Why Education is Important in China

[Dear Readers - thank you for faithfully reading my blog these past months as I describe my experience in China as a "people-to-people diplomat" with the Fulbright Commission - I have wanted to post more, but this particular platform has had continuous issues with uploading content as well as pix and the time involved has been counterproductive. There is no pix with this post bc it simply will not upload. However, I will persevere. Thank you again for reading!]

China has come to America – literally! In the last few years we have seen a large increase in the popularity of study abroad in the U.S. regarding Chinese students. The number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. has increased almost five times since 2004 (62,500) to almost 330,000 (this would be roughly 11% of the U.S. population if they were American students).[1] That’s 31.5% of the 1 million plus total international students studying in the U.S. according to the Institute of International Education.[2] 

This dramatic increase in Chinese students in the U.S. creates excellent cultural exchange opportunities for both Chinese and American students; but it also brings challenges and concerns. Obtaining a U.S. degree as an undergraduate or graduate student has a high cache with Chinese people as parents seek to educate their only child in the best of circumstances, sacrificing much to help their child achieve. While this puts great financial strain on parents, it eases the intense emotional, physical, and mental pain of the child since they won’t have to study for the dreaded gāokǎo 高考 or “high test” that literally determines a child’s future. 

The US Commerce Department reports that in 2015 Chinese students spent $11.4 billion on tuition and living expenses while studying in the U.S.[3] And, while this helps the U.S. economy and provides a study abroad experience for Chinese people, there are many cultural challenges for both countries. Colleges and Universities are trying to be culturally sensitive to the influx of so many Chinese students. For example, Purdue University attempts to care for the emotional and mental health needs of students by hiring Chinese-speaking counselors; the University of Iowa attempts to be respectful of culture by coaching professors in how to pronounce Chinese names; and the University of Illinois appeals to the fun side of campus life by translating football games into Chinese.[4]

Many colleges and universities have well-developed international program offices that offer excellent resources for incoming international students in order to prepare them for a successful academic, social, and cultural experience while studying in the U.S. However, Chinese students have three distinct cultural challenges which affect their adjustment: language, family structure, and educational systems.

Challenges for Chinese Students Studying Abroad

The English and Chinese languages are very different regarding logic, meaning, and form. Chinese students begin to learn English in elementary school which is taught through traditional methods of learning grammar and mostly contains reading and writing exercises. Without the practice of spoken English, Chinese students can be confused once in the American classroom and struggle with listening comprehension and general verbal expression. In turn, this makes communication difficult and leads to loss of confidence and reticence. Additionally, Chinese students are not trained in how to write academic documents in the same manner as students in Western cultures, so researching and writing papers becomes an obstacle as well.

Structure and Meaning: The English language emphasizes structure, while the Chinese language focuses on the meaning. English comprises long sentences with modifiers (such as adjectives), pronouns (she, we, them) and demonstratives (this, that) in order to clarify what is happening within the complexity of the sentence. In Chinese, sentences are short in order to comprehend easily because of the structure of Chinese. It is more important to “Get the meaning and forget the words.”

Alphabet and Phonology: In English there is an alphabet where 26 letters make up words and one learns the sound-spelling patterns in order to distinguish the thousands of possibilities of the language. Chinese uses a logographic system where a symbol represents the words and one finds meaning in each character. You have to memorize each character (and its smaller “radical” components) in order to identify the sound of the character. Additionally, Chinese is a tonal language where each character has one of four pitches (highness or lowness) to distinguish its meaning. In English, pitch is used for emphasis or to express emotion; in Chinese the pitch gives a different meaning to the sound. For example, the character “ma” could mean: horse, mother, or grass, depending on the tone used.

Grammar: English uses verb inflections (is/are/were; eat/eats/eaten) to convey meaning while Chinese uses “word” (character) order and context to convey meaning. For example, in English you would say, “I went to eat at the Italian restaurant last night with friends.”  The Chinese equivalent would be, “Last night…Italian Restaurant…with friends…I go…eat.” This concept of time is not expressed through verb tense, but within the context and order of first the time, then place, with whom, and then the verb. Thinking in a foreign language that has quite a different structure is a challenge for any language learning. Adjusting one's thoughts in that target language takes time.

Chinese Family Structure

China is a highly collective society, based upon millennia of history that creates the core of society within the family unit. While times change, culture changes slowly, and one’s obligation to family is a cornerstone of Chinese culture. Family is extremely important in China with many aspects of Chinese life tied into honoring one’s parents and ancestors. Confucius’s “five relationships” directly relates to the family – honoring those who have higher status than oneself. Confucius taught that peace and order would come when people knew their right place at home and society – he had a hierarchy of roles: from to the superior to the subordinate: ruler/ruled; husband/wife; parent/child; elder brother/younger brother; elder friend/younger friend. To this day, the teachings of Confucius are influential values for Chinese society and is a template for how people should care for each other.

