China’s Education System
By NICHOLAS KRISTOFMy Sunday column is about China’s education system — and it’s a challenging topic. You see, Americans (me included) tend to be quite admiring, and Shanghai’s success in the PISA tests would seem to ratify that. But the Chinese education system does have one important group of detractors: the Chinese themselves. As I noted in the column, so many Chinese whom I respect are deeply critical of their school system as too regimented and stifling, even though they do acknowledge that the Confucian reverence for education is deeply embedded and very positive.
In any case, it seems to me beyond doubt that China’s education system is improving dramatically — and I wish that we would rise to the challenge. We can certainly use some of the Confucian reverence for education, and a greater dose of equality in our system. It’s heartening that Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been sounding many of these same themes, and education reform in America is one of the few areas where Democrats and Republicans can still have a productive conversation.
So what do you think? What are the lessons we can learn from Chinese schools, and other Asian schools. And can we become just a wee bit more Confucian ourselves, at least in terms of elevating education in our priorities?
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