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The Real Story in Chinese Education: Risk-Taking Teachers

By Jessica Shyu — December 21, 2013 1 min read
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This week, I was invited to take part in Teaching Ahead’s Roundtable discussion to share what the U.S. can learn from other countries. The thing is, the story of what America can learn from China after Shanghai skyrocketed to No. 1 on the PISA exam has been told over and over by people way smarter than me.

Additionally, there is so much I don’t actually want other countries to learn from China - our intense testing system, the hyper-focus on rote memorization, corporal punishment, 60-student class sizes, the quotas for high school and college entry... These things are already starting to change in China, but what I decided to share about China is what I see as universally happening in pockets, but needs to happen way more, in every country: Incentivizing teacher innovation and encouraging teachers to take smart risks for their students greater, holistic learning.

Check out the rest of my reflections at “Teaching Ahead: A Roundtable” and be sure to leave a comment on the other posts!

Photo by Jessica Shyu

The opinions expressed in Lessons From China are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.