3. Analysis of Competitiveness Concern
3.1 School Education
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
This and the fourth chapter will generalize the elements mainly influence the children’s competitiveness and character. Based on the qualitative information collected by in-depth interviews, this paper will further analyze the parents’ deep concern behind all educational choices.
3.1 School Education
Parents select the school type for their children therefore the curriculum, teacher quality, peer group and school culture are selected outcomes for their kids’ study. The choice reflects the educational aspects that parents put more emphasis. As a result this paper will observe if the children are influenced by their parents’ school choice in daily life. This section by means of school education is to discuss how parents draw the outline of children’s competitiveness through school selection. This helps us to understand the decisive factors of children’s study plan by parents. Here The section will divide four parts to examine the effect on children’s competitiveness---curriculum, teacher quality, peer group, and school culture：
3.1.1 Curriculum
After the enrolment in China, many parents apparently feel the learning materials are much more challenging than Taiwan. However their viewpoints toward the phenomenon are mostly positive that they consider their kids would learn more：
My little daughter studies in China and I find her not only the basic traditional Chinese culture is better but her math and English are better.
She can be trained up with more abilities here. (interview2009072903)
Actually the foundation of learning is different across the Strait that we Taiwanese do not read enough books. On the contrary, the English textbooks are harder and harder in China. (interview2009072901)
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Here in China the curriculum is substantial in content. Though there are many reciting materials, I feel that’s okay. When I was in my childhood, I was asked to memorize the ancient poetry but it helps my literature attainment today actually. (interview2009072801)
I feel my son’s groundwork is better in China than in Taiwan. The local learning foundation is firm and I find Taiwanese curriculum is too easy.
Even the textbooks are simplified and curriculum contents in Taiwan are too simple to enhance children’s abilities. (interview2009072902)
When we arrived in China, my little son was asked to take an exam to know his level. He had to write English compositions in his 1st year in junior high school. The ancient writings and math are more difficult and deeper.
In China, ancient writings have specific weight that the kids are asked to write the ancient writings from memory. The ancient writings culture is preserved totally. (interview2009073102)
One student recalled that in her fourth grade in elementary school, she transferred from Taiwan to Ningbo in China, she was astonished to find the difficulty of the local math textbooks：
At that time when I transferred, in Taiwan the math course was about two digits multiply two digits. However in Ningbo, I found it was the four fundamental operations of arithmetical decimal fractions. I was so astonished that I couldn’t believe. I was good at math in Taiwan actually but I knew nothing about decimal fractions then. (interview2008072905)
On the contrary to most people’s opinion toward China, they mainly feel the learning materials and courses are more plentiful. There are still parts of interviewees presenting different viewpoints：
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The schoolwork in the international branch is not heavy but I feel the courses of the international branch are not well-organized, in great confusion. The curriculum is quite scattered. Comparatively, education system in Taiwan is more organized and extensive. (interview2009072904)
English in China is not at an advantageous position. The students are afraid of speaking English. They are learning deaf-mute English and their listening and speaking in English is bad. (2009072905)
Here English is deaf-mute English. They teach in English by writing or playing the cassette. The teachers don’t speak English in class.
(interview2009072906)
From the above, parents mainly consider the children’s fundamental abilities such as ancient writings and math are established more stably in China than in Taiwan and apparently find the challenging materials affect the children’s ability to some extent.
However in the aspect of English, parents find that the listening and speaking abilities are not as good as in Taiwan. Next this paper will observe the quality of teachers in school education to examine whether the parents identify the teachers’ quality. Through understanding the parents’ identification of teachers’ quality, we can discuss the children’s competitiveness cultivation.
3.1.2 Teacher quality
Many parents can feel that teachers in China are not inferior to teachers in Taiwan after letting their children attend school locally. Even the parents approve of those teachers’ emphasis on their children’s learning and giving them possibilities to achieve success：
The teachers are good, conscientious and responsible. I have participated in the parents’ forum, in the meeting, the teachers say if parents need any
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
help, feel free to talk to them. The homeroom teacher leaves each subject teacher’s phone number for parents. (interview2009072801)
I feel the process of my little son’s learning in China is very smoothly going. I also find the teachers are concerned with my son’s studies, life style and lessons. The teachers don’t use physical punishment, they are caring. (interview2009072902)
My child studies in the local school. The teachers he meets are all nice. His teacher gave him recommendation letter for Olympics math competition when he studied in the elementary school. Later on I found it was not easy to get this recommendation letter. Though my child is a Taiwanese, the teacher still approves of him and gives him the chances to perform.
