The No. 13 Middle School of Guilin

(7/21/09)

Today in Guilin, with the help of our English speaking contact, Autumn, we were introduced to a middle school math teacher and dean, Zhao Gui Hai (who claims that his American name is "Ocean"). We met at the school for a tour and a discussion about math education, school schedules, teacher responsibilities, discipline and behavioral issues, and a lesson in Chinese morning exercise. We were also able to meet the Chinese teacher, Ying, who joined us in our conversation.

Zhao explained that their school, No. 13 Middle School, is a "model" school -- it is what other schools strive to be like in terms of their structure, buildings, and instruction. The school houses 900 students in grades "one" to "three." School begins each day at 7 am (with a negligible number of late students) and they have 8 45-min periods. After 3rd period, the students go to the courtyard to do the "morning exercises." They said that in their school days, the exercises were a kind of synchronized stretching, but these days they are more dance-like. We got a mini-lesson. We discussed how our students do not get much opportunity to exercise during the day and often come to school not having eaten breakfast. At their school, all students go home for lunch and a nap! When they return, they do "eye exercises" -- which seem like mini-meditation/massages you to with your thumb and forefinger to your temple/sinus/eyes -- we tried it, it was very relaxing. When the "eye exercises" have commenced, the students are instructed to look outside into the green area of the courtyard -- then they are alert and ready to learn!

We asked Zhao why he thought his students were good at math and he responded, "They're not!" Hmmm, we wonder what he would say about our students. Autumn, Ying and Zhao all think that the reason Chinese students are the way they are (which in America, we would call "good") is because of the pressure and expectations of everyone around them. The parents, the teachers, the administration and all of the students in the class expect their peers to perform at a certain level. If a high performance level is not achieved, the students are shamed by members of the educational community (which as we wrote above, seems to be everyone). We asked if any of the students had drug or alcohol problems and everyone responded "no." They were surprised to hear that the duties of the teachers in the States frequently were unrelated to the subject that they teach. It was a fascinating look into the school system here and we are excited about our next school visit in Xi'an!