Chinese Education

"Schooling in imperial China reflected social class background to a very great extent.  Although private schools existed for the children of merchants and artisans, as did private tutors, the focus of most schooling in China was on the preparation of the sons of the elite for the imperial civil service examinations." - Developing the Chun-tzu

The traditional Chinese education used to be a system where only the elite would be able to stay on time whereas the poorer people had to remain in the same socioeconomic status their past generations have been living in.  After the fall of the Mongol's, China recognized the importance of education and took radical steps to changing the system so that an equal opportunity would be given to all, no matter what their economic status may be like.  That was the beginning of the Chun-tzu.

The Chun-tzu was an interesting take on how to make the education system on level playing field because the outcome was not so that a person would get to attend college nor was it a certification to becoming a professional in a specific field.  This test was set to determine who would be able to work in the government and/or for the emperor.  Holding a position in these ranks would qualify you as one of the elites and certainly would bring much wealth, fame, and honor to your name as well as your family.  The rich along with the poor were allowed to take this test and the person that scored the highest would be given the highest position in the government and those that followed would be given positions according to their ranking.  These tests were very long, tedious, and difficult because of all the memorization that is done in preparation for this very important exam and only a small percent would be given government positions.

Globalization and Education

"Paying attention to the problems at the bottom is as important, if not more so, than focusing on the top.  The most innovative technology has limited use if the more than 70 million workers without college degrees do not have the skills to use it effectively.  The nation's low performers and schools should be a headline concern and the remedies are often to be found in schools only a neighbourhood or town away."

Making The Grade by Hal Salzman and Lindsay Lowell

Both the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests are great ideas and knowing the results is certainly attractive in the minds of many world leaders however, I have many doubts concerning the tests.  An obvious concern I have is that there are a number of cultural and societal differences from nation to nation that having an "even playing field" is almost impossible.  Children and youth are brought up differently and we know how much one studies is not the only reasoning behind how well a child or youth does on a test.  Their lifestyles and daily routines all have an impact on how well they do in school.

Furthermore, a concern that is not addressed or possibly is but is drowned by the sea of pride is that these tests results not only show how exceedingly well countries are doing, but it also shows the percentage of students who are not proficient in areas many acquire them to be at.  As Salzman and Lowell have stated we should be paying attention to those at the bottom of the list and finding ways to help improve their education because that is as important or even more so than only looking at the top performers.  The PISA and TIMSS tests was a great idea in order to compare the minds of students among other nations but the system is flawed by leaders whose only wish is to be on top and overlook students who have the potential but are nearly always forgotten or misunderstood because of their low ranking.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"Developing countries with few resources to invest in education are likely to have lower levels of literacy among both students and teachers.  Governments of countries with such characteristics may therefore invest more heavily into educating well a small elite to lead the country's industries and government operations while allocating remaining resources for teachers with little training.  When teacher quality is so low, governments may also prescribe to teachers very precise job requirements, instructing teachers what to do and how to do it.  Such systems tend to rely on "Tayloristic" methods of administrative control and accountability in an effort to achieve desired results." - OECD: Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education (2011)

If you read the OECD: Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education report, you can clearly see that the nations (with a few being large cities as the exceptions) are from countries that are developing or have already been developed for many years now.  The likelihood that countries with low socioeconomic standing to be taking this PISA test is very minimal to none.  As the quote from above suggests, the countries that are still developing will begin to model a very "Tayloristic" method, which is a system that instructs teachers about what it is that they are going to teach and how they are going to teach about it.  In other words, a person, with no teaching background required just as long as they are literate, can grab the manual given by the government and teach a classroom full of students.  This is quite alarming because countries are no longer looking at education as a means of exploring or solving problems.  Our children and youth will no longer be taught how to critically assess a concept or situation because politicians and researchers think it is best to just teach them job skills in order to be prepared for the workforce.  As time saving as this method is for corporations so they do not have to spend weeks on job training, it is taking away one of the most important things we can have as human beings: having the ability to critically think for ourselves.