So, filial piety (孝 xiào) is a virtue of respect for one's parents, elders, and ancestors. Filial piety carries with it more than honoring parents – it is a strict principle of hierarchy, obligation, and obedience to one’s elders. This concept of piety is expressed by two parts of this character – the first part of the character comes from the word, l?o 老, which means old and 子 zi, which means son. This character, 孝 xiào, can be interpreted as the old are cared for by the young, or the family lineage is carried on by sons – the future generation.

For Chinese students studying abroad, they must succeed in order to honor their parents and “pay back” the care that was bestowed on them. Because of the One Child Policy that began in the late 1970’s, children are under immense stress to succeed in their education, which will bring honor to their elders. But being an only child showered with singular attention and care has created a generation of young people who are enormously dependent on parents and grandparents for all of daily living.[6] This affects the young Chinese person’s adaptation alone in a different culture and having to figure out how to take care of themselves, how to plan their daily schedules without anyone telling them what to do, or figuring out the monetary system, how to do laundry, or how to cook.[7] What complicates this situation is that Chinese students are less likely to seek out help from those outside their in-group, which can create a host of psychological and emotional issues.

Chinese Educational Systems

Chinese students have a different educational experience than do U.S. American students. Because of how children learn the Chinese characters, they do most learning by memorization and rote. The educational system is set up whereby teachers lecture and students listen. This is based upon the Confucian style of wise sage and eager learner and is different than the Western model of the Socratic method whereby teachers ask questions and students are expected to critically analyze and respond as well as challenge authority. This can become a problem in two ways: first, students are usually quiet in class because for them it is culturally unacceptable to speak up – they would never want to interrupt the teacher; second, because they are used to showing their knowledge through rote, Chinese students are not familiar with the concept of plagiarism, as using someone else’s words or work demonstrates, in their culture, great respect for that person.

Achievement at all costs is also stressed and the benefits of a good education and hard work are deeply rooted in Chinese education. If students do not pass the college entrance exam (as previously explained) they have little chance of getting a good job and advancing in life – whether economically or socially “saving face” is important so a child studies not just for self-achievement and advancement, but to “bring face” and honor to their families. 

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension of Indulgence vs Restraint

As I’m now in my 8th month as a Fulbright Scholar to China, I think often about the many interesting aspects of teaching in China. Because Sichuan University is one of the top institutions in the entire country, students had to work extremely hard, studying 15 hours a day in order to pass the gāokǎo exam. As a result, I have had wonderful classes of bright students who are eager to learn and just as eager to please. Obtaining an education is extremely important in Chinese culture and it reflects on the society’s view of the long term.  One thing for sure – China is a Long-Term oriented culture (discussed in the previous blog) – a culture that is pragmatic by encouraging thrift and engaging in long years of study because education is a way to prepare for the future. But we can also understand another cultural dimension, Indulgence and Restraint, that will illuminate WHY students are will to delay gratification for future gain.

Here is what Professor Hofstede says about Indulgence and Restraint.

“One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small children are socialized. Without socialization we do not become “human”. This dimension is defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. Relatively weak control is called “Indulgence” and relatively strong control is called “Restraint”. Cultures can, therefore, be described as Indulgent or Restrained.

China is a Restrained society as can be seen in its low score of 24 in this dimension. Restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are Restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong.” [5]

Chances are that you have many Chinese students studying at your institutions or perhaps some new recruits working in your organization. China has come to US America and I hope that you can embrace these highly motivated and talented young people who have worked hard all of their life. These students in your classroom or at your workplace have gone through a long and competitive journey get to where they are today. Their parents and grandparents have sacrificed much to help them get there. These students and their families have taken a restrained perspective on delaying gratification until the goal can be achieved, and have paid attention to a long-term approach to help them achieve their dream for success – not only for themselves, but especially for their entire family. 

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This blog (Elizabeth Tuleja-LinkedIn) is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.

[1] https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/16/china-us-colleges-education-chinese-students-university/

[2] https://www.iie.org/Research-and-Insights/Open-Doors/Data/International-Students/Leading-Places-of-Origin/2015-16

[3] https://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-students-pouring-billions-us-local-economies/

[4] https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/16/china-us-colleges-education-chinese-students-university/

[5] https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/china/

[6] Xinran. (2015). Buy Me the Sky: The Remarkable Truth of China's One-child Generations. Rider Books.

[7] Wang, M. (2016). The impact of cultural values on Chinese students in American higher education. The Qualitative Report, 21(4), 611.