My Observations about Chinese Teacher Education

My two weeks in China puts me in no position to tell China how they should change their education system or even how they should change the way they train teachers. After all, they have progressed more than halfway thought their extensive nationwide education reform efforts without my input. But, I feel I have enough background knowledge of education theory and enough real-world teaching experience to be considered an expert observer. That expertise, coupled with visits to a total of 14 classrooms in six schools, along with conversations with dozens of teachers and future teachers at least moves me up to the "listen to me" category. I may never reach the coveted "do as I say" status.

Classroom interactions

As I said in an earlier posting, most classroom interactions were from teacher to student. This is how most classroom knowledge was transmitted. A few interactions were from student to teacher, typically students answering a teacher question. Student-student interactions were non-existent in some classrooms, infrequently present in most classrooms and a significant part of only a few classrooms.

Here are my suggestions for Chinese Teacher Education programs, especially those that are relatively resource rich and opportunity rich such as Shaan'xi Normal University (SNNU). SNNU faculty members could read this and say, "Rich!? We need more of this. We are missing that." But, as one of only six normal universities directly affiliated with the State Educational Ministry, SNNU must see itself as the center of teacher education in Shaan'xi province.

1. Provide teacher candidates with opportunities to work with children early and often. These experiences should be more than simply going to a classroom and observing. Every class I observed had SNNU students observing. But, none of those students participated in teaching the lesson. Having a large kindergarten and primary school right on campus and a middle school less than two kilometers away is a gold mine of opportunity for SNNU. SNNU students should help students in the classroom learn concepts. As the Chinese teachers more to a more inquiry-based curriculum, these extra hands, eyes and brains from SNNU will be very helpful, especially given China's large class sizes. I urge SNNU classes to partner with Shida K-12 classroom teachers to enhance the education of K-12 students. This partnership could start out as simple as one day a week for 15 minutes. Here is an example. For the last 15 minutes of class on Friday, SNNU students could teach a brief concept application lesson to a small group of primary or middle school students. If there are 60 children in a classroom, 20 SNNU students could pair up and teach a 15 minute lesson to 6 children each. Most classrooms I saw were large enough for the small groups to spread out. After the practical experience, SNNU students should be given the opportunity to reflect on their experience. A simple way to do this would be to answer the following questions: What did you learn? What went well? What could you improve? How could you improve it? Please note that this activity provides future teachers with many forms of feedback: peer, self, student, SNNU professor and K-12 teacher.
   
2. Integrate inquiry teaching into every university class: teaching methods courses and content courses. Research shows students teach as they were taught. If a) every science course involved some inquiry, b) every teaching methods course involved inquiry, c) teacher candidates planned inquiry-based lessons, d) teacher candidates practiced those lessons, and e) teacher candidates reflected on those lessons, then graduates would be much more likely to teach using inquiry. Integrating inquiry into SNNU courses does not necessarily mean a major overhaul of a course. Hopefully that will happen in some courses. But, a simple and effective way to incorporate inquiry into a university course is to incorporate one to three questions throughout the lecture in which students must think about a concept, discuss the answer with their neighbor and share their answer with the class. This is called "Think, Pair, Share." Harvard University professor Eric Mazur has done this very successfully in his first-year physics courses. See http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/research/detailspage.php?ed=1&rowid=8 for more information. For more information about using the 5-E learning cycle as a means to plan inquiry lessons, see my blog entry, "All I Really Need to Know About Teaching I Learned in Shida Kindergarten."
   
3. Help teacher candidates make incremental changes. New teachers are not ready to make large changes to the curriculum. Help them make the five minute change in year one that will result in increased student comprehension and retention. If they add another 5 minute change every year, coupled with a few major curricular changes, by year 10, they will have revised their whole curriculum. Here is an example I gave four Shida middle school English teachers interested in getting more students to participate in class. Put students into groups of four and number the students in each set of four 1, 2, 3, and 4. Write the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 on four popsicle sticks and put the sticks in a jar. Ask students to discuss a concept with their group of four. When the discussion is over, randomly pick a popsicle stick from the jar. Say, "I'd like to hear from a few students numbered (whatever you picked)". This method takes almost no preparation and forces all students to be ready to participate.
   

