However, Qiu Chengtong, an international master of mathematics, gave China people who felt good about themselves a heavy blow: "This is a terrible self-anesthesia for many years! I don't think the basic knowledge of China students is very good! "
Qiu Chengtong said: "China and American students who can enter Harvard University should be the best students in these two countries. Compared with the best two people, the basic knowledge of American students will never be worse than that of China students, on the contrary, it will be much stronger. "
"In the better primary and secondary schools in the United States, China students have to study all the courses. They are very flexible. They are definitely not cramming like China. In some good schools, students in grades 1 1 and 12 learn calculus very well, but I heard that not all high school students in China learn calculus. "
Mr. Qiu clearly remembers that once, several students from a top university in China came to him and asked him a geometry question. Qiu Chengtong felt very strange. They asked a classic question about differential geometry, which is the mathematical knowledge that students should master when they are studying undergraduate. "Can it be said that China students learn better than foreign students?"
Yang Zhenning, a Nobel Prize winner, believes that China's educational attitude is completely different from that of the United States, and the biggest difference is that China emphasizes indoctrination education. China students have a solid foundation, which is an advantage, but it also has disadvantages. Students in China always cringe when facing new things. Compared with American students, their sense of innovation is very poor.
Chinese education and American education can't be said to be good or bad, it depends on different people. In the teaching process, China students are more innovative, and it is most appropriate for American students to lay a solid foundation, so that they can make up for each other. On the other hand, education in the United States will be better for people with high talents, but for most students, basically, China's educational philosophy is better.
Yang Zhenning's conclusion is that there is no need to completely change the traditional education system in China.
Some people use the excellent performance of China students in the Olympic Mathematics Competition to refute Qiu Chengtong's point of view. "How fierce are the children who participate in the Olympic Games in China? They have occupied the position of gold medal overlord for many years. Can American children do it? "
However, as early as the 2002 International Congress of Mathematicians, some academic experts warned not to be confused by the aura of "Olympic Games". One of the important reasons why China can reap a bumper harvest every year in the "Olympic Games" in mathematics is that these players have been selected at different levels and have undergone strict intensive training before the competition. This kind of intensive training can be described as "cruelty". In school, it is often bombarded by math teachers, that is, competitors stop studying all other subjects and don't rest from morning till night. More than a dozen math teachers took turns tutoring, giving strange exams, and repeatedly practicing the same topic from multiple angles until all the teachers had no problems, and even the math teachers were stumped, unable to answer, and still did not give up. In foreign countries, it is free to participate in the Olympic Games. No country has paid so much attention to it and organized it so well as China. In China, all kinds of "Olympic Games" have obvious traces of exam-oriented education and are no longer activities to cultivate interest. Most of the mathematical seedlings cultivated in this way will "bid farewell" to the mathematical stage. "Many people who won the Olympic Games are unwilling to continue to engage in mathematical research, and some even say that they are unwilling to touch any mathematical symbols all their lives." Liu Jian, an associate professor at Beijing Normal University, said.
One of the great significance of the International Mathematical Olympics is to promote the training of creative thinking, which is particularly important today with the rapid development of science and technology. Mathematics should not only teach students arithmetic skills, but also cultivate students' strict thinking logic and flexible methods of analyzing and solving problems. However, Osage gradually deviated from its original intention in China. ...
Faced with the above confusion, this magazine recently interviewed Professor Wu Xinchun, vice president of the School of Psychology of Beijing Normal University, director of the Institute of Educational Psychology and Mental Health, and Mr. richard anderson, three major educational psychologists in North America, former chairman of the American Education Association and director of the Reading Research Center of the University of Illinois.
In the interview, we learned that the educational differences between China and the United States actually exist not only in universities and middle schools, but also in primary schools and preschool children. Americans pay attention to cultivating children's interest in learning, and think that learning is a lifelong thing and learning is a very happy thing.
They believe that after entering the 2 1 century, people will face technological innovation and complex information replacement. Only cultivating one's lifelong learning ability is the greatest guarantee for survival. Reading is the most direct and effective way of learning, and 80% of human knowledge is obtained through reading. Westerners say: "Leaders are scholars" (leaders must be scholars). The cultivation of reading ability is a gradual process. If reading is the foundation of learning and education, then children's reading is the core of the foundation. Therefore, early reading is called "the foundation of lifelong learning and the soul of basic education". In the Blueprint for Education Reform, US President Bush said: Too many children can't read. Reading is the cornerstone of architecture and must also be the foundation of our educational reform.
