{"id":6123,"date":"2009-05-31T16:22:52","date_gmt":"2009-05-31T20:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/?p=6123"},"modified":"2011-07-13T14:24:36","modified_gmt":"2011-07-13T18:24:36","slug":"taking-%e2%80%9cthe-tall-test%e2%80%9d-chinese-prep-school-lesson-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/uncategorized\/taking-%e2%80%9cthe-tall-test%e2%80%9d-chinese-prep-school-lesson-activities\/6123\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funding for the educational materials was provided by The Overbrook Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n

LEARNING ACTIVITIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Ask the class how American high school students get into college. (Answers will vary but will include taking a standardized test like the <\/em>SAT<\/em>.) Explain that students in China also take a college entrance exam, in their case one called the Gaokao<\/em>, or \u201ctall test.\u201d Have each student log onto the \u201cHow Would You Do?\u201d <\/a>website and explain that it they will all be taking a brief mock test consisting of a small sample of the Gaokao<\/em>. Allow 10 minutes for students to answer the questions on their own\u2014no answer-sharing or collaboration allowed! [Note: if necessary, divide the class into as many groups as there available computers and have them take the sample test as a group activity.]<\/p>\n

2. When all students have completed the test, ask students how they fared. Did they find it difficult? Easier or harder than standardized tests like the SAT or PSAT which they may have taken themselves? (Answers may vary, but the consensus will probably be that that <\/em>Gaokao is quite difficult.)<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Frame the first video clip for students by explaining that they will now be taking a look at the first of several segments from China Prep<\/strong><\/em>\u2014an episode of PBS\u2019s documentary series Wide Angle<\/em><\/strong> which examines the preparation Chinese students undertake for the Gaokao<\/em>. Provide a focus for students by asking them why Chinese students face such pressure to perform well on that exam. Play China Prep<\/strong><\/em> from 3:05 to 6:07. Access China Prep<\/strong><\/em> at the Video Segments Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Follow up the clip by reviewing the focus question: why do Chinese students face such intense pressure to perform well on the Gaokao<\/em>? (Answers will vary but should include the following: a high score on the test will get them into a top university, which almost guarantees a successful career; China\u2019s \u201cone child\u201d policy, instituted in 1979, has resulted in\u00a0 parents being particularly invested in the success of their single child, who by Chinese tradition will eventually be responsible for their care; Chinese students are the living manifestation of China\u2019s national ambition to replace the United States as the #1 economic power in the world<\/em>.) Ask students if they feel similar academic pressures themselves. Why or why not? (Accept all answers<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

5. Frame the next clip by telling students that it will introduce them to how Chinese prep schools are run, and the expectations they place upon their students. Provide a focus question by asking students how they think Chinese classrooms differ from their own. Play China Prep<\/strong><\/em> from 6:52 to 8:48.<\/p>\n

6. Follow up the clip by reviewing the focus question: how do students think Chinese classrooms differ from their own? (Answers will vary but may include the following: Chinese teachers take a much more active \u201cparental\u201d role in encouraging proper sleep and nutrition habits; Chinese teachers don\u2019t hesitate to single out individual students for public reprisal\u2014for lateness, in the case shown\u2014if they feel there is a lesson for the rest of the class to learn from it; Chinese teachers wear microphones to be heard by their very large classes; classes seem to involve more repetition and rote memorization than their American counterparts; their curriculum seems much more focused on core academic subjects rather than less rigorous elective subjects<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

7. Frame the next clip by asking students what sort of government China has. (Communist<\/em>.) Ask students what sort of economic system China has. (Capitalism<\/em>.) Ask students how they think these two systems\u2014which were once considered antithetical, and were even militarily hostile throughout the Cold War\u2014can so successfully coexist in China today. (Accept all answers<\/em>.) Provide a focus question for next clip by asking students how the Chinese teacher describes China\u2019s past and present with respect to the rest of the world. Play China Prep<\/strong><\/em> from 32:18 to 33:13.<\/p>\n

8. Follow up the clip by reviewing the focus question: how does the Chinese teacher describe China\u2019s past and present with respect to the rest of the world? (China has gone though many periods in its history when it has been open to the world, and many periods when it has been closed off.) <\/em>Ask students when they think the most recent periods of Chinese isolation and openness have been. (The most recent phase of <\/em>China<\/em>\u2019s international isolation was during the Cold War, which began to thaw in the 1970s, when diplomatic relations were reestablished with the <\/em>United States<\/em> through \u201cping pong\u201d diplomacy and the visits of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon.<\/em>) Ask students if any of them know what \u201cping pong\u201d diplomacy refers to. (The exchange of Chinese and American ping pong teams in the 1970s as cultural ambassadors<\/em>.) Play China Prep<\/strong><\/em> from 33:13 to 34:08. Provide a focus question for students by asking what role the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to play in Chinese society and in the aspirations of at least some Chinese students.<\/p>\n

