Warning! Warning! This is going to be a boring two days. I’m going to break out into a comparison of education in China vs. the US.
Wednesday begins my orientation at BHS #4 IC (International Campus). I’m going to combine these two days together. Both days were pretty much the same. I leave for school around 7:30, and from the apartment to the meeting room at the school, it takes 1 hour and 5 minutes (cost – $.75 round trip). This is true both days. It rained Wednesday, but the commute time is the same. The train is very crowded for a few segments of the trip, and standing is the only option.
Our meetings these two days include the usual distribution of schedules, and discussion of policies. We’re going through the initial accreditation of the school, so there is also a lot of talk about the “Vision”, and “Mission Statement”. I’ve sat through many of these meetings during my previous 38 years, and although I understand the importance, I am struggling to hide some huge yawns. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to hide all of them.
My schedule will be two 45-minute classes of 30 students each on the two days I teach, Thursday & Friday. I start at 1:50 on Thursday, and 9:50 on Friday. Thursday is the long day. I sponsor an Instrumental Music Club on Thursday afternoons from 4:15 to 5:45. I’m through on Fridays at 11:30 am. I’ll probably eat lunch and head home those days.
The school serves us lunch each day, and it is GREAT! If this is Chinese food, then I love it. There’s watermelon one day, and cantaloupe the next. Both days we’re served several different options of chicken with vegetables and sauces. There’s also a pork dish, and a beef dish. There’s a noodle dish each day, and rice. There are 3 soups selections available also. I can’t eat like this everyday, but two days a week will be a nice break from my sandwiches. Teachers eat breakfast and lunch free, but I probably won’t make many breakfasts. There’s a Starbucks across the street that will provide needed caffeine before the afternoon sessions.
The real interest of the two days for me is listening to the administration discuss why the school exists. They are genuinely interested and concerned for the well-being of their students, and trying to prepare them to attend universities in the US. They spend quite a bit of time talking about the Chinese educational system and how test scores are so important to determine if the student will get to go to the top schools in China. Everything seems to be about the test scores. They tell us that most students stop participating in extra activities and focus only on studying and “the test” after 8th grade. They don’t think this is good, and openly admit their students are missing a lot of socialization and struggle when they try to attend a US school.
Apparently the Chinese system is a lecture style classroom with little or no interaction between student and teacher. The teacher lectures, and the students take notes and work on memorization of the material. The students fear their teachers. They don’t ask questions in class and they don’t express opinions.
Students at the International Campus have given up their opportunity to take the Chinese “test”. Their only chance for a “successful career” is to be admitted to a US or UK university. The school is an AP curriculum, so the AP tests in May are “huge” for them. They also know they need to develop independent thinking skills for themselves and prepare differently to attend college in the US. There has been some serious trial and error as they work through the cultural differences, and the school is new (2nd year, 10th grade only last year.)
They began last year trying to immerse the students in English, in all classes. The faculty realized it was too much, too fast, and the students were drowning, so an adjustment was made. The science and math classes were then taught by the Chinese faculty, in Chinese, and the other courses were taught by foreign teachers. For this year, the 11th graders will have most of their classes taught in English.
My job, it seems, is to present on overview of music to 11th graders. More importantly, they want me to engage the students verbally, giving them a “taste” of socialization in the US, and how an US classroom might work. Since my experience has been in the band room, not the classroom, this should be interesting for all of us.