(interview2009073101)
From this point of view, basically the Taiwanese parents in China trust and approve of the local teachers. Especially one Taima mentioned good opportunities are
occupied by few people in Taiwan but in China once the kids have potential then they possibly have stages to perform：
Formerly in Taiwan, good chances were taken away by school teachers’
children. For instance, the teachers’ children are sent to participate in all kinds of competition. My son was indifferent in Taiwan but when he came to China, the teacher found every single student’s personality to give him/her a stage to perform. Like my little son, he is assigned to be a group leader. He also determines to study harder when he get the progress honor.
(interview2009072804)
Another example is about the inspiration of foreign teachers. Some kids study in schools with affiliated international branch. Since the children can see foreign
teachers in the campus, they are encouraged to learn English somehow：
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Like my daughter’s’ school, there is an international branch, when my daughter sees her classmates to talk with foreign teachers and my daughter thinks that she also wants to be so, to be able to talk in English. Previously in Taiwan, I don’t find her to have this motivation. My daughter would prefer playing rather to studying so as she has less competitiveness then.
(interview2009072903)
From this section, we can observe that the courses and teachers can influence not only the kids’ learning motivation but also the parents’ positive affirmation. Besides, the potential curriculum including peer group and school culture influence also plays an important role in building up the children’s competitiveness. Therefore, next section we will observe the invisible factors to examine if these factors push the kids to pursue advancement, even in order to win over the local students, they would make more efforts to achieve success. In addition, since the kids have the experience of living in Taiwan, under the above mentioned factors and cross-strait comparison, to understand more if those will affect the children to strive for themselves, to step up competitiveness. We will discuss more in the next section.
3.1.3 Peer group and school culture
With regard to Taiwanese students’ attending school in China, as the children leave their own comfortable environment in Taiwan but to a unfamiliar place, they become more mature to face challenges they haven’t encountered before. Chairman Wang has a point toward this argument, he mentions：
As far as I know, these Taiwanese students who attend school in China might be discriminated or treated unfairly locally so they have to become early-maturing. They will decide which major they will take in the college carefully. They deliberately consider the decision. (interview2009072702)
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
and he found in Taiwan most students rarely think over the relationship of future job and majors they take in college. They seem to be muddled. On the contrary, since Taiwanese students in China have to face the adaptation in daily life and they discover the strive upward atmosphere locally, they are more aware of competitiveness cultivation.
Furthermore, Chairman Wang presented the following viewpoints：
For Taiwanese students, it is relaxing to grow up in Taiwan. When they have to grow up in China, to study locally, I don’t dare it’s always the best for the kids but I am sure the kids ponder on their future more seriously.
(interview2009072702)
On the other hand, local students in China, their talking topics focus a lot on knowledge issues. For Taiwanese students, in order to integrate with peer group’s topics, they start to absorb related knowledge contents：
I find students in China pay attention to the global current issues but in Taiwan most students just watch cartoon, soap opera or entertainment programs. The children in China care about knowledge or current events, for instance, the annular total eclipse happened in Shanghai, all the local news reported annular total eclipse so that people were forced to understand. My daughters had to understand to have conversation topics with her classmates. Therefore I find there is a big difference for my daughter here and Taiwan, she would naturally get in touch with profound information to have talking topics with her peer group. From the aspect of competitiveness, I find this condition is beneficial. (interview2009072903)
Moreover, because China is populous, the local students in order to lift their heads, they strive to seize all the chances to show. This condition is also a new stimulus to Taiwanese students：
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The children in China are good at showing themselves. For example, they desperately raise their hand to express their opinions. Because of the one-child policy, the local children try their best to learn and they do learn more than Taiwanese kids. (interview2009072903)
It is a good point that China is so populous that the local children
intensively fight for their rights/speaking rights. They raise their hands and shout “me, me, me” to strive for expression chances. Unlike Taiwanese kids lower their head silently. (interview2009072901)
Besides, the local students except for lift their heads at school, they also have to attend courses after school. The peer group learning fashions reflect on the children’s studying situations：
Among my daughter’s classmates, they all learn how to play the piano at least since they are all well-off. They go study in tour in summer time.
