Mary was the one who pretty much gave me the title of Katie-ah. (do you-ah speak-ah the chinese-ah?) and Lily- man, that girl was something else.

So, I don’t have anything really insightful to say, but please, keep the stories coming, because I’m constantly pissed that I was never able to relay my thoughts and feelings about Harbin in a coherent manner.

Derek

I taught two classes of first grade Chinese kids last year, and I enjoyed them ten times more than my fifth grade class. It really takes different kinds of teachers, and since I enjoy games, crafts and, well, more crafts, first grade was just right for me. I suppose it helps that my mom is a kindergarden teacher, too.

Also, regarding the differences in educational system. First off, my school was the same as meggoddess describes above, the first grade students were still learning how to act in class (and that’s a major part of every kindergarden/1st grade class), and by a few weeks into the year they were military in their observance of the rules. I must say, the 1st grade teachers at CRIS school were incredible, they really had a good system of rewards and punishments down. And when I say punishments, I mrean *punishments*. But that’s another story.

And along with the difference in behavior, I speak from personal experience when I say that regimenting kids like the military really does hurt their creativity. I grew up in the public school system in Spain, which is closer to the Chinese system than the American: very strict teachers, a focus on memorization, and little creativity or critical thinking. Sure, I’m a very competent person, was top of my class in high school, and went to a nationally-known science university. But I still feel at a disadvantage when it comes to thinking creatively, and critically analyzing and intepreting situations and data. It wasn’t something I learned early on.

This focus on authority also means that the students in China are well behaved under the watch of a strict teacher, but they try to get away with murder when nobody is around. On the flip-side of the coin, American students may sass their teachers in class (not so much, really), but when they are left alone they will hold to the rules out of personal conviction. At least, that has been my experience.

And they *always* behaved with their Chinese teacher present. I don’t know about that “no-hitting” policy, meggoddess, but it definately wasn’t in effect in Changchun about a year ago.

Thinking about it, that was probably another reason the little kids acted so bad when I first started… after a little while they knew I wouldn’t hit them.

i’m sure chinese school discipline isn’t always as good as people say it is, but i went to first grade in beijing. let me tell you, it was a completely controlled atmosphere. you didn’t move around in your seat unless it was time to go, or if you needed to stand up to answer a question. you had to sit through the whole day with your hands folded behind your back, feet together on the floor, back straight, head up, and eyes following the teacher where ever he or she went. and this is pretty hard for a first grader, as you well know. if you misbehaved, you got slapped (pretty hard, i might say) with a wooden ruler. they could discipline you however they felt fair.

i guess the way kids act now in school might have something to do with the non-hitting policy they’ve adopted. and it’s not like i liked being hit with a wooden ruler, but i learned more in that one year than i learned in both second and third grade in the states. after coming to america right as second grade began, i was the best student in class after one week, even though i hadn’t spoken one word of english when i arrived.

so, not to sound overly prejudiced against the american school system, i think there’s something to be said about the chinese system. both systems have their good points and bad. the american system is not very strict, but it allows more creativity and hands on learning. the chinese system is not very versatile when it comes to creativity, but it teaches students how to actually use their brains and learn the material. i know my younger cousin in china is a year ahead of me in material even though she’s a year below me. of course there could be lurking variables, but if they could somehow combine the two systems, they’d have something.