All I Really Need to Know About Teaching I Learned in Shida Kindergarten

Kindergarten in China is for children 3-5 years old and typically meets in a different building from elementary (primary) school. Today (June 25) I visited thee classes at the Kindergarten associated with Shaan'xi Normal University (Shida kindergarten). That's right, three classes. Even though these children, ages 3-5 are in kindergarten, they still move from teacher to teacher for different classes. But, these classes are by no means an academic "sweat shop". I saw some of the best, most age-appropriate inquiry teaching on my entire trip at this school. The first class, 19 5-year-olds, followed the 5-E learning cycle perfectly. Here is a brief step-by-step summary of the 5-E learning cycle* and what the Shida teacher and students did for each step. The topic for the day was locks.

• Engage: The teachers brought the students over to a table with many examples of locks with keys.
  

• Explore: The students played with the locks.
  
• Explain: The teacher and students discussed the similarities and differences between the locks.
  
• Elaborate: The teacher pulled a combination lock from her pocket and asked the students how this lock was different. Then, she showed pictures of different door locks.
  
• Evaluate: Each student had to take a lock from the back table and use it to lock an object in the room. The teacher brought a bike, scooter, deck, and suitcase.
  

What good is kindergarten without playtime? Here, playtime has a purpose. The teacher and students played a dancing game in which the teacher and one student represented a lock that closes around students as they dance in a circle to music.

After two more classes for younger children, I went outside for recess. The children loved asking, SHOUTING, "What is your name?", "Do you want to play with us?", "How old are you?". Here I am answering the question, "How many years did you spend in kindergarten?".

* For more information about the 5-E learning cycle, please see http://www.bscs.org/pdf/bscs5eexecsummary.pdf.

English, with a science emphasis

On Tuesday, June 24, I visited two classes that defy classification. I thought I would be observing two science classes at the middle school* associated with Shaan'xi Normal University (Shida middle school). To my surprise, the classes, 7^th and 10^th grade, were taught in English. To my great surprise, they were not nearly as rigorous as the other courses I have observed. To my greater surprise, the teachers asked students to discuss some concepts in small groups.

My greatest surprise was yet to come. Here are excerpts from my notes for the two classes.

• "I wonder if the extensive use of English affects the learning of the concepts."
  
• "The vast majority of teacher comments [about student responses] were about students' use of English."
  
• "There was a lot of time spent asking students to recite the standard description of how clouds form."
  

After class, I talked to the two teachers I just observed and two English teachers who were observing the classes with me. It turns out that these were applied English classes, not science classes. The students have a traditional science course taught in Chinese and a traditional English course to teach grammar and sentence structure. In the classes I observed, students were getting contextualized conversation skills. That is why the students spent time discussing ideas in small groups. In fact, all of the comments I made above make perfect sense for an English class. According to the teachers, students don't get much of a chance to speak in their traditional English class. The English immersion course I observed gives students the opportunity to form original questions, answers and ideas in English. Shida middle school has been offering this course since the 2004-2005 school year. The teachers have noticed an improvement in students' speaking and listening skills since then.

 

* Schools are divided up a little differently in China than in the United States. In China, grades 1-6 are considered Primary School and grades 7-12 are considered middle school with 7-9 being low middle school (or just middle school) and 10-12 being high middle school. Kindergarten is in a separate school and is for ages 3-5.

Many pictures, so thick!

On June 22, I gave a brief overview of American physics and physical science textbooks. As usual, my PowerPoint presentation knocked them out. But, they were quickly revived when I showed them the nine American textbooks I brought. This was the first time many of them had seen an American textbook. Being a sensible bunch, the first question one student asked was "How much do they cost?" The book I was holding has a list price of $70 or about 490 Yuan, the Chinese dollar. They were amazed! I attempted to soften the blow by saying schools will pay less because they buy so many. But, the concept of volume discount got lost in translation. One student showed me the back of her textbook. 10 Yuan. The student in the pink shirt has a Chinese physics education textbook under her left elbow.

