Seeing this situation, we can't help but think about what China students have done differently. "They study very, very hard." Carl Inlet, a science teacher at Hale High School in Seattle, said, "Every student I meet has ten classes almost every day and often doesn't finish school until 9: 30 in the evening."

Every morning, China Students' Union begins to study 12 hours, and sets aside three to five hours to finish homework. Due to various cram schools and frequent exams, the weekend is also a nightmare for them. You can feel such a devoted learning style in class every day. In a class of more than 60 students, you have no choice but to obey the rules, or you will be left behind mercilessly.

But just as we marveled at the high quality of education in China, some teachers and students we met in China pointed out the biggest flaw of the education system in China. Time and again, we keep hearing people worry that students in China lack a very important quality: creativity. "Our students lack creativity," said Wang, an English teacher at 12 Middle School. "American students are never afraid of making mistakes, while China students care too much about the correctness of their answers."

In an education system where the annual year-end exam determines students' future, there is no room for individualized development at all. The students are seriously locked in the same track. Those students with excellent grades will be screened into the best schools, and those with poor grades will only face a steep climb. Naturally, some iconic features of American schools have disappeared here, such as communication, teamwork and independent thinking.

"Students rarely ask questions," said Cam Liang, who graduated from the University of Washington majoring in mechanical engineering. "I found that the teacher's task is only to impart materials and knowledge to students and then ask them questions. The task of students is to blindly follow and memorize materials. "

There is no doubt that a new generation of teachers have begun to pay more and more attention to this vague problem. However, some novel ways often lead to students' vacant reactions. When I try to find volunteers or organize discussions in several English classes, I often fail. Even the interaction with teachers has different definitions here.

In order to describe how to give a discussion class to a group of China students, Mr. Inter told us how he made the whole class form a circle. They immediately thought of where the teacher was going to sit. Mr Inlet said, "I said I would sit with the students. They immediately stared at me and couldn't believe that the class could be like this. "

12 middle school teachers are very willing to hear about the unique learning styles of American students. But when they try to implement new educational methods, they also have to bear great pressure from their parents, the government and universities. Everything should be subject to the annual national college entrance examination. As long as students can successfully control the exam, parents don't care about the old and new education methods. If this method is not helpful for students to prepare for the exam, parents will not be patient. So teachers can only work in strict accordance with the curriculum.

Many people think that the college entrance examination in China is the fairest way to distribute rare opportunities for further study among many students. However, the government must adapt to a rapidly developing and increasingly fierce competition in China. If we want to meet the demand of this development trend successfully, the China government must train a group of graduates who are different from the past.

For several years, Americans have been wondering why our students always fall behind others; Now, it seems that at least one country is waiting for us.