BBC Show: Are British Kids Tough Enough to Handle Chinese School?

[gato]

Which brings us to the bullying of those kids who do well at school. They are attacked for who they supposedly are and become the "awkward kid who does well at school". Unlike race or weight, it is politically correct to be bullying nerds in Europe.

It's probably more accurate to say that they are disrespected by the mainstream culture. Bullying implies physical violence or intimate. That may or may not happen. If the good student also happens to be big and physically fit, the physical intimidation is unlikely to happen, but there still may be a prevailing culture within the school that derides academic achievement.

[Angelina]

There is psychological violence.

[Guest realmayo]

Unlike race or weight, it is politically correct to be bullying nerds in Europe.

 

More trolling?

[Angelina]

There you go, here is what bullying looks like.

Angelina does sometimes talk about crazy conspiracy theories (we all have our issues), now, when Angelina says something, objectively speaking, reasonable, certain people start bullying her because she is the "conspiracy theory nut" and everything she says is wrong.

The fatty, the nerd, the conspiracy theory nut, these labels are all the same because they are used to attack people and hurt their feelings.

If, Realmayo, you have something meaningful to add to the conversation, please do. If you want to go on with OFF TOPIC ad hominem attacks, in other words bullying, you will only be wasting your time. I am confident enough not to care.

[somethingfunny]

@realmayo What happened to "forget it"?    

[somethingfunny]

It would be nice if we could keep discussion focused on the TV show and related British (Western) vs Chinese teaching styles/results.  I'm sure there are people who have some interesting things to say on this topic.

[Guest realmayo]

Sorry Angelina, but recently in another topic you said that you were trolling. And stating that it's politically correct in Europe to bully nerds, I just assumed this was more of the same? http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/49372-internet-memes/page-3#comment-378589
 

陳德聰:

Isn't Angelina just trolling you all? When someone clearly is not following any sort of logic... Full of non sequitur... How is that not trolling?

 

Angelina:

A little bit.  I don't like Internet memes and I am glad that unlike my country (currently occupied), China is an independent country because they control the Internet. The rest is trolling

 

 

Edit: so I'm sorry if it seems a bullying remark. I just thought that because you said you were trolling in a light-hearted way in that other thread, that it wasn't some terrible insult or something bad.

[Angelina]

It's fine

[Guest realmayo]

Jolly good. Maybe it's a language thing. My understanding is that in Europe, people don't actually feel under pressure from society to bully nerds.

 

As for schools, I'd have thought children bully each other for anything, particularly anything out of the ordinary, whether that's being smart or being stupid, being good looking or ugly, good at sports or bad at sports. Can Chinese schools really be any different?

[Observer]

Quote from Angelina: "...I hope I won't offend any British people by saying this, but the reason why British education is good when compared to other parts of the world is political. Britain had colonies for a very long time and many people acquired an enormous amount of wealth. This included looting. Cultural artefacts were not an exception. Even the person who led the destruction of the 圆明园, was educated at Eton and Oxford. This is reality...."

Well, you hoped wrong, I find this incredibly offensive, not least because you seem to have no real knowledge of what you are talking about, just a set of pre-conceived ideas. How would you feel if I made sweeping generlaisations about your country's history? As you get more mature, you will learn that it is sometimes better to think before speaking.

[Johnny20270]

Plenty of videos on you tube/youku showing chinese kids being bullied. 

 

I'd sad kids bully each other because (a) they are different on some way AND (b) they are easy to pick on.  

 

Personally I attribute exam success to a lot of factors but discipline is the classroom is a major factor. I was educated in the 70's in Ireland and the teachers walloped us at any sign of bad behavior. We needed it to! I'm not talking about abuse but control typically in them days "boys were supposed to be boys". Leaving aside whether a teacher is good or bad, the strictest teachers by-in-large were the best. We made life hell for the 'softies'. Sad but true. As a teenager we had to pushed into homework and thus leaving it optional or no fear of reprisal was a recipe for failure. I am generalizing here. 

[Angelina]

@Observer

How do you explain the influence of British higher education then?

British society does not seem to care about education the way Chinese people care. Education is really important in China. Your school life is basically your life.

Is it because universities in the UK are independent? They attract the best and the brightest from around the world, then Britain is welcoming towards them, they feel at home.

Can we compare Chinese and British education? Maybe we can't. Some people were saying how they think Chinese education is not that good because they don't attract talented international students, unlike British universities.

[somethingfunny]

I resent your continued insistence that British society does not care about education.

[Angelina]

Ok. How to say it better? In China your school life is your life, in Britain you are expected to have extracurriculars. There is more of an emphasis on education in China?

[Angelina]

Maybe the conclusion is that we can't compare two different things.

[somethingfunny]

I wholeheartedly disagree, I'd say comparing education systems between two countries is not only possible, but very important.  

 

But you seem to have a deep ingrained resentment of all things British which makes a reasonable discussion very difficult.

[Flickserve]

I resent your continued insistence that British society does not care about education.

It does, but quite a lot of the general population don't worry about it as much as the Chinese seem to do. Perhaps they don't see education as a way to keep options open and improve one's earning potential.

You can compare systems but with caveats. Are British kids tough enough? Some are and quite a lot are obviously not.

The next follow-on reality TV show should be sticking army instructors into the school. Wonder what the reaction would be... :-)

[somethingfunny]

I'd be surprised if such a TV show hadn't already been made!  If not, maybe you should consider a pitch to the BBC.

 

On the idea of "tough enough?" I'm afraid this is little more than a gimmicky tag to entice viewers, along with the reports of children running out of PE classes crying.  Anyone who has taught in a Chinese high school will be familiar with the truth, and if you go through the news reports you'll find confirmation.  In this article, it appears that even the headmaster of the school involved knows what really goes on: "I had also witnessed PE lessons where the students stood in groups chatting, as PE was considered neither important nor a respite from the interminable monotony of the Chinese classroom."

 

Although there is a lot of 'talk' in Chinese society about the importance of education, I get the feeling that theres not much 'walk' as it were.  Parents will send their children to extra classes at the weekend and everyone thinks (1) Wow, that sucks for the kid, and/or (2) Wow, those parents place real importance on education.  No-one seems to think (3) What is the quality of these extra classes?  How much effect are they having on the students improvement?  Similarly, the school day finishing at 9pm seems like a convenient way for parents to abdicate any personal responsibility they have to their children's development.  Herein lies the difference, a British parent who cares about their child's progress would not leave them in a classroom until 9pm.  I've supervised evening self-study classes in Chinese high schools, and the overwhelming feeling I got from the experience is one of parents not caring about their children.  The whole system seems to me to just be an illusion of placing importance on education.

[Flickserve]

I guess that is the preferable option compared to being out on the streets.

Here is an opinion about Australia

http://www.saveourschools.com.au/national-issues/australias-chinese-students-do-as-well-as-shanghai-students

[geraldc]

Didn't watch it, but...

 

British Chinese in the UK get the highest grades at GCSE, and are top of exam results by ethnic group. This is across all schools in the UK. It's nothing to do with what school they go to, but the importance the families place on education.