A Lesson in Standards: Educational Ethics

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“Oh, oh.”

“What’s wrong?” Erin asks me seeing the concerned look on my face.

“Well, I just finished grading my exams and it’s a near failing average… I designed the exam at a grade nine level, so it couldn’t be any easier, and I already inflated my grades to meet Chinese standards… I’m going to call the course chair and see what he suggests.”

After having the course chair come to our house, we sat down and I explained the situation. After showing him the ridiculously simple exam and the extremely poor results, he looked at me annoyed.

“So, what’s the problem?” he asked in broken English. “Why did you waste my time by having me come here to discuss this?”

“Huh?” I asked confused.

Growing more annoyed he said, “I’m not sure what your problem is, just give them an 85% or higher and be more lenient in your marking”.

“Carl”, I say becoming frustrated, “it is a multiple choice and true and false exam… it is either right or wrong… how can I be more lenient?”

“I still don’t see what’s wrong; just give them all 85% or more; we all give them an average of 90%!…(MISSING) they paid a lot of money to attend this university; do you want to ruin their future?”

“Wait, are you saying that because I refuse to lower my standards of education you are going to blame me for their future? This class hardly speaks English and you want me to give them an 85-90%!i(MISSING)n an English class?”

“Okay, let me put it another way then… if you want to be invited to teach here again, I suggest you give them the marks I have suggested.”

It was at this point I firmly asked him to leave, though not before he told me to never again ask for his assistance. Welcome to the politics of education in China.

Rather than attacking China’s education, however, I should state that teaching here has been incredibly insightful, and not in a bad way. From my years of teaching in Canada, I already understand the politics involved in education and respect that schools are businesses like any other, though I never expected the universities of China to have such low standards of education. Being here reminds me that the focus of education is often on customer service, not product, and in this regard, many schools the world over have taken on a model that has a greater interest in profits over people.

Nonetheless, we are at one of the most prestigious university in Southern China, where it is well known to the Chinese teachers and students that “low standards and high grades” is the norm. Students are quick to admit that university in China is an easy ride, and as such, they have little interest in developing their knowledge and understanding of the world, little desire to be critical and creative thinkers and few aspirations to apply what they learn to better their selves and society as a whole. As the largest economy in the world, I cannot help wonder what this mentality suggests, and I cannot help but think: ‘Made in China’… it all makes sense.

I often wonder who we are trying to deceive by lowering expectations, something that is not restricted to China or education by any means. In a world so caught up in social, economic and political struggles, one would think that we would be fighting to stave off weakness in the hopes of finding some semblance of stability. Instead, we fuel the fire of mediocrity, tiptoe around sensitive issues in an effort to preserve low self-esteem and foolishly parade around in pursuit of a superficial façade in an attempt to create an illusion of success.

And all for what?

Today’s society promotes a breed of capitalism and consumerism that is not founded in creativity that drives ideas, but rather in submissiveness that discourages the insight that we need to grow. Our leaders are the corporate executives and economic strategists who have taken over as this generation’s evangelists; God bless materialism…

Amen!

Perhaps we are satisfied with the status quo and have no qualms about passively accepting market crashes, political futility and a culture with no creative or critical soul. Maybe we are okay with structuring a system that has low standards and poor values and rests on the instability of those who instill Machiavellian principles of ruling by intimidation. Perhaps it is easier to submit and act with sheep-like attitudes, willing to watch countries crumble with the slightest shift in the wind.

It is not easy to drive change and I will be the first to admit that I have no idea what I would do if I were King. What I do know is that I decide the standards by which I live by, and it is me who questions the actions, words, ideas and beliefs that I will abide by. It is my thoughts that I have to drift off to sleep with and wake up with the next day.

Hmm… Maybe it is easy to drive change so long as we remind ourselves that we have a choice!

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Comments

[Jeremyaroundtheworld]

sigh...
private uni for rich/lazy kids?

[Cheri]

Sad but unsurprising
I read your latest post with a mixture of sadness and resignation. It seems that no matter where you go, even when one would think certain standards would be expected to be met we are faced with the issue of accommodating mediocrity or accepting lower results. It's like schools here where parents come and complain to teachers that there child is failing and it's the teachers fault when the student hasn't done the work. The expectations are that the educators will bend to accommodate low performance. It's one of the reasons I stopped teaching at one of our local community colleges- the expectation that no matter how or what I teach, even those that are not putting in an effort or are not "getting the material", everyone passes. Sigh.

