Shall we start from the culture shock we usually meet when we move from our home country and familiar surroundings, to live in a totally different country. Many things bring on culture shock-different food, attitude of people, customs etc. But culture shock is really only bad when it leads to permanent homesickness. There’s another kind of shock many Chinese students suffer when they come to study in Britain (and I’m sure it is the same in the States, Australia etc). It is more serious and potentially damaging to a student’s ability to study – which is much more like a learning shock. This is because of the different approaches in teaching and learning.
Chinese students are recognized for their talent and achievements as well as their academic standards and hard-working attitudes. Modesty is a special characteristic for Chinese students because it has been considered to be essential virtue for long. Most of them will not ask questions because they do not want to bring attention to themselves, while British students are encouraged to ask questions and take a more hands-on or participatory approach to learning. In line with Chinese tradition, the students are always obedient to teachers and that can explain why students always sit quietly and take notes all the time. Among the procedures of learning, basically memory retrieval is the dominant strategy. Students listen to the teachers, gather information, write the notes down, learn them by heart, afterwards they will be tested by repeating it in a formal quiz, test or examination, whereas British students don’t like to memorize what they’ve learned.
Chinese students are used to having their pattern of study and learning organized for them. They often count on the teachers to give them assignments. If they are not given homework they will feel unsafe especially before the exams. They think the best way to revise is to do a lot of exercises related to what they’ve learned. Also they prefer to do it individually. But the British students will often feel extremely happy if they haven’t got any homework. And they are sometimes given some assignments where they are required to work together either in groups or in pairs.
In China the teachers mainly emphasize practice. The more the students practice, the better they will do on the tests. For example, when the student got one kind of problem wrong on homework or a test, the teacher would ask the student to redo the problem and also practice some other similar problems. The principle behind this is to have the students maintain a strong foundation of the basic materials for themselves, so that when struggling with a more difficult level, they will be able to use the foundation they have to solve those problems. Practice, thus, becomes one of the main points in teaching. From a student’s point of view, more practice with different kinds of problems, will allow him or her to be more comfortable with such types when seen on a standardized test. In addition, with a strong and solid foundation of the basic materials, problems will not be problems any longer.
The Western education emphasizes independent studies and interactions among students. Teachers usually give the students some topics which require a great deal of research and independent studies. They want the students to introduce other ideas and arguments that have come out from their own personal research. Teachers intensify and expect the arguments. Here - the role of the teacher is to impart basic knowledge and then direct the students in their own search for knowledge - and if that means discussing and debating with the teacher, that is no problem - in fact it is to be encouraged. Many projects and team works are assigned throughout a school year. In this way, not only will the students be able to acknowledge the material for the subjects, they would also be able to develop their leadership and team work abilities.
One can confidently say that education is one of the most important aspects governing the people’s lives within a nation today. From the East to the West, different societies have different cultures. These cultures not only pertain to every day life, but also determine the kind of education system the society has. Although systems of schools, methods and styles of teaching vary greatly between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, one common goal is prevalent and that is to give students a better education than ever.