Firstly, I think it is relevant to ask why so many Asian companies will look for western educated staff for senior positions, same with why soo many Chinese/asians come/send their children to the U.S/U.K/west for study(again, even the chinese president only daughter studies in the U.S not their home country.lol). As an anecdote/example, I was friendly with a Dutch born project manager for a large multinational industrial firm few years ago, and he was assigned to Singapore for several years. His comment about Asian trained engineers, was that they were technically competent, but if something unexpected occurred, they struggled to think laterally and would come to him for a solution, which they could implement most competently.Again this is just an example/point im trying to make, it doesnt measn all asians dont have critical thinking/cant act spontaneously, im just pointing out that the system doesnt encourage this, unlike western education system which even promotes this.
I think this is a reflection of the differing education systems. Asian education systems (not just Chinese) favor rote learning. Long hours remembering facts that can be regurgitated up at some exam, and then promptly forgotten. This is already well documented many articles i have red/witnessed myself when i visited China/several asian countries.(i also did student exchange programs in China and South Korea)
What is different about western education, and for me, specifically U.K education?
My son does't study until midnight, he doesn't go to school on the weekends. He sometimes struggles with maths, so I pay for a tutor for 1 extra hour per week to give him one on one tuition so reinforce what he has learnt in the classroom.Despite some critics, the U.K system no longer concentrates on remembering facts(like the articles pointed out), for most students, remembering who was king of England in 1066 will have no relevance for future life.
So, what it teaches instead, is how to FIND information and how to apply it. So, a large part of my son's homework is now checking different sources, and correctly showing their references. The final result may look a little thin by comparison, but I think he learns more. It is a far more important life skill in the always-on environment that he is inheriting.
Finally, while i must confess its a gross simplification/generalization, the Asian style of rote learning prepares students for a life being told what to do, and carrying out their duties and most of the time, they indeed do it perfectly than any western students. , while the western education system prepares the designers and managers of tomorrows world. Surely it is no accident that much of what we hold buy today was conceived by the products of liberal education systems, and built by the products of the Asian education system. In China/Asian countries, the schools give the students a lot of heavy homeworks and dictations etc. We call this ' stuff the duck' education. I would ask chinese mebers on here, if this kind of education is so good, why do the parents in China and other Asian countrieds work hard and save every penny spending a fortune sending their children to International Schools in U.K(there are lots of them in london and other parts of britain) and U.S/west??? Why so many secondary school students wish going abroad for Uni education???
Its also the same with some Chinese students who just came here in U.K to study, when you ask them a question in english(which they didnt go through/learn back home of course), they dont even know what you are talking about, but in their certificate it shows they passed the english test in China with an 'A'(of course through chalk and talk)..
So this makes people think hard, really hard...how come?......