education systems between Chinese and American. Which one is the better? For each nation, it has the different answers. In my opinion, it should be judged by the real educational situation in each country, we can learn from American success, to make our students more dependent and skillful, we don’t need to copy it’s system, as for America, it has its own problems, such as political situation and wealth gap, which make the education more complicated. Also, because the American student have too many choices, what they are doing now are what they want to do, they may lack of the courage to endure hardship, which can be a barrier in their future.
Chinese education system maybe not the best one in the world, but at least, it is the most suitable one for Chinese students. And this is the condition we can have, it is not necessary to complain about that. What about keep trying, try to make a better future for ourselves and our next generation.