9. Follow up the clip by reviewing the focus question: what role does the CCP play in Chinese society and the aspirations of at least some Chinese students? (Chinese government continues to be dominated by the CCP, which seeks out the best and the brightest of China\u2019s students to become party members, who will then be groomed to \u201cmake a contribution to <\/em>China<\/em>,\u201d and most likely enjoy greater professional success in the process.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

10. Frame the next clip by explaining that not all Chinese students are so patriotically confident about China\u2019s educational system and the future it\u2019s shaping. Provide a focus for students by asking what alternate view of Chinese education is held by the student Peng Kun\u2014an independent thinker presented here as typical of what the Chinese call the \u201cI Want\u201d generation. Provide a focus question for students by asking what Peng Kun feels is the great weakness of China\u2019s education system. Play China Prep<\/strong><\/em> from 35:21 to 37:15.<\/p>\n

11. Follow up the clip by reviewing the focus question: what does Peng Kun feel is the great weakness of China\u2019s education system? (Chinese education doesn\u2019t promote creativity or independent thought<\/em>.) Ask students if they think what they\u2019ve seen of the Chinese education thus far leads them to agree or disagree with Peng Kun. (Accept all answers<\/em>.) Ask students what consequences this educational shortcoming may have on China\u2019s future. (Accept all answers<\/em>.) Ask students if Peng seems more \u201cAmerican\u201d in her perspective than, say, CCP aspirant Zhang Lie. (Yes<\/em>.) On a larger scale, does the Chinese notion of an \u201cI Want Generation\u201d have any parallel in American history? (Accept all answers, but encourage an understanding that<\/em> the post-WWII \u201cBaby Boomer\u201d generation was commonly known as the \u201cMe Generation.\u201d<\/em>) Ask students which type of Chinese personality they\u2019d rather be competing against in the future\u2014the driven, disciplined, ambitious, and party-connected Zhang Lie, or the more independent, creative, easygoing Peng Kun. (Accept all answers, but encourage an understanding that Peng Kun is an exception in a Chinese educational system designed to produce as many Zhang Lies as possible.<\/em>) <\/em><\/p>\n

12. Frame the final clip by telling students that it portrays the high-stakes culmination of years of hard work and sacrifice for students, parents, and teachers at Bashu Middle School #2: exam day. Provide students with a focus by asking them what Zhang Lie\u2019s definition of freedom is. Play China Prep<\/strong><\/em> from 43:37 to 48:16.<\/p>\n

13. Follow up the clip by reviewing the focus question: what is Zhang Lie\u2019s definition of freedom? (Freedom for Zhang Lie is not something which one can demand of society, but rather a drive which must be found in oneself in order to realize one\u2019s own dreams.)<\/em> How might this answer reflect Zhang Lie\u2019s political perspective and environment? (Accept all answers, but encourage an understanding that by defining freedom as a personal responsibility rather than a social condition,<\/em> Zhang Lie<\/em> sidesteps the conventional western criticism that modern <\/em>China<\/em>, however economically capitalistic, remains a politically communist nation which limits one\u2019s personal freedom.) <\/em>Ask students if they agree with this definition. Why or why not? (Accept all answers<\/em>.) <\/em><\/p>\n

CULMINATING ACTIVITY<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Divide the class into five groups and have each group log onto the \u201cEntrance Exams Around the World\u201d website<\/a>. Explain that this site features a video made by students from the United Kingdom, India, France, Greece, and Ireland candidly discussing their own nation\u2019s college entrance exams. Assign each group to follow the comments of one student as they watch the video together and compile a list of comments, criticisms, and observations about that student\u2019s national college exam system.<\/p>\n

2. Either in class or as homework, have each group conduct online research about their assigned student\u2019s college entrance exam system with the aim of creating a brief 5 minute report to be delivered before the rest of the class. Each report should begin with a straightforward description of the exam system itself, but students should also look at the larger context and consequences of the exams. As much as possible, encourage groups to focus their research on elements of the exam systems which have been commented on by the students in the video (e.g. premature academic focus in India). Suggested lines of inquiry for each group to consider:<\/p>\n