Chinese Teachers Try Chinese Teaching Methods in UK

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A group of Chinese teachers have recently been invited to spend one month in a top comprehensive school in Hampshire, the United Kingdom.


Starring in BBC's documentary "Are Our Kids Tough Enough for Chinese School", five Chinese teachers take over the education of a class of 50 teenagers in Bohunt School, testing Chinese teaching methods on British students.

In an interesting turn of events, the teachers declare that they are almost driven crazy by British students’ unruly and emotional behavior in class, such as chatting, eating, putting on make-up etc.


One of the teachers says British students are less motivated to study hard because they know they will get government handouts even if they don’t study hard, and the Chinese teachers conclude that it is Britain's generous welfare system that makes students lack ambition and discipline.

The teachers add that in China, students cannot get the same benefits, so they know they need to study hard and work hard to support their families.

Instead of showing embarrassment, Neil Strowger, the head teacher of the school, calls the teaching methods of the Chinese teachers "mind-numbingly boring" and claims that is the reason his students are misbehaving.

Most British netizens support the Chinese teachers though, saying the British government should take responsibility for the current education problems in their country.

A sample of comments on Weibo:

@ Xiaodanyan: Without a doubt, Chinese elementary education is world-class. No teachers in Britain should be dismissing Chinese education methods, which consistently produce pupils who are head and shoulders above their British counterparts.

@Stephen Xu: In Britain, teachers have different syllabuses to suit different students, while in China, we only have one syllabus and one standard. You survive or you die. It's up to you. What brutal facts in China! No wonder Chinese students lack creativity.

@Diaoyudao: It is our traditional virtue to be hard working, but British students pay more attention to keeping their individual personality, so we can't easily judge an education system because it is formed with complicated cultural backgrounds.