Since 1980s, some developed countries have shifted the focus of children's intellectual development to the cultivation of reading ability. In kindergartens in the United States and Britain, reading accounts for more than 80% of the curriculum. Reading with parents for 20 minutes every night before going to bed has become the habit of most American middle-class families. The participation of publishers, communities, families, educational institutions, governments, social organizations, enterprises and media in western countries constitutes a good mechanism to promote children's reading.
Wu Xinchun: Professor of Psychology, Beijing Normal University. He is the author of Educational Psychology, Chinese Psychology in Primary Schools and Higher Education Psychology. Undertake the national "climbing plan" and "brain science and quality education" projects; The tenth five-year plan of national educational science, the reform of modern learning theory and learning mode; The Characteristics, Causes and Interventions of Teachers' Job Burnout by the Ministry of Education: "Reading and Promotion of Children in China" by Ford Foundation.
Q: Qiu Chengtong, a master of mathematics, thinks that the gap between Chinese and American students is not only in the stage of university education, but also in the stage of basic education. What do you think of this?
A: We are currently studying this issue. In fact, our basic education also has some merits. For example, our students have solid basic skills, and their ability to solve written problems is often relatively strong. The key is how to teach quality education and exam-oriented education well, so as to give full play to its advantages and reduce its disadvantages. This is a strategic issue of education policy. Now the United States is also learning the good side of China's exam-oriented education to reduce the problem that their students' basic skills are not solid. The "happy education" advocated by the United States is to hope that children can cultivate internal motivation from an early age and enjoy it. Although indoctrination education can also achieve this goal and improve its ability, it may also make children feel rebellious and never want to do such things again. I am a university teacher myself. From my experience, there are not many outstanding middle school students in China who continue to be outstanding in universities. Because the best students in domestic middle schools often study harder and spend a lot of energy on choosing books and textbooks in order to keep the first place, their interests will be narrower. Once they enter the university, the external pressure will be less, their spirits will be relaxed, and their academic performance will decline. Therefore, from the perspective of Chinese and foreign education, the core is that others learn more easily and happily, while in China, learning is emphasized as a chore that requires hard work.
There is a saying in China that "you have to suffer to be a master". In other words: you have suffered now, and you can enjoy happiness in the future. But now who can study for 20 years and then enjoy it without studying? There is a term in psychology called "transitional cause effect", which is enough for me to engage in such an activity. If parents and teachers keep giving students rewards when they study, students will think that learning is to get these rewards. Once these rewards are gone, his learning motivation will be gone. Without motivation, academic performance will naturally decline.
Stimulating learning with rewards will lead children in one direction. In fact, this direction is not the only one that is the most right and reasonable. Therefore, creative and successful people are not always limited to one aspect.
Q: Quality education and exam-oriented education have their own advantages and disadvantages. What do you think should be done to develop their strengths and avoid their weaknesses? At present, what is China's strategy in this respect?
A: As we all know, students in China are hardworking, which is related to the national characteristics of the whole Chinese nation. Influenced by thousands of years of tradition, China people have always been famous for their diligence and wisdom. Our students have a good grasp and understanding of basic concepts. This, the United States is also learning from China. Their curriculum reform has also absorbed many good aspects of education in China. For example, the United States once put forward a slogan "Restore the basic movement". It hopes to improve its relatively weak side while giving full play to its strong side.
From our research, American students generally have a wide range of knowledge, while China students have a narrow range of knowledge and study a certain point in depth. On the other hand, American students are more active in the classroom, while our country is relatively dull, a relatively closed system, and the learning content is relatively closed, so our students' creativity and ability to break the rules are relatively poor. There is a distance between the study of such books and real life. For example, few students in China associate "merging similar projects" with their lives. In fact, students in a class, male and female, tall and short, fat and thin, poor and rich, and good and bad students, are all classified together. Students in China seldom think about these problems, while students in the United States like to think about the merger of similar items in their lives. China students study problems that are higher than reality, while American students pay attention to problems that come from life. So his study will be closely related to his life. Once there is a problem in life, he will easily control it. This is reflected in the ability to reflect the problem, and he will respond to the problem faster. On the other hand, if students know that what they have learned is useful for their own survival and development, they will be more willing and active in learning. If they don't know what's the use, they will be confused and passive in their studies. Therefore, the motivation of learning and the connection between learning content and real life are important issues.
