Warning!\u00a0 Warning!\u00a0 This is going to be a boring two days.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to break out into a comparison of education in China vs. the US.<\/p>\n
Wednesday begins my orientation at BHS #4 IC (International Campus).\u00a0 I\u2019m going to combine these two days together.\u00a0 Both days were pretty much the same.\u00a0 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).\u00a0 This is true both days.\u00a0 It rained Wednesday, but the commute time is the same.\u00a0 The train is very crowded for a few segments of the trip, and standing is the only option.<\/p>\n
Our meetings these two days include the usual distribution of schedules, and discussion of policies.\u00a0 We\u2019re going through the initial accreditation of the school, so there is also a lot of talk about the \u201cVision\u201d, and \u201cMission Statement\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019ve 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.\u00a0 I\u2019m afraid I wasn\u2019t able to hide all of them.<\/p>\n
My schedule will be two 45-minute classes of 30 students each on the two days I teach, Thursday & Friday.\u00a0 I start at 1:50 on Thursday, and 9:50 on Friday.\u00a0 Thursday is the long day. \u00a0I sponsor an Instrumental Music Club on Thursday afternoons from 4:15 to 5:45.\u00a0 I\u2019m through on Fridays at 11:30 am.\u00a0 I\u2019ll probably eat lunch and head home those days.<\/p>\n
The school serves us lunch each day, and it is GREAT!\u00a0 If this is Chinese food, then I love it.\u00a0 There\u2019s watermelon one day, and cantaloupe the next.\u00a0 Both days we\u2019re served several different options of chicken with vegetables and sauces.\u00a0 There\u2019s also a pork dish, and a beef dish.\u00a0 There\u2019s a noodle dish each day, and rice.\u00a0 There are 3 soups selections available also.\u00a0 I can\u2019t 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\u2019t make many breakfasts.\u00a0 There\u2019s a Starbucks across the street that will provide needed caffeine before the afternoon sessions.<\/p>\n
The real interest of the two days for me is listening to the administration discuss why the school exists.\u00a0 They are genuinely interested and concerned for the well-being of their students, and trying to prepare them to attend universities in the US.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Everything<\/span> seems to be about the test scores.\u00a0 They tell us that most students stop participating in extra activities and focus only on studying and \u201cthe test\u201d after 8th<\/sup> grade.\u00a0 They don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Apparently the Chinese system is a lecture style classroom with little or no interaction between student and teacher.\u00a0 The teacher lectures, and the students take notes and work on memorization of the material.\u00a0 The students fear their teachers.\u00a0 They don\u2019t ask questions in class and they don\u2019t express opinions.<\/p>\n Students at the International Campus have given up their opportunity to take the Chinese \u201ctest\u201d.\u00a0 Their only chance for a \u201csuccessful career\u201d is to be admitted to a US or UK university.\u00a0 The school is an AP curriculum, so the AP tests in May are \u201chuge\u201d for them.\u00a0 They also know they need to develop independent thinking skills for themselves and prepare differently to attend college in the US.\u00a0 There has been some serious trial and error as they work through the cultural differences, and the school is new (2nd<\/sup> year, 10th<\/sup> grade only last year.)<\/p>\n They began last year trying to immerse the students in English, in all<\/span> classes.\u00a0 The faculty realized it was too much, too fast, and the students were drowning, so an adjustment was made.\u00a0 The science and math classes were then taught by the Chinese faculty, in Chinese, and the other courses were taught by foreign teachers.\u00a0 For this year, the 11th<\/sup> graders will have most of their classes taught in English.<\/p>\n My job, it seems, is to present on overview of music to 11th<\/sup> graders.\u00a0 More importantly, they want me to engage the students verbally, giving them a \u201ctaste\u201d 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Warning!\u00a0 Warning!\u00a0 This is going to be a boring two days.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to break out into a comparison of education in China vs. the US. Wednesday begins my orientation at BHS #4 IC (International Campus).\u00a0 I\u2019m going to combine … Continue reading