<p>I just found this thread. We have a lot of exposure to the top end of Chinese high school education - and to Chinese dissidents. </p>
<p>The one exam is common in the world. France has an exam, as does Japan, as do many nations. </p>
<p>The pressures in China are immense. I know kids whose parents regularly search their rooms looking not for drugs but for novels or other non-schoolwork reading material. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. As many Chinese kids and families have told me, there is always the spectre of millions of people pushing behind you. (And they say this as they take advantage of their rural relatives by treating them as servants - and I know of families who’ve had their rural cousin / housekeeper sleep in the storage room downstairs.) </p>
<p>There is ancient history of merit in China; during the various empires a village child could rise to high rank through education and exams. That kind of hierarchical approach - which is true to a large extent in Japan and less in France, as two examples - means they rank best, next best, next after that, etc. We don’t do that - well perhaps the weird devotees of US News dumb rankings do. </p>
<p>In my experience China does education nearly in the opposite manner from us. We spend tremendous dollars on special education and very little on the gifted - though the growth of AP has countered that trend to a degree. China puts resources into the most able. They test for them. If a kid shows special aptitude - in math, in music, in gymnastics, whatever - they’re encouraged to go to a Children’s Palace. These are in the bigger cities - probably spreading but I don’t know that level of detail any more - and may involved 1 on 1 instruction. Really gifted kids are often “encouraged” away from their families and are sent to Beijing or another center for really advanced training and education. This is not merely in diving or gymnastics but in flute and violin, etc. </p>
<p>The top schools in the cities are exam entrance. A typical top school might have several thousand applicants for a few hundred places, which isn’t that big a number until you realize an exam is involved (except, we understand, for the higher ranking party / army kids). </p>
<p>Classes are incredibly different from here. Questions are rare and often discouraged. There is little to no discussion, just lecture. I can tell from observation that kids pile up their books, put their heads down and sleep. Or read for pleasure. Or draw. The homework can be massive in quantity and everything is done by strict ranking and even competition; it’s not uncommon for schools to make academic teams that compete for the best grades. </p>
<p>BTW, there is morning drill and mandatory dance routines for the girls, etc. The dance routines are, to me, absolutely hilarious.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I’m repeating material that’s been posted but the thread is kind of long and I didn’t read the entire thing.</p>
<p>As for politics, things are discussed carefully and some subjects are barely brought up if at all. We know the families of dissidents who were imprisoned after Tiananmen and that subject is, in our experience, generally taboo - though I can’t speak for Shanghai or Hong Kong. </p>
<p>All this said, the Chinese kids I’ve known are generally terrific people, full of humor, not oppressed - except by their parents. As a tibit, we know a number of Chinese teachers of English and they were all taught British style English. American English is now the norm and the accents have become much easier to understand, plus the kids now learn current slang. That can be jarring.</p>