Students in Beijing with a cardboard President
A new trend for U.S. universities these days is recruiting mainland Chinese students to attend undergraduate and graduate programs. It’s not just an opportunity for American universities to show off their cultural diversity IQs either. There’s big money being made in China now and middle / upper class families are falling over themselves to give their children the absolute best educations. (Chinese families save vigorously for many years for two things: educations for their children, and to care for their parents during retirement). Naturally, U.S. universities have carved out plenty of space to help satisfy this growing demand, sometimes though to their own detriment. Don’t think for a minute universities are beyond overlooking a few entrance requirements to bring in the big spenders. It’s nothing as blatant as accepting Chinese students who score very poorly on the test scores, but more of knowingly accommodating Chinese students who have always learned by rote memory, and in some cases find it impossible to make decisions for themselves (you see problems in the China workplace stemming from rote-learning mentality– needing managers to tell them exactly what to do).
Chinese students do fine when it comes to accounting, finance, or anything which requires them to memorize and apply formulas, but ask them to discuss why Taiwan is considered China or to discuss the ethics of Communist Government leadership. If you were in China teaching business like I was, you’ll barely get the word Taiwan out of your mouth before they all stand up and yell in unison: TAIWAN IS CHINA. Chinese students are extremely hard workers and prove to be intellectually qualified to crack any code, but there must be a precedent or formula to apply. All their lives they’ve been taught precisely to the test (the big Gao Cao test determining their fate after high school demands it), so when they come to American universities and are expected to discuss a problem and arrive at a unique conclusion, a severe paralysis sets in.
The first signs of how a lifetime of rote memory affects Chinese students in an open American university environment is during lecture. Many of them simply cannot understand English. This is because they have studied all the right words to pass the language tests, but really haven’t had much practice with free form conversation. They have no sense of how to improvise or shoot from the hip, and may TAKE on an android-like quality when articulating beyond customary greetings. But you try learning Mandarin Chinese and you’ll see why rote-memory techniques are necessary. Their memory skills are absolutely amazing. I’ve witnessed Chinese students regurgitate five single spaced pages of business term paper content in front of an audience, without knowing what 10% of it meant.
Universities who are frantically recruiting Chinese students make accommodations like offering three or four week American language and culture classes to compensate primarily for language deficiencies, but there really hasn’t been a mainstream initiative to teach creativity to the Chinese, probably because that would put schools in the very awkward situation of implying that Chinese aren’t creative people. That’s not true. Look at the inventions the Chinese have given us in this Creativity for Chinese Businessmen article. The issue is that to be successful, modern Chinese have been forced to hew to social standards and authoritative government mandates that put more emphasis on rote-learning methods than creative free thinking patterns.
American universities who want their Chinese students to be successful should offer creative thinking classes that reflect the student’s area of professional interest (and yes, Chinese students go into universities knowing exactly what degree they are after, so support their path by giving them academic tract-relevant creativity courses). Creativity course titles might be: Product Innovation, Creative Writing, Analyzing History w/ Logic, Emotion & Intuition, Law & Freedom, Ethics of Deception etc.
Ironically, teaching creativity isn’t as unstructured as it might seem. Cultural and personal learning style differences must be assessed and the course should teach in terms of creative tools, not processes–lest you want students to believe creativity can be memorized, like a math equation. Workshops using meditation, open debate, mind mapping, brain storming, etc. make for a great start, but best to take it slow and be sensitive to decades of rote-learning conditioning. And be careful not to take it too far, no one should come away learning Enron-style creative accounting or finance.
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Jonathan Poston has taught business courses at universities around the world (USA, China, Ecuador, Belize) on a variety of topics, including creativity. He currently serves as the editor-in-chief at Learn Chinese Business Blog and works full-time as an internet commerce marketing specialist at FastPivot.com. Contact him at JonathanPoston@gmail.com.
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Very interesting article; and while I concur with much of the content, I have a different perspective and experience; also having taught in China. What I find very encouraging in research is that there are many perspectives on the same topics. This article demonstrates one perspective.
My experience argues that Chinese students are learning “Creative Thinking” and “Critical Thinking.” And this is also supported by some American Colleges. Further, it has been my experience that Creative and Critical Thinking, beyond memorization, should be taught by the professors. That is, no one is telling a professor not to teach Creative or Critical Thinking; and focus solely on memorization approaches.
What I have learned is that many professors who teach Chinese students, for the first time, do not have the academic background, or experience, of Chinese culture, philosophy, history, and literature, prior to teaching their Chinese students. The professors of Chinese students I have met have learned the Chinese culture as they were teaching Chinese students.
I argue that before a professor teaches Chinese students, in the US or in China, they must have an in-depth understanding of the Chinese culture, philosophy, history, and literature, in order to be more effective teaching Chinese students; and in developing a program that includes Critical Thinking.
Chinese students will open up after the professor has gained trust. Additionally, Chinese students will generally not participate, as US students, in class. The reason for this lies in their culture (Mianzi). That is, Chinese students do not want to lose face in front of their classmates and professors. Understanding the Chinese culture can help the professor develop more effective teaching approaches, that include critical thinking and creative thinking.
I have been a senior executive for MNCs in the electronic, mechanical, chemical and environmental industries, leading in many different countries (including China) for over 30 years. And I have experience teaching traditional and online students in the US, Vietnam and China. Moreover, my scholarly journal publications are in Chinese business disciplines. And I am a peer-reviewer of scholarly journals for many different international journals, including Chinese.
