考得好不意外 中国 人开始意识到自己的短处 华尔街日报 2010-12-14 11:37:19 华尔街日报亚洲版发表北京 大学 附属中学副校长、国际部主任江学勤的文章，题目是中国的中学依然考试不及格：上海15岁学生的高分实际上是一种 短处。文章说，在世人赞赏中国教育体制的各种长处的时候，中国人自己却开始意识到它的各种短处。这是一个问题的两面。中国的中学善于教导学生应对标准 化考试。于是，中国的中学就没有能教导学生应对高等教育以及知识经济。 江学勤的文章说，星期二，上海的15岁学生在经济合作与发展组 织（OECD）举办的全球性的国际学生评估项目（The Programme for International Student Assessment，简称PISA）测试中考取了阅读、科学和数学三项第一。对于任何在中国中学工作的人来说，这不是一个意外。 江学勤的文章说，在父母望子成龙、学生雄心勃勃、文化注重考试的背景之下，中国的九年制义务教育可能是世界上最严格的。在充瞒着无穷的野心和残酷的竞争的上海这座开放性的国际化都市，九年制义务教育一直领先全国。 江学勤的文章说，中国在培养中级会计师、计算机编程师和技术员方面没有任何问题。但在培养掌管21世纪全球化经济的企业家和创新者方面表现如何呢？中国最 有前途的学生依然需要去国外去发展自己的管理能力和创造性。他们到了国外，必须要学会抛弃那套灌输给他们的以考试为中心的获取知识的方式。 江学勤的文章说， 死记硬背式教育的缺点是人所共知的：通过这种方式教育出来的学生缺乏社交及实践能力；缺乏自制力及想象力；丧失掉好奇心及学习的激情。中国很多学生好不容易考进大学，却厌倦学习，许多人上大学以玩《魔兽世界》来消磨时间。 江学勤的文章说，很多跨国公司和国内企业对中国大学的毕业生有同样的不满：这就是他们不能独立完成工作，缺少团队合作中必要的社交能力，高傲自大，不肯学习新技能。McKinsey咨询公司在2005年的一份报告中说，中国目前的教育体制会阻碍其经济发展。 江学勤的文章说，难道国际学生评估项目考试的结果不是至少证明了中国的九年制义务教育是世界上最好的吗？连 美国 总统奥巴马似乎都认为，标准化考试对于 改善美国中小学教育是必要的。不一定。有关教育的 研究 显示，用考试来规划教育是一个错误。学生们很容易因此而丧失与生俱来的求知欲和想象力，在追求高分的 过程中变得缺乏安全感，丧失道德感。 江学勤的文章说，就连上海的教育工作者也承认，他们仅仅是在生产有一定能力的平庸之辈罢了。经济 合作与发展组织（OECD）的报告指出：考试的压力导致学生有很少的时间和余裕进行自主的学习。一位经验丰富的上海教育家说，就时间和余裕而言，有一个 机会成本问题。学生们可以成长的余地狭小，不能为将来的生活和学习做好充分准备。这被认为是一种深刻的危机。这危机又被独生子女家庭的现实所加重。 江学勤的文章说，越来越多的人有了一种共识，这就是中国的学校教育没有让中国超越西方，反而拖住了中国的后腿。中国的教育可以教授给每个人基础知识，让他 们可以在社会主义经济中发挥功用，但现在中国是市场经济，希望能有全球竞争力。中国羡慕美国能把自己最优秀的学生变成世界上最优秀的 科学家 和企业家。 江学勤的文章说，上海在国际学生评估项目考试中取得的耀眼成绩也是这个问题的一个表征。考试成绩跟实际生活和工作能力的相关性，不如写一篇言之成理的 论说文的能力更重要。要想写出一篇言之成理的论说文，需要有能力识别问题，把一个问题拆解成相关的部分，从多种度进行分析，用一种言简意赅的方式提出一套 解决办法，让不同文化、不同时代的人都可以理解。 江学勤的文章说，所以，教育改革的第一步就是要让学生们从考试强手变为论说文写作强手。要想写好英语，学生需要明白一系列的概念，如论点和论辩，文章结 构和论据，论述的连贯性和流畅性，语气和听众，措词和句法等等。而这些概念在中国学校几乎没有引进。中国的中学教育改革是否在取得成功，有一个判断方法， 这就是中国学校的国际学生评估项目考试成绩下降。 The Test Chinese Schools Still Fail High scores for Shanghai's 15-year-olds are actually a sign of weakness. By JIANG XUEQIN It's ironic that just as the world is appreciating the strengths of China's education system, Chinese are waking up to its weaknesses. These are two sides of the same coin: Chinese schools are very good at preparing their students for standardized tests. For that reason, they fail to prepare them for higher education and the knowledge economy. On Tuesday, Shanghai's 15-year-olds topped the global league tables in reading, science and math in the Program for International Student Assessment, a test run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. This comes as no surprise to anyone working in Chinese schools. With its demanding parents, ambitious students, and test-obsessed culture, China's K-9 schooling is probably the most rigorous in the world. And Shanghai, an open and cosmopolitan city that is boundlessly ambitious and fiercely competitive, has always been China's K-9 education leader. View Full Image AFP/Getty Images So China has no problem producing mid-level accountants, computer programmers and technocrats. But what about the entrepreneurs and innovators needed to run a 21st century global economy? China's most promising students still must go abroad to develop their managerial drive and creativity, and there they have to unlearn the test-centric approach to knowledge that was drilled into them. The failings of a rote-memorization system are well-known: lack of social and practical skills, absence of self-discipline and imagination, loss of curiosity and passion for learning. Chinese students burn themselves out testing into university, where many of them spend their time playing