Here is a summary of the comments the students made about the American textbooks.

1. There are many photographs and drawings. These help us visualize the material and help us learn it better.
   
2. The books are so thick. But, the concepts are not deep. There are too many concepts in the books.
   
3. The pictures and examples relate to our everyday life. There are pictures of children doing science.
   
4. American textbooks are better for most students because most students will not be scientists. They need to know a little about many topics. Chinese textbooks are better for future scientists because they explain the concepts in much depth.
   

In contrast to American textbooks, the typical Chinese science textbook is much thinner, covers fewer topics, has no color, and few photographs or drawings. The Chinese textbook under the student's elbow and the open American textbook in the picture above can be taken as standard examples of each.

These students want to be middle school physics teachers. The man to my left and the man in front of him are professors. Hopefully, this brief investigation of American textbooks has opened their eyes to the possibilities of supplementing the text-heavy attributes of their textbooks.

The Longest Day

It is a good thing that Friday June 20 was the longest day of the year. Because I needed all of those minutes of daylight to observe three classes at Shaan'xi Normal University Jinyuan International School in Xi'an, participate in morning exercises, get a tour, have lunch in the school lunchroom, dance with children, sing with children, and completely goof up the Chinese language. I've given a careful overview of some individual classes I have observed earlier. Today, I'd like to describe some of the major differences I have noticed between Chinese and American classrooms.

The most obvious difference is size. Chinese classrooms have 50% to 100% more students than an American classroom at the same grade level. Different teachers and different schools accommodate the size difference in a variety of ways. In general, Chinese classrooms are more teacher-centered with most student-teacher interaction being drill and practice. But, that style is not a given. The 3^rd grade math class I observed at Jinyuan Primary School was as progressive as a well-taught American class. Even in a class of 39, the teacher allowed the students to explore concepts, share ideas with each other, and develop a method to compare areas by themselves. Here is the 3^rd math teacher working with a small group of students. Yes, I wrote 3^rd grade math teacher. Even at the elementary school level, there are specialists for each subject. The children stay together as a group throughout the day. In some (perhaps most – I'm not sure) schools, the children stay together for their entire stay in elementary school.

Students do a lot of reading together from the screen and answering questions in unison. Sometimes it feels like the class is being run from a script. It is very easy for a student to simply say the words and not know the meaning. Or, even to not say the words at all.

Even in the more interactive classes, I have not seen a single student raise a hand to ask a question. This is a common occurrence in American classrooms.

There is very little student to student interaction in Chinese classrooms. The primary mode of information transfer is from teacher to student. The secondary mode of information transfer is from student to teacher. There is a lot of reading together and answer reciting in unison. Sometimes I was not sure if I was in a classroom or a cheer competition with the teacher saying something and the students all responding back in unison. Almost always, when a student says something in class, she or he stands up. This is a 7^th grade Chinese literature class.

Fitness and exercise is an important part of the day in elementary school. Every morning, they have 45 minutes of teacher-led exercise. I observed all 1,127 students and 60 teachers at Jinyuan Primary School out on the soccer field moving in unison. I must admit, it reminded me a little bit like a military exercise. As much as elementary school children can pay attention and move in unison for 45 minutes, they did. This must pay off. China is a very thin country. There is definitely no obesity problem with children or adults in China like there is in America.

Safety was lax in the 10^th grade chemistry classroom. The students didn't wear goggles. The teacher did not wear goggles or gloves despite working with a burner, a hot liquid, hot glass, and lighting the liberated hydrogen gas on fire.

In summary, Chinese teachers and students work very hard in classrooms that are much larger than in America. The classes are well organized and orderly – too orderly for me. Learning can be a chaotic process. Too much structure can inhibit the creative aspect of learning.