Now we should study how to stimulate students' intrinsic learning motivation and interest on the basis of keeping their learning solid, so as to improve students' openness and creativity to a certain extent.
Q: In China, studying abroad tends to be younger. Parents believe that there are many problems in education in China. Do you think the problem lies in the early training of children or the guidance of teachers after school?
A: We can't emphasize the problem unilaterally. This is related to the tradition of our country. In the past thousands of years, our ancestors have always emphasized rote learning and the "Four Books and Five Classics". There are many good things in this educational tradition, and there are also many things that are not suitable for the development of the times, such as the innovation mentioned above. In ancient times, because of the limited learning, rote memorization might be very useful. Now is the era of knowledge explosion, and the previous methods may not work. At this time, it is necessary to emphasize learning methods and teach children how to explore. The advantage of the current education mode in the United States is that students will take detours in the process of groping, but detours are also a learning process. Once you master this method yourself, you won't give up. As Comrade Xiaoping said: "Crossing the river by feeling the stones" is itself a process of self-innovation and self-exploration in political life. In fact, education is inseparable from politics, and it is also a reflection of political life.
Richard Richard anderson: Former President of American Education Association, Director of Reading Research Center of University of Illinois, one of the three largest educational psychologists in North America, and founder of children's sharing reading.
Q: How did you get interested in children sharing reading?
I used to be a teacher in a high school. In the process of teaching, I found that teenagers of this age often encounter difficulties in reading, which affect many of their learning contents and tasks in high school. So I began to think about the reason for this difficulty. At that time, the research method was pushed back from senior high school students, and the students being studied became younger and younger. Finally, I found that the problem appeared when the students were very young. Since my first job in education, I have been trying to solve this problem bit by bit, and I have been doing research for more than 30 years until today. I find very young children very creative and have an extraordinary understanding of what they have learned. If you cultivate reading ability and reading habits at this time and give yourself a good reading foundation, then you can maintain a good reading state in high school and there will be no reading difficulties.
Q: What do you think is the reason for students' reading difficulties?
A: There are many reasons for reading difficulties, one of which is phonological awareness. English is a phonetic symbol, in which each letter is a phonetic unit. Some students have difficulty in pronouncing these phonetic units into a word continuously. For some children, speech difficulties have a great impact on their lives. Moreover, phonetic difficulties may reduce children's interest in reading, and as a result, the reading effect is getting worse and worse. In the process of reading, they have to read again and again. Sometimes, when understanding the whole article or paragraph, they have to read aloud word for word in order to understand it better. Moreover, things that have been read often have to be returned for re-reading, which leads to poor reading efficiency. This influence still exists until many people become adults, and this phenomenon can also be found in daily life.
Q: What do you think should be done to develop children's early reading to prevent reading difficulties in adulthood?
A: Children aged 3 to 5 can enjoy reading easily and happily, and reading will be their lifelong pleasure. There are two terms for our children to share reading-internal motivation and external motivation. We mainly focus on cultivating children's inner motivation, making them want to study from the heart and taking reading as a relaxed and happy thing. If it is only external motivation, such as having to read according to the requirements of teachers or parents, or to escape punishment, or to get rewards from parents, it is not a good way to really cultivate children's reading. And children have very good creativity and perception since childhood. We have done some research, let children read the story once, and then test it, and found that they can remember many new words-they know these words from natural reading, not deliberately teaching them. The same is true of Chinese characters, and very young children will also have their own Chinese character recognition strategies, such as perceptual chunks, that is, the relationship between form and meaning of Chinese characters. For example, if children know hands, they can naturally associate many words with hands and know that these words are related to hands; For example, children can also infer the pronunciation of Chinese characters from sounds.
Q: How do you view the influence of writing on children's intellectual development in the process of promoting children's early reading?
