High School in China


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Asia » China » Guangdong » Shenzhen
March 24th 2010
Published: March 29th 2010
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After teaching about high school in the USA I have learned many new things about high school in China. I made a power point about many different topics and asked the students what they wanted to know about.

Here is a quick list of the topics discussed: daily schedule, school holidays, subjects, sports, part time work, driving, dating, dances, social life, exams, grades, uniforms, and HAIRSTYLES. YES hairstyles threw me off but I learned something new.

I have learned and knew some of this already but both school systems aren't perfect by any means but yet interesting in what a society thinks is good for their youth.

China



All high school students live on campus 7-8 students in a dorm room. They arrive on Sunday before 7pm and leave on Friday at 4:30pm. There are only 3 years of high school equivalent to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors in the USA. Each classroom with 48-59 students stays in the room all day except for PE and if they have lab for Chemistry. High School is optional in China.

Daily Schedule
6am bell rings time to wake up
8:15-8:55 1st period
9:05-9:45 2nd period
Morning exercise-Tai Chi
10:10-10:50 3rd period
11:05-11:45 4th period

Lunch and nap time(2 hrs and 15 mins)

2-2:40 5th period
2:50-3:30 6th period
3:45-4:25 7th period
4:35-5:15 8th period

activities, showers and dinner(1 hr and 45 mins) Hot Water is solar so HOT water only available at this time

7-10pm Self Study/Study Hall in the classroom monitored by teachers
11pm lights out

School Holidays
National Day -October 1st
Mid Autumn Festival- Sept or Oct depends on Lunar Calendar
New Year's Day - Jan 1st
Spring Festival/Chinese New Year - 3 weeks in Jan/Feb depends on Lunar Calendar
Tomb Sweeping Day- April depends on Lunar Calendar
Labor Day-May 1st
Dragon Boat Festival- June depends on Lunar Calendar
Gao Kao Exam-June all Senior 1 & 2 students have no school
Foreign Teachers get many more days off than our students since we aren't as "necessary"

Subjects
Chinese High School students have NO choice as to what classes they take their 1st year in school. Senior 2=Junior they decide whether they want to take Art or Science as their focus, then their classes have some variations. 3-4 hrs of homework every night was the consensus in my classrooms.

English is mandatory at ALL levels of school!!! No other foreign languages are offered.
My students have the following subjects:
Math, Chinese, English by Chinese teacher 5 times per week
Chemistry and Physics 3 times per week
Biology, PE, Geography, History, Politics 2 times per week
Oral English, Computers, Create Models, Music or Art Once a week .


***All information is based on Senior 1 students at Long Cheng High School in Shenzhen.

Sports
There are very FEW sport teams at our school as their studies are much more important. The boys can either be on the basketball or soccer team. Girls no sports. Just clubs they can participate in. The students say they never play other schools for games. HMMM......

Part Time Work NO students have jobs in China. One Child Policy probably aids this belief. Every parent needs their child to be the smartest and most successful in order to support their parents financially later in life. (my belief)

Driving must be 18 years old to get your license in China and it is still considered a luxury only the well off can get a license since it is expensive and you must take 5 tests. Many teachers at our school don't even have a license.

Dating NOT ALLOWED until University--No Questions asked. My students couldn't even given a reason as to why, besides we need to study.....

Dances NO such thing in China in schools. Again my students couldn't come up with a reason why. I think since they can't Date, duh they need to study.

Social Life When I asked all my students what they do on the weekends these were their responses: SLEEP, Homework, play video games, play basketball for the boys and shopping for the girls.

Grades It is called Marks in China, must be British English. No letters are given just 0-100, but for Chinese, English and Math the scale is 0-150. All students are ranked and it is posted in the school, no privacy acts in China.

Hairstyles
Boys hair must be less than 2 inches long and black
Girls hair must be straight and black and NO MAKEUP

Uniforms ALL students in China wear uniforms, no exceptions. Our whole city of 14-16 million people have the same school uniform.

A few other things I found interesting there is no Graduation Ceremony only at the university level. Students take a Do or Die test in June of their Senior 3 year=Senior called the Gao Kao, literal translation means Tall Test. This year ALL Senior 3 students in our province take the test on June 7th & 8th. All the Senior 3 teachers have to sit in the cafeteria while the test is proctored by Senior 1 & 2 teachers. This is to prevent any cheating. Another 2 days that Pete and I will have off work.

Gao Kao

Only 1 chance to take this test. If you get a low score no college for you. Talk about a little pressure!!!


Compare this to your high school experience, makes you think twice.







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29th March 2010

We really enjoyed your China post. Our blog is looking for some good travel photos. If you have the time, check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun and learning on your travels, Eric and Heather
29th March 2010

HS in China
Not much entertaining in china in the school system! I find that hard to believe that the seniors only get one chance for that "tall test" !!! Our students would think their system is way too intense!!!!
31st March 2010

So that's why!
Some of the high school students that attend my SAT/TOEFL/IELTS classes have grey hair. No lie!

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