World of Warcraft. Both multinationals and Chinese companies have the same complaints about China's university graduates: They cannot work independently, lack the social skills to work in a team and are too arrogant to learn new skills. In 2005, the consulting firm McKinsey released a report saying that China's current education system will hinder its economic development. But don't the PISA results at least show that China's K-9 education is the best in the world, and that standardized testing, as U.S. President Barack Obama seems to believe, is necessary to improve American schools? Not really. According to research on education, using tests to structure schooling is a mistake. Students lose their innate inquisitiveness and imagination, and become insecure and amoral in the pursuit of high scores. Even Shanghai educators admit they're merely producing competent mediocrity. The OECD report states, he dictates of the examinations have left students with little time and room for learning on their own. 'There is an opportunity cost in terms of time and space,' said . 'Students grow with narrow margins' and are not fully prepared for their lives and work in the future. This is seen as a deep crisis, exacerbated by the reality of single-child families. A consensus is growing that instead of vaulting the country past the West, China's schools are holding it back. They equip everybody with the basic knowledge to be functional in a socialist economy. But now that China is a market economy hoping to compete globally, it's jealous of America's ability to turn its brightest students into the world's best scientists and businesspeople. Reform is on the horizon. This year the Chinese government released a 10-year plan including greater experimentation. China Central Television's main evening news program recently reported on Peking University High School's curricular reforms to promote individuality and diversity. As director of Peking University High School's government-approved International Division, an experimental program to prepare students for study in America, I've attended meetings where Beijing's top education officials endorsed importing Western curricula. Nevertheless, it's safe to say China won't challenge America's leadership in education anytime soon. Shanghai's stellar results on PISA are a symptom of the problem. Tests are less relevant to concrete life and work skills than the ability to write a coherent essay, which requires being able to identify a problem, break it down to its constituent parts, analyze it from multiple angles and assemble a solution in a succinct manner to communicate across cultures and time. These critical thinking skills are what Chinese students need to learn if they are to become globally competitive. So the first step of education reform is trying to teach students who are good test takers to be good essay writers. To write well in English, students need to understand concepts such as thesis and argument, structure and support, coherence and flow, tone and audience, diction and syntaxconcepts that are barely introduced in Chinese schools. One way we'll know we're succeeding in changing China's schools is when those PISA scores come down. Mr. Jiang is deputy principal of Peking University High School, and director of its International Division. http://chem8.org/bbs/thread-48889-1-1.html
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