SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHINESE AND WESTERN EDUCATION Education must meet the challenges of a changing world, and in doing so, no student must be left behind. We teach our students for the world that will be, not the world that was and will not come again. Please do not think I am critical of China, there are so many things I admire and respect in China but as a westerner I firmly believe we all learn from each other when we talk about our differences, as good friends should. Today I will speak on four main subjects of western education:- 1, A General Introduction to the Western Educational Environment 2. Teachers and Teaching Beliefs in Western Countries 3. The Differences between Chinese and Western Students 4. The Changing ClassroomWhen Chinese teachers talk about western education they think it is all the same in every western or foreign country but education is very different in England from America while Australia is different again from England and America and South Africa is very different again with its heavy teaching of African culture A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE WESTERN EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENTSouth Africa is considered to have one of the best educational systems in the world and since 2005 has focused heavily on literacy, mathematics and the African culture of art, history and music The Australian educational system prepares students for adult life and makes sure that all students have knowledge and a very clear understanding of the world we all share. Meanwhile the English educational system prepares students for opportunities, responsibilities and the experiences of the adult life they will have in the American educational system is considered one of the worst in the world with very badly paid teachers. The man collecting garbage in the streets earns more money than American teachers. There are very over crowded classrooms and some schools do not have enough money to look after their students properly. Further more, American teachers have eight weeks summer holidays each year but do not receive pay for all this time. Many are forced to find work as waiters or serve in a shop to support their families or themselves during this excellent American school teachers now work in foreign countries such as China where education and teachers are AND TEACHING BELIEFS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES Most teachers of the world teach with books, in a classroom with a blackboard but it is the communication skills and culture of each country all over the world that creates the differences in our classrooms, and yet in many ways, we are all the believe our Western teachers must have a kind heart, be very patient with a strong generosity, endurance and strength. Further more, in our class room the student is the most important person not the teacher. We are there to help, advise and encourage students on their journey to do not believe in shouting at a student if they get an answer wrong, it is not a terrible crime because next time, or the time after that, or the time after that they will get it right if you encourage and guide them along. We firmly believe in the west that you, as a teacher set students on the path for success. If you shout at a student enough they will lose heart and never get it right. Surely a teacher encourages, helps and inspires students to do better not only for themselves but for their parents and China We all need to ask ourselves how many good students have been lost to us, and our countries, because of bad teaching both here and in the bond, and communication, formed between a teacher and student is very important to us, in fact, we consider this one of the most important responsibilities we have. We become friends of a kind and this friendship, and guidance continues long into adulthood. When my students achieve in adult life they come and tell me and I fell so proud and happy for western teachers we constantly move around the classroom and try, every lesson, to talk to each individual student. I also make direct eye contact with students because in the western culture we believe that you are not a good person unless you look a person directly in the eye when speaking to them. My students are encouraged to get up and walk over to me when they have a question or need teach English so my class room is very noisy because we believe that students must talk in English for the entire class to me or to each other. How else will they learn to speak English? I talk for only 20% of my class time and the students speak English for up to 80%.Finally, on the subject of teachers and teaching we believe that a western teacher should be sent to a new school to teach every few years to learn new skills and ideas and the teacher will also get a fresh approach to teaching. When we foreign teachers here at No 1 Middle School go home we will take with us many things we have learnt here and will be much better teachers, with many new ideas, for this DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CHINESE AND WESTERN TEACHERSStudents are the same the world over but in China the students are so respectful, polite friendly and well mannered it is a delight to teach here. We foreign teachers consider that the Chinese students are generally much happier with a very strong love not only for their country but for their parents as well. This is not always apparent in the western is much more pressure on the students here to achieve top marks and so enter top universities. The western educational system has changed because we found that we had so many people with degrees who only wanted professional work, but who was going to fix the lights when they were not working or drive the taxis?. We now recognize the value of choice for students because we all cannot get top marks and many students will never get top marks but will go to lead happy and successful lives. Students in the west usually start school at 9am and finish at , leaving them plenty of time to be creative, play sport and learn about life in general. All of the western educational systems recognize the importance of teaching the young about their future lives as adults and the responsibilities they face. We recognize in the west that these students are always tired, because that is the time in their lives when they are growing to their full height, and you may have noticed that we westerners are a tall race of is said we have become lazy in the west because we do not have to compete to enter universities, and it is true, because we do not have to compete really hard for anything because of a smaller population. We can go back many times to university in our lives to study or learn new skills. It is not unusual for 60 or 70 year olds to be at university working towards another degree. The oldest person was a 90 year old American woman who obtained a degree several years ago. THE CHANGING WESTERN CLASSROOMStudent learning, in the west, is no longer only in the classroom because of the changes in technology. Computers, particularly laptops now mean that students can study anywhere anytime online and use the internet as a wonderful source of information and referenceAustralia has started home learning through television programs starting at 6 in the morning, which enables students to study for a degree in their own home without a computerFinally I have talked about the di9fferences in Chinese and Western education because I am among friends and so that we may all learn from each other. It may help our students to achieve and have a very happy and successful life. We are teachers and this is what we do