For those curious about the Chinese education system...

Velda has requested some information about the Chinese educational system, so sit back, readers...it's going to be a bumpy ride.  

The wee ones, before the age of 6, go to Kindergarten for the entire day.  I don't get a sense that many young parents stay home with their infants.  I will ask more questions about this.  

I wrote Jennifer about the Chinese way of toilet training with the promise I would not bring back these crotch-less pantaloons for John Thomas!  Infants are in diapers until they start toddling about.  At that point, their toilet training begins in earnest.  To facilitate this important milestone, barriers are removed to assist the kids with their task.  Boys and girls wear britches that are completely open so they can do their bizness.  The parents have trained the kids to make noises to indicate when they need to go (or are in tune with their child's body schedule) and the kids are held in a squatting position over whatever real estate is handy and off they whiz!

When visiting the magnificent structures and enjoying the people watching, we are given a side show of these small kids running about with their bare bums or wee bits flapping in the wind.  We were in queue and a papa in front of us had his 2-year-old on his shoulders.  Directly eye level were the little squishy butt cheeks of this cherub.  Made me miss my littlest one, John Thomas!

Back to school structure, from 6 - 12ish the kids are in primary school.  They attend from 8 - 5.   They are not sitting in one classroom this entire time... they do have their specials (art, PE, recess, etc.)  I am still learning about their day but from the teachers' point-of-view, they have 50 - 65 students in a classroom.  They were amazed to learn about our class sizes in the US.

Many of the teachers in TIP have never seen a Westerner or even been out of their province.  Some of the teachers are excited to be here; others are here under duress.  Their supervisors are not pleased with the English proficiency.  Those students call TIP (Total Immersion Program), Teachers in Prison.  We learned this satellite campus was once a prison.  Interesting...

From the primary school, the kids head off to middle school.  Their day is as long with after school activities.  Again, I will learn more specifics as I work with our students.

Secondary schools are still a bit of a mystery to me.  We were told there is a three-day exam students must take at some point in their high school career.  Not sure if it is to get into high school or at the completion.  These tests are so important that there is a strict ban on extra street noise so students can have optimum testing conditions.

The suicide rate for students and teachers around these tests is significant.  Since 1979, families have only one child.  Oh, they can have more, but the taxes imposed with the extra children are more than their yearly salaries.  With only one child, the parents are eager for their child to do their best (and more) so they can attend university.  Education is valued, supported, and demanded.

Perfection is the goal; which is one of the problems for these teachers learning English.  They can understand better than they can speak.  The fear of speaking incorrectly is paralyzing to them.  

I've been curious about some of the teaching strategies I've observed.  There is lots of call and response.  Imagine saying a vocabulary list with 75 people responding.  The teacher gave the students a menu from an American deli and an imaginary $50 to spend.  So the lesson included our money system plus some exposure to our food.  The students were given parameters for spending the money.  After independent practice time was given, the students were to stand up in groups and shout out what they ordered.  Raucous classroom...I was a bit nervous.  So got to thinking... how does the teacher check for understanding?  Well, that clearly wasn't the goal.  The goal was for the students to talk, by talking all at once removed the worry of not speaking properly...or so it seems.  Heck, they could have been singing a folk song for as much as we know.

As I journey through this TIP process, I will ask for more details.  Wouldn’t be **kewl** for a librarian to present misinformation, now would it?

Yesterday, we had a looong day of culture training.  I now know 25 Chinese words, although, I’m quite confident the regular person on the street would not have a clue what phrase I spoke!  Too fun!

More later!