My Chinese Students

I have developed a great deal of respect for my Chinese students as I have become more knowledgeable about their circumstances and the Chinese school system inner workings.

I had the opportunity to implement a Mandarin Chinese Dual Immersion program in the last elementary school where I was the Principal. Utah made a decision to adopt Mandarin Chinese dual immersion in eight elementary schools along the Wasatch Front.  I volunteered Lone Peak Elementary to participate in that pilot program.  I was afforded the opportunity to partner with Brigham Young University and the Utah State Office of Education to design and implement this program.  It was decided that first grade students would begin the implementation with a 50/50 model.  That meant that Mandarin Chinese would be spoken in the content area for 50% of the day and English would be spoken for the other 50% of the day.  Native Chinese speakers would teach social studies, math, art, physical education and music in Chinese and the rest of the curriculum would be delivered in English.

I was selected by the State Office to travel to Beijing and Wuhan, China to observe Chinese schools and instructional patterns.  Visiting the schools was a great experience, however we were guided to only the schools that were selected for us to see model students doing remarkable work.  Very large classrooms 50—60 students with the teacher lecturing and delivering instructions to all levels. Never a behavior problem, never an attendance problem, students well prepared when called upon to respond to the teacher's query were the classrooms we visited day after day, in both cities. 

We requested to meet with the principal, some teachers and students to discuss school curriculum and protocols.  We were promptly told that principals never meet with students and furthermore we would not be speaking to the principal either.  We discovered later that Principals are appointed by the communist party and rarely deal with school issues. 

I hired my first grade native Mandarin teacher and launched a summer program to prepare for the implementation Mandarin Chinese in first grade.  I lost many nights sleep wondering if I would be able to fill a classroom of willing students and parents to speak 50% of their curriculum day in Mandarin Chinese.  School started with a waiting list of students to get in the program, the teacher I hired was a huge success and we were off and running.  We decided to treat the Chinese classroom as an island, only Chinese would be spoken in that room, attendance, lunch orders, bathroom requests, home work assignments the whole works were spoken in Chinese.  I expected to have first grade students in tears the first day of school because they were not able to understand anything their Chinese teacher said, but students were actually entertained and listened carefully to voice tones and directions.  They loved the Chinese program.  Long story short, that program now has a lottery every spring to accommodate the high demand for enrollment and my 1st grade class is now in 5^th grade speaking amazing Chinese.  They are above grade level in their subjects across the board. 

That is part of what brought me to China to teach at the University level. I have learned first hand about the Chinese school system mostly from those who have successfully navigated the system to a Master’s program at South China University of Technology. My students are respectful, they stand to speak in class, they arrive early, never a tardy problem.  My students are very bright and have survived a whole gambit of testing.  I remember being in schools when “No Child Left Behind” was introduced to public education.  There were complaints about the high stakes testing that was required.  That state and federal testing pale to the testing Chinese students are required to take.  Speaking of high stakes, if you do not score well on Chinese testing your school career is over; only the highest scores are allowed to advance to high school and universities.  Not surprising that students are respectful, attend all of their classes, and complete everything they are asked to do! They all recognize their own fragility in this system.

My Chinese students have lived in residence halls and eaten cafeteria food three meals a day since they were admitted to high school as freshman.  High schools are regional, only the highest scores are allowed to attend and they must live on campus sometimes a long distance from their families.  They have now completed their undergraduate and were admitted by their test scores to Master’s programs.  They have lived without a family for eight-ten years. Every freshman student, male and female is required to do military training at the beginning of the school year prior to attending the university.  Very thoughtful planning by the CCP, the best and the brightest of the entire country are not only well educated, they are military trained and prepared as well.