1 I soon realized that this matter was directly related to our task in China: to investigate the ways of early childhood education (especially in art) and, more broadly, to clarify China people's attitude towards creativity. So not long after, I began to incorporate the anecdote of this "key slot" into my conversation with educators in China. I will tell the audience what happened and seek their reaction. Some of my colleagues in China showed the same attitude as the waiters in Jinling Hotel. Since adults know how to put the key in the key slot (they will say), since this is the ultimate goal of getting close to the key slot, and since the toddler is neither old nor smart enough to achieve the desired action by himself, what benefits can be gained from letting the child kick around? He is likely to feel depressed and angry, which is certainly not an ideal result. Why not tell him what to do? He will be very happy (people around him will be happier), he will learn how to complete the task faster, and then he can carry out more complicated activities, such as opening the door or asking for the key.

We listened sympathetically to this explanation. We all agree that it is important to tell children what to do sometimes, and we certainly don't want to disappoint Benjamin. However, as I said, he is seldom frustrated by his fledgling attempt: the word "happy" is more suitable to describe him. We went on to point out that many Americans hold completely different views on such issues.

First of all, we don't care much about whether Benjamin successfully inserted the key into the slot. He is having a good time and exploring. These two activities are very important to us. But the key point is that in this process, we try to teach Benjamin something: one can solve problems effectively by himself. This kind of self-reliance is the main value of American middle class in raising children. As long as the child is shown exactly how to do something, whether it is putting the key in the key slot, drawing a rooster or apologizing for his wrong behavior, he is unlikely to figure out how to accomplish such a task by himself. Moreover, more generally, he is unlikely to see life as a series of scenarios like many Americans, in which one must learn to think independently, solve problems independently, and even discover new problems that require creative solutions.

In retrospect, I clearly realize that this matter is indeed the key in more than one sense. It shows the important differences between our two countries in education and artistic practice. More importantly, this obvious episode reveals important issues about education, creativity and art, which has aroused the interest of thinkers all over the world.

As Philip Jackson pointed out, back in Greek times, people can find two completely different ways to deal with education. A dominant method is the imitation method, in which teachers (and "texts") are regarded as an indisputable source of knowledge. Students are expected to remember information and then, on subsequent occasions, give feedback on information that has been presented to them or modeled for them. Contrary to this tradition, it is a "change" method, in which the teacher is more like a coach, trying to inspire some qualities of students. Teachers let students actively participate in the learning process, ask questions and guide students to pay attention to new phenomena, hoping that students' understanding will be strengthened. Some people may say that in the tradition of "imitation", the cultivation of basic skills is the first; In the method of "transformation", it is most valuable to stimulate children's expressive power, creativity and cognition.