The Nine Suns

In 2^nd grade, the students mixed and matched a few words in a simple sentence. By 4^th grade, the 57 students were expressing fairly complicated ideas. At the beginning of class, the teacher asked if the students liked the sun and why. In fact, the teacher asked a lot of "why" questions throughout the class time. Also, the teacher did an effective job in disguising where the lesson was going. At first, it seemed a bit random. Fun and educational. But, random. She had nine Suns on the board. Volunteers came up and shot each Sun with a toy arrow. Behind each Sun but one was a vocabulary word. When the student shot a Sun, the teacher reviewed the word. I thought she picked words because the sound of the letter combinations differs in Chinese and English.

For example, "ai" in Chinese sounds "eye" in English. But, "ie" in the example above sounds like "eye". In Chinese, "ie" sounds like "ya" in English. Confused? The 4^th graders weren't. They also were not fooled by the main point of the lesson: to learn about the story "The Nine Suns". At this point, the teacher played a 2-minute recording of The Nine Suns. As the recording played, the students thought about six questions. The children have great listening and memory skills. I couldn't remember all of what was said in the recording. But, the children seemed to. Next the children played a brief reviewing game, similar to "Hot Potato", in which the student holding the toy when the music stopped had to answer a question.

My overall impressions for this class are the same as for the 2^nd grade class.

Two additional comments: The classroom was gigantic, about 25 meters X 10 meters. Each English class had more than 10 adults in the back observing. There were at least four people walking around taking pictures. But, the students did not seem distracted.

Here is a bottle for you

Earlier in this blog, I wrote that I would not bore you with mundane details about what I am doing on my trip. I noted the blog would be crisp, fast paced and full of energy. Actually, I didn't note that at all. But, I definitely need to describe the details of my trip to Shaan'xi Normal University's Elementary school on campus, called Shida Elementary School. (Shida is short for Shaan'xi Shifan Daxue, the Chinese words for Shaan'xi Normal University.) I observed a second grade English class and a 4^th grade English class.

Second Grade English: "Here is a bottle for you"

Class started with a guest from America introducing himself in both English and Chinese. He did not embarrass himself. He would not be so lucky the next day. He will also stop writing in the third person. The children understood English very well. They had to because the teacher spoke English the entire class. Even though this was a so-called "common" class and not an immersion class, I spoke the most Chinese during those 50 minutes. Here the 51 children are answering the question, "Did the American visitor sound funny?" The teacher didn't really ask that question. But, if she did, you can rest assured that nearly every hand would raise, just like in the picture.

The teacher was very enthusiastic. It was all high 10s, all the time. Class started with a song about the weather. Then the teacher asked the children some basic weather questions. Then, on to the main topic for the day: containers and their contents. The teacher put four bottles in the front table: a bottle of milk, water, juice, and soda. She asked the children what was the same about these. "They are all bottles". Then she asked a number of drill and practice questions: "What is in this bottle?" "Can you hand me a bottle of water?" etc. Next, she introduced the box as another container. The children got nearly every question right leading to more high 10s. I was impressed with how well they could mix and match words, identify items and call them by name. A box of this. A bottle of that. Quite often, the teacher would say "Guess, only guess".

There were two exercises that involved some student-student interaction. In the first, the teacher whispered a sentence into the ear of four different students. At the word "Go", each student told the student behind them their sentence. This continued to the back of the classroom where the student in the last row stood up, and said the sentence. Sort of an educational version of the game "Post Office". One team cheated. When the teacher was not listening, the child in the back said the sentence wrong. But the kids in the front told him the sentence again. By the time the teacher paid attention, he said the sentence correctly. It is good to see that kids are the same all over the world – trying to get away with whatever they can. For the second exercise, children had to draw something on a piece of paper than they knew the English word for. They, then, said to their neighbor "Here is a (whatever they drew) for you". The neighbor responded "Thank you".

My overall impressions: First, the teacher had to do a tremendous amount of preparation for the class. Kudos to her! Second, the kids have a high level of knowledge of English language vocabulary. Third, most the knowledge exchange was from teacher to student or student to teacher. Perhaps the children could have practiced simple conversations with each other integrating knowledge they had learned from the day or week before.

Fourth Grade English: The Nine Suns

Coming soon to a blog near you!