[taracloud]

Personal vs societal values
I so agree with you on all points--our mindless, capitalist, consumer society, ruled by an economic oligarchy, etc. However, your choice seems harder than that of most--will you stay in the compromised Chinese schools, hoping to make a change, or teach in another country? Your evaluation of the Chinese schools explains the problems we professors in the US have been experiencing with international Chinese students who perform poorly yet demand passing grades. While dealing with them is unpleasant, I have no trouble failing them until they master the material. Your situation sounds difficult--good luck!

[Where Did the Real Go]

Hi Tara... thanks for your thoughts; they are much appreciated! Erin and I have made a one year commitment here, so while we will do our best in our classrooms from day-to-day, we will not stay afterwards. Unfortunately there are situations that are much too big to take on alone, thus after this year we will continue our search for the real, as we like to call it :) No matter how you look at it, we are still genuinely happy to be here and experience the culture - the good and the bad - in ways many never have. It is only through these experiences that the bigger picture starts to make sense... like the challenges you face at your university! Where are you teaching, may I ask? All the best!

[AlfyJ]

I think to properly understand why Chinese are the way they are today you need to understand the turmoil that occurred since the Communist takeover. Chinese universities were suspended in the 60's and students were encouraged to beat, shame, and kill their teachers. Mao sent tens of millions of highschool aged children to the rural countryside to be educated by illiterate farmers. It wasn't until 1976 that university enrollment was brought back. In the late 50s and 60s, more than 30 million people starved to death during Mao's experimental "Greap Leap Forward", and the entire ruling class in China consists of the children of Mao's followers who were mainly illiterate farmers and social misfits. When others such as yourself enjoyed Transformers and New Kids On the Block, China was still using food stamps and rationed goods. Take that into account and no wonder they are the way they are; things have never been better! However, if you want to get a true sense of what Chinese culture is like, I suggest you spend some time in Taiwan, they still possess traditional Chinese values.

[Where Did the Real Go]

Hello and thank you for your thoughts! I do understand much of the past history, though I have a challenge when excusing the young present generation for the actions of the past... if anything, those persecuted (and I am not limiting this to China) should be stronger than those like me who lived a simple childhood (though I should note that I never watched "Transformers" or listened to "New Kids on the Block"). Our students know of the history, but they were not born during that time, and while yes it is a part of their culture, how does this excuse the mentality that low standards are okay? And interestingly, while the Chinese are well aware of Mao's history, they still celebrate him as a hero... not sure we would feel the same if German's today celebrated Hitler's actions during the War. I do agree that China has made great strides, though I still believe that no country should lower their expectations to such an extent that the role of teacher is redundant.

[Home and Away]

My son taught English in Thailand for 18 months...
and experienced the same problem. He was expected to pass students who hadn't shown up for one class during the semester. He failed them anyway, and left the country. As for the broader issue of poor education, I would agree that every country has its own distortions of grade inflation and politically correct curriculum. Have you found it better teaching at private language schools?

[Where Did the Real Go]

Hi Bob... nice to hear from you! Teaching at the private level has a different set of politics I think. Many believe that since students pay big money to attend, it automatically equates to getting English degrees with a 4.0 hard... Hell, I was never close to getting a 4.0 average in English and English IS my language. And of course while there are some really progressive, dedicated teachers, there are always those who prefer the easy ride, pressing play on a movie and counting down to the long holidays... but as we know, that is not limited to any place! :) Cheers!

[taracloud]

Fabulous Santa Barbara City College
Answering your question, Sean, I taught ESL part-time for twenty years at Santa Barbara City College and loved it. My preference was to teach in the evening when I had mostly Latino immigrants who were hard-working and appreciative, knowing their lives would be improved with English. When I taught in the day, I got the international students who, too often were there to party and surf, or were like the Chinese, expecting to pass classes simply because they or their parents had paid a lot. Happily, my colleagues and I were encouraged to be creative in the classroom, had generally wonderful students and could fail them when necessary. I left because I got a bad schedule--8am and 8pm classes. I thought I'd travel for a few years and return to work. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in higher education in California, there have been no new adjuncts hired since I left four years ago. If things loosen up, it's a fabulous job.

[Dancing Dave]

Cheating is OK too
A service to Chinese overseas students at Australian universities was recently exposed in the newspaper. For a fee someone would write your uni assignments, pass guaranteed, level of pass depending on the level of fee you paid. The universities who benefit big time by these full fee paying students have remained somewhat silent on the expose. Isn't life grand? Great blog by the way. Gave my 12 hour wait at Miami Airport a nice lift seeing your name on my Control Panel and checking out your work. Looking forward to reading more!