When my daughter’s classmates return back from the study in tour, their English would advance by leaps and bounds. My daughter would ask for going studying in tour. (interview2009072903)
Because of the one-child policy, many Chinese parents have the concepts that learning is the noblest thing of human pursuits. This idea reveals in the details of daily life. One Taiwanese student who studies in the local high school mentioned：
The thinking pattern here in China is that all kids’ mission is nothing but studying. For example, my classmate never folds his blanket but their parents or aunts do the chores. Once in summer vacation my classmate went to help in his mother’s store but was scolded angrily. His mother said:
why don’t you use the summer vacation time to do what you are supposed to do---nothing but studying!(interview2009072905)
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Local parents in China have great expectation on their children. They spare no efforts for upbringing their one child. Moreover, the whole school culture also manifests the examination-oriented aroma：
In learning aspect, I feel my child learn more in China than in Taiwan. In China my child is more hard-working because they keep on writing test papers. Especially in her third year in junior high school, she took exams everyday. (interview2009072906)
The school is very pushy. In the beginning of the semester, the school calls parents’ meeting; after midterm holds meeting and after the final exam has meeting again. In the meeting, the school will divide parents into groups according to their kids’ grades. (interview2009072901)
In China the education system encourages students to present their opinions, to express very actively, to train children’s power of expression.
(interview2009072804)
Before the senior high school entrance examination, all the 3rd grade junior high school students can’t never be slack to prepare for the exam. The whole school builds the supportive environment for students to prepare for the exam wholeheartedly. One Taiwanese student recalled her days of preparing for senior high school entrance exam：
We didn’t have class in the 3rd year of junior high school. The teacher came in the classroom with a load of test papers then sent out to us. The students kept on writing the test papers. Then the next teacher came in, he still gave us many examination papers. We just wrote all the papers desperately. (interview2009072905)
At that time when we prepared for the senior high school entrance exam, the construction of number 9 subway was surrounded our school, then it
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
was regulated to pulse the construction work to avoid the disturbance of students’ preparation for exam. Before the entrance exam, it is regulated that no construction around the school was allowed because the entrance exam determines one’s future fate. If you enter a very bad senior high school, the game is over to you. The competitiveness in China is very serious. Everyone strives for winning. (interview2009072905)
In Taiwan, when it is reported that 18 points can enter a college, many people think over what’s wrong with the education system. At this time, education in China progresses gradually. One educator said with sigh：
Cross the Strait, the students are very diligent in learning. The condition shocks us. The willpower of their young people to strive for turning upward is similar to the situation happened in Taiwan 20 years ago. Their young people have strong enthusiasm. (interview2009080302)
Furthermore, when the educator visited China to see the great number of disciples, he felt that we in Taiwan need a lot of reflection on education：
In China, young people’s upward attitude, parents’ emphasis on education, educators’ practicable ways of running school and a more comprehensive development in education, for sure they have great pressure but the quality and structure of education worth of our pondering. (interview2009080302)
On the whole education in China, in basis, they emphasize the promotion of students’ quality, the advancement of teaching quality. Moreover, the development of administrative affairs of school, there are three domains---firstly, walk out, walk to the international; secondly, walk to the space, astronomy science and the third, walk to the future. Every single target impresses us. They are looking for the promotion of quality and their
‧
students have great competitiveness definitely. But their three main shafts of education are worthy of our respect. (interview2009080302)
In April 2009, Education Parenting Family Lifestyle magazine, one column focused on discussing the competition of the cross-strait education. From the angle of teachers’
quality, it was reported：in one basket of plans of the 8-percent protection policy, President Wen Jia-bao particularly emphasizes to construct the education system facing to the future, face to the world and face to the modernization which is a long-range program in China. In the education long-range development from now to 2020, to strengthen the teachers’ quality is viewed as the key point. Wen Jia-bao announced that the central government will invest 120 hundred millions RMB to enhance the teachers’
treatment, to practice incentive payment system, to promote teachers training and flow.
The promotion of teachers’ quality at the meanwhile will promote the curriculum design, teaching methods, class management to create a better studying fashions even the school culture.31 However in Taiwan, globalization, low-birth rate and the crash of knowledge renew the old ones, the teachers in Taiwan are in condition of utter helplessness. We can’t help worrying the crash on Taiwan’s winning at the starting line but left behind gradually.
Especially I run a school in China now. I observe their progress is so fast that makes me astonished and respect. When I turn my head back to my birthplace, Taiwan, I am a little sorrowful. I really miss my hometown, the place I feel as my root. However in the comparison of China’s progress and Taiwan’s unstableness, what Taiwanese educators fight for is nothing but the adults’ rights and interests on the contrary what China cares about is the kids’ development and future. That’s total different in the cross-strait.
(interview2009080302)
Education environment and children’s competitiveness is closely related. From the
31 “Liang An Jiao Yu Jing Jhu, Tsung Jiao Shih Su Jhih Kai Shih,” (Cross Strait Education Competition Starts from Teachers’ Quality), Education Parenting Family Lifestyle magazine, no.5 (April, 2009):
72-84
‧
國立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
above, the contents show the competitiveness advantages in China, for sure, there are many drawbacks in character education locally that this paper will discuss next chapter.
Next section will from the basis of society to probe into parents’ consideration of their children’s competitiveness in China.