Teaching Experiences at Hangzhou High School

(Joseph)

After a busy week teaching 14 sophomore classes here at Hangzhou High School, I am really enjoying the cultural exchange here. The students are rapt with attention when I speak of American history, life, education, and housing. In fact, I have become somewhat of a celebrity here.

I have been teaching some basic U.S. history and geography related to Philadelphia, PA and Boston, MA—the two cities where I have spent much of my life (well, I lived outside Philadelphia, in the suburbs, which is a very different experience altogether, I acknowledge). The Chinese students have been extremely attentive and receptive to everything I have had the pleasure of teaching them. I could be reading the dictionary to them, and I think they would listen with eager-eyed wonder because of the way I speak English (at least that’s what I have been told). Chinese teenagers are so respectful and polite to their teachers and, in general, elders; in fact, when teachers walk through the gates of the high school every morning, the students bow and say “Hello, teacher!” (American students: take note). This is just expected respectful behavior of Chinese students, who must behave and be attentive to their lessons and teachers because, if they do not, they are not preparing well for their big examination in June of their senior year—and this one, very long (about 12 hours) exam pretty much determines so much of these students’ futures. Report cards have very little importance in China, which seems very…well, foreign to me. In the United States, we have our S.A.T.s (and S.A.T. IIs), but a variety of different factors are important when colleges are evaluating potential students. Here in China: the future rides on one national exam. But what if you have a few “bad test days”? Well, your future could be floating away before your very eyes. I cannot imagine one test having so much importance, but this is the fact of Chinese high schools. So much stress, and students still manage to care about their report card grades even though they really do not matter in the grand scheme; I believe that parents and students somewhat anticipate their national exam scores by report card scores.

Anyway, the Chinese students know only the very basics about U.S. history, which is to be expected. Thus I introduced the students to Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross. I have shown them Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philly. I have told the stories of the Boston Tea Party (the Chinese know tea) and of Paul Revere’s ride through Boston streets warning of the British army’s advance. We discussed the Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence. I seriously think I could teach American history over here; the students seemed to love the way I told them these famous stories. Or maybe it was simply hearing English from a native speaker who looks so very, very different. And speaking of looks, you should see/hear the students’ shock and awe when I inform them that my father is Italian and my mother is German. Such “intermingling” is very rare over here, where 99% of Chinese boys will marry Chinese girls—that is, excepting the rare occasions when some Chinese girls get hitched to older, divorced ex-patriots looking for (much) younger wives. When I asked students to explain to me what an American is, they were somewhat hesitant, but they eventually “got” that America is (in many cases) a melting pot—or salad bowl, if you prefer—of different cultures. Over here, there’s really only one type of lettuce in the bowl until a stray piece of cabbage finds its way into the mix.

During my presentation, when we jumped over two hundred years into the present, we began discussing the American education system. Once I shared with the students that our school day ends at 2:15, a universal sound of “Awwwwww!!!” filled the room. When I explained that American students typically have a few hours to attend activities, clubs, and sports after school, the cultural divide becomes readily apparent. These students are extremely envious of the American school system because the Chinese students have very few opportunities to play sports—and school sports are played only within gym classes; moreover, when I asked the students whether they liked watching movies, a few responded that no high school student has the time to watch movies or television. Instead, the Chinese school day begins at 7:30 and ends at 4:45 (although they do have an hour-long lunch break, and students have ten minutes between their classes—not our measly three), and then, because test scores have been dropping slightly in Hangzhou, the principal now requires senior students to stay from 6 to 9pm every day for mandatory study time—AND students are now attending school on Saturday mornings for about four hours. This certainly puts De-Stress DS into a different perspective, doesn’t it? Chinese students are attending school about double the amount of time that typical American teenagers do. If anyone needs to be de-stressed, these Chinese high school students deserve the prize, so let’s send our donuts and breakfast pizzas to China from now on. There is so much more pressure on teenagers here in China. I now understand and appreciate that American high school students really do “have it easy” when compared with school life here. Yes, the stress is still present in the U.S., but, after my twelve years of teaching high school and a week of observing high school life here in Hangzhou, American students certainly do have less stress.

Hangzhou students spend so much time reading during the day that the school has two “eye-exercises” scattered throughout the school day. During these five-minute sessions, students close their eyes and massage both their eyes and temples while relaxing music plays over classroom speakers. I think this is a great idea. My students at DS have often asked for a short “meditation” break just to relax their eyes and minds between classes. Perhaps we should consider this. Also, Hangzhou students have ten minutes between classes even though they don’t move anywhere—the teachers move into a stationary class. Students and teachers also enjoy an hour-long lunch break, which gives students much-needed time to relax. We at Dover-Sherborn have only 25 minutes to eat lunch, which makes us all speed-eaters.