A: For children in China, writing may be more difficult because Chinese characters are ideographic and the strokes are complicated. Foreign children begin to write when they are four or five years old, while China children generally don't begin to write until the first grade of primary school. In fact, in China, it is not impossible for kindergarten children to try to write, but teachers and children should interact. In the west, teachers and children share writing. At first, the teacher wrote the most things, such as "Today is my birthday". You can leave a "mine" or "birthday" for your child to write. Through such encouragement, children's writing level can be improved and children can realize that writing, like reading, is a means of communication. I also encountered this problem in Shanghai. Kindergarten teachers regard writing as a very difficult thing, but they didn't expect it to be a good way to communicate with children.
Q: Can you tell us about the different characteristics of previous presidents' educational policies during your tenure as president of the American Education Association and during your educational work?
Several American presidents have attached great importance to education. During President Reagan's administration, children's education policy was not placed at the national level, but was managed by the States themselves. At that time, I submitted a national report on children's literacy to President Reagan. This report was later written into a book with photos of President Reagan and his son on the cover. This book is still one of the best-selling books in the United States and a landmark book about children's reading and writing. During the administration of George H.W. Bush, his first lady Barbara was a person who loved children's education and was very supportive. Clinton has won the support of many ordinary people, because his education policy shows concern for the disadvantaged groups, especially the children of particularly poor families and black families, which makes him very popular among the people. On the other hand, George W. Bush considers himself an educational leader. In fact, he also had big moves. His slogan is "No Child Left Behind". Although I don't support Bush, I support his education policy, especially his policy, which makes it easy for me to apply for some education funds.
Q: What do you think are the characteristics of Chinese and American education in terms of children's self-development and teachers' standards?
A: The most terrible thing about education in China is grades. Students often have to do a lot of exercises and hard preparations for exams. Fortunately, I have not only been to many big cities in China, but also to many rural classrooms, not only kindergartens and primary schools, but also many middle schools, so I can still answer this question.
In China, the professional quality and level of middle school teachers are relatively high. All of them graduated from normal colleges, and the teachers prepared their lessons carefully, and the contents of the lectures were well thought out, which was very different from that of the United States. In China's class, students are very attentive, with good classroom discipline and high lecture efficiency. The 45-minute content of a class is very substantial and organized. The advantage of China teaching lies in the teaching system, and students have a firm grasp of knowledge. But it is worse than American students in imagination, independence and critical thinking, because China has more intensive reading, while the United States has more extensive reading. In-depth analysis is often emphasized in China's education. Studies have proved that extensive reading is very beneficial to a person's lifelong development.
American classrooms are very casual. Teachers can sit casually in a corner of the classroom in jeans, while students are divided into many groups to organize their own discussions. No teacher stood in front of the blackboard and told the students word for word, telling them what to do and what not to do. This loose classroom teaching organization makes students very casual. But if every class is like this, the efficiency of imparting knowledge will be lower, and the mastery of "two basics", that is, basic knowledge and basic skills, will be worse than that of China students, while the cultivation of imagination and thinking ability will be better.
Q: At present, China is very concerned about helping the disadvantaged groups. How to treat the early childhood education of vulnerable groups to be solved?
A: This problem really can't be explained in a simple sentence. This problem is not only encountered in China today, but also in the United States. Helping the disadvantaged groups requires the efforts of all sectors of society, including some political groups, sociologists and educators. In addition, it is really necessary to reduce the birth rate in China. If there are too many children in poor families, it will naturally affect their education. In addition, if the education level of women is improved, the dropout rate of children will be greatly reduced. Because educated women will be more concerned about the growth of their children. At present, in some parts of China, girls have less opportunities to receive education than boys. People think that boys should receive more education, which is very unfavorable to the development of children, especially the children of vulnerable groups.
After listening to Anderson's words, we suddenly feel that when Americans educate their children, they are giving them a key to tell them how to deal with various problems in the era of knowledge explosion; How to find what you want from a large amount of information; How to deal with these problems. Early reading is undoubtedly the cultivation of this ability. According to research, once children like reading, they will get all-round physical and mental development and benefit for life. In fact, both quality education and exam-oriented education have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the key is how to choose. This is also a problem that is being studied and concerned by the educational circles in China at present. Fortunately, many domestic colleagues have realized the importance of early reading and shared reading. At present, more than 100 kindergartens and primary schools in nearly 30 cities across the country are carrying out this activity. I hope that in the near future, our society will be full of books.