Dr. Jose Anibal Torres
Dr. Torres: Thank you for sharing your views. It’s always encouraging when other professionals validate an opinion piece like this.
Some questions:
You write: “My experience argues that Chinese students are learning “Creative Thinking” and “Critical Thinking.” And this is also supported by some American Colleges.”
Are you saying here that American Colleges are teaching creativity? I am aware of some teaching isolated courses, but not yet as a cohesive program to get Chinese up to the level at which they need to be.
You also state: “Further, it has been my experience that Creative and Critical Thinking, beyond memorization, should be taught by the professors. That is, no one is telling a professor not to teach Creative or Critical Thinking; and focus solely on memorization approaches.”
I agree, and this seems to support the thrust of the article. Yes, we need to be teaching it.
You go on to write that “many” (Western?) professors aren’t really prepared to teach Chinese students properly. You’re right, they should be prepared to teach their subject, with their audience in mind. But let’s say they understand all these cultural differences, that you mention here: “And just because Chinese students will open up after the professor has gained trust. Additionally, Chinese students will generally not participate, as US students, in class. The reason for this lies in their culture (Mianzi). That is, Chinese students do not want to lose face in front of their classmates and professors. Understanding the Chinese culture can help the professor develop more effective teaching approaches, that include critical thinking and creative thinking.”
I agree there needs to be trust, but if you are reduced to teaching critical thinking skills during office hours one-on-one so no one loses face, how can Chinese students ever apply what they know in a social team-oriented environment, and how would the prof. ever have time for everyone? A
I would argue that the issue isn’t that Western profs. are coming in with a lack of knowledge about the culture (in fact, the more they conform to it, the less creative their students will be!), but that there simply isn’t enough emphasis on teaching creativity. Teaching it in smaller groups would be a good start, especially when we look at how large traditional lecture-based Chinese classrooms don’t accommodate the interaction necessary to develop requisite development and independence to foster higher creative thinking.
So in essence, it is perhaps better if the prof. isn’t overly educating themselves on and conforming to Chinese cultural norms, but that they introduce a plan (designed of course with the specific audience in mind–without overly appeasing/enabling) to teach the subject effectively, without ceasing until it is absorbed (which again requires more than a few weeks). Compare the approach to ESL instruction (which doesn’t stipulate teachers demonstrate an expertise in their students’ language or culture.)
Interesting topic. I agree with Dr. Jose A Torres on his view of “different perspectives”. I’ve taught western college students and managers and I think I understand the “creativity” issue of Chinese students presented in the article. However, to better solve this problem, just giving more lectures on creativity is not enough. I would say, creativity is not “taught”, it’s “cultivated”.
The reason of Chinese students’ performing “lack of creativity” is not only because of the teachers and class format. Actually, culture, values, society and educational system play important roles in it, and they are the root of the problem. So the “treatment” of “teaching Chinese students to be creative” is like a Chinese idiom “tóu téng yī tóu，jiǎo téng yī jiǎo”—literally means physicians treat the head when the head aches and treat the foot when foot aches–Typical western thinking, but Chinese way is to treat the illness with an integrative view.
Creativity is a hot topic in Chinese schools, but as the “root” or the “soil” didn’t change, there’s not many fruits of “creativity”.
But, as a teacher, I would say, every student has great potential and it’s really a challenge for teachers to inspire them–especially when they are chinese students
Yes, I agree: it should be cultivated…”teaching” it is not best done in lecture format, but in small groups with an interactive / experiential element. The ideal “class” is in fact a series, not a single workshop, few weeks or semester, otherwise the teacher can never get beyond banging away at the “top soil.”
Dear Professor Poston,
Your ideas and thoughts are excellent. I agree that a lot of Chinese students lack of creativity and innovation, mostly because that they are under greater study pressure than Their American counterparts. Unlike students in USA or other European countries, students in China have lesser access to many resources, including education resources.
When you talk about the “Gao kao”, or college entrance examination, I admit there are a lot of problems on the system. However, “Gao kao” is a comparatively fair platform or opportunity for students to be accepted to universities because of the so huge population.
Moreover, the traditional morality of humbleness, thriftiness and diligence are all good aspects of Chinese students.
Thanks!
Binbin
Thanks for commenting, Binbin. I agree with most of what you’re saying, and by no means am I implying in that article that the Chinese educational system doesn’t have its strengths; only adding how integrating creativity courses would benefit students. However I do have one question–when you wrote: “Chinese students lack of creativity and innovation, mostly because that they are under greater study pressure than Their American counterparts,” did you mean more pressure to learn to the test? Pressure doesn’t always disincentivize creative learning, and in many cases, it’s just what some students need as a catalyst to innovate.
You mentioned “mianzi” above. I agree that “mianzi” is students’ hinder from creativity and innovation, but also, Chinese teachers and profs are more afraid of losing their faces in front of the whole class. Most of them, especially high school teachers, will feel embarassed or humiliated if they could not answer the students’ questions. In US, students who are active in the class will get full scores of attendance. However, in China, students who ask too many “weird” questions will be dragged to the “bad student list”. What is more, some profs will joke on the student or satirize them to save their own faces. Please think about this question “Why Chinese students think they will lose face if they participate in the class?”
If you still have opportunities to teach Chinese students, please encourge them to say out their “weird” questions and ideas. Please redefine the “good student” to them. I can say most of them have creativity.
I love my country, but I have to say I hate its education system and feel desperate for it.
Hello.ALL. I am Jack from China. I dont think USA university can teach Chinese be creativity .only by themselves