Ironically, although the typical Chinese high school student lives a high-stress life, the Chinese teachers are much more relaxed than they are in the States. The high school teaching life here at Hangzhou is, dare I say, much better than it is in States, where teachers too often come under attack for the low performance of their students, and where students too often disrespect their teachers or do not maintain a serious attitude towards their studies. Chinese teachers really have no discipline or disrespect problems to contend with. In fact, when I asked what vice principals do here, I was told they deal with discipline issues, but that does not keep them busy enough (no small feat in a high school with over 1,500 students), so the vice principals also teach classes. The students are focused and motivated to perform, because the value of high school as a “stepping stone” towards a successful life can be felt in the general atmosphere and attitudes of students. Chinese teachers teach only two periods, or about 90 minutes, each day—but their classes average 45 students each; in American high schools, teachers are in the classroom, on average, four or five hours a day—but our classes are much smaller (on average, 20 students). So what do the teachers do in Hangzhou for the other seven hours of school? Most sit in their offices and grade for hours, which allows them to return student work very rapidly, usually the next day; in the States, students must be patient for their work to be returned to them because teachers are in the classroom teaching three times longer than their Chinese counterparts. I’m honestly not sure which schedule I prefer, because there are benefits and drawbacks to each system; I think I can speak for most American high school teachers, however, when I state that we would like more time to grade assignments during the school day. In China, teachers do not take their work home with them, but in the States, most teachers take home hours of work that could not be finished during the school day, and therefore the line between “business and pleasure” gets blurry. Chinese teachers also have the luxury of taking naps during the school day; one day I walked into the office to see many teachers asleep on foldable reclining chairs in their cubicles. If any teacher, or pretty much any employee, took a nap during work hours in the States, I doubt that job would last long; however, here in China, because teachers work 5.5 days of the week for 9.5-hour days, the administration allows them to get some shut-eye. In sum, Chinese teachers work longer hours here, but they seem quite relaxed during the school day, and extra “free” time abounds. Moreover, teachers are allowed and encouraged to retire much earlier than they are in the States: female teachers often retire at age 55 while male teachers retire at 60—and the Chinese government provides a very good retirement pension for teachers, which creates much competition for teachers. Teaching is a well-respected and sought-after profession here.

Also this week I was asked to assist teachers in selecting students for the yearly drama competition, which is a short 10-15 minute play or scene performed in English. I have not only been asked to select the play for competition, but also to help with both the audition and rehearsal process over the next few weeks. At first I was told that perhaps 30 students would try out for maybe six or seven roles, but now, over this past week, the number of interested students has doubled to over 60; therefore, some teachers are holding pre-auditions to winnow the talented students who have good English pronunciation from those who, unfortunately, do not. I have felt really horrible cutting over fifty interested Hangzhou students, but, in China, fierce competition is just standard procedure. In the States we are (or perhaps I am) super-sensitive to cutting students who audition, and feelings are inevitably hurt while hostilities sometimes arise. Perhaps the word I am looking for is entitlement, but no such word exists in China. I was told not to worry about making cuts because students understand that only six or seven of the most talented students can participate. That is just the way it goes, and Chinese students develop much thicker skin because their environment is truly Darwinian here. There is no coddling.

Regardless, I wrote a short, two-minute scene for students to audition, and I helped one teacher with the audition process, which was very similar to how I conduct auditions in the States: I divided students into pairs and gave each pair a short scene to rehearse on its own for about 15 minutes, and then the students performed the scene for me. I must admit: I was expecting a bit of a disaster, as I’ve told by more than a few Chinese people that creativity is not especially encouraged in their children, for whom rote memorization is often the key to success, at least in school. But I was pleasantly surprised: of the 13 students who auditioned for me, a few had genuine acting talent. One particular pair amazed me by creating a scene around my written dialogue, and they began to act even before the first character delivered her first line. Their voices, movements, and gestures were spot-on in the characters they developed. Now I’m looking forward to finding an appropriate play or scene for these talented students to perform for the competition and—I’m sure—the competition will be fierce.

Next week I have been asked to teach film to the juniors, and they have chosen the famous and critically-acclaimed American film Citizen Kane as their film of study (I also suggested The Graduate, but the teachers preferred Citizen Kane). I love this film, and the students are eager to discuss it because studying film is not something done in China, especially in high school. This should be a rare treat for students, and I can only hope I deliver the best 45-minute lesson (I wish I had more time) to do the film justice. I’ll let you know how it goes next week…