A Comparison of Education between China and the England Based on Are Our Kids Tough Enough?

張會潔

【Abstract】As the exchanges between countries become more and more frequently，intending to develop their own education，different countries begin to adopt education systems from each other。According to British experience of adopting Chinese ways of teaching，we are going to contrast Chinese education with the English one。

一、Introduction

In a documentary，Are Our Kids Tough Enough？，produced by BBC，five Chinese teachers bring Chinese system of education to 50 English students to see whether its suitable for them to learn in Chinese way。Even though we cannot distinguish whether the Chinese education system is compatible with English students or not，we can easily find that Chinese and English educations are quite different from each other in many aspects。

二、Comparison between Chinese and English Education

In this essay，the differences in education between China and England will be discussed in 4 aspects，the state of a whole country and national viewpoints on education，attitudes towards education of parents，of students and schoolsmanagements。

1.Social Environment。The basic states of two areas are different，which lead to differences of their viewpoints to education。China is a newly founded country，its economy is less developed and its welfare system is not perfect。However，people do not need to bother to worry about such matters in England，because the basic conditions in England is much better than that in China，especially the almost lavish welfare system。

2.ParentsAttitudes towards Education。The attitudes towards education of parents in the two areas are distinct。The basic state of the two areas will definitely influence attitudes of parents。That is to say，Chinese parents may highly value education，while English parents will not。And，because of cultural differences，Chinese parents tend to treat education of their next generation as the most important thing in their life。They will struggle hard to offer their kids best education as possible as they can。But English parents always choose to have their children do as they wish regardless of the common success of Chinese。

3.StudentsAttitudes towards Education。Students take different attitudes to education in China and England。Of course，their parentsattitudes towards education and their cultural backgrounds both have great impact on them。Of course，students in China value education very much，while students in England do not。Chinese students aspire to succeed，to learn more and become smarter than others in a competitive society。They will try their best to do everything they need and want to do，no matter how hard。And students deem orders and rules crucial。They will obey rules and listen to teachers out of respect。English students seem to have opposite points of view。They get absolutely different position from their culture。

4.Management of Schools。The managements of schools in these two states are quite different in school programmes and methods of teaching，which is the result of their different cultures and state conditions。

In China，apart from the academic and technical courses，social education and PE are compulsory at some given stages。In England，schools provide academic，technical subjects ad PE as Chinese schools。In fact，it is social education that makes the education between China and England far different。Social education aims at telling students Chinese common values，their duties and obligations。But students in England do not get any class like social education。And maybe this is the reason why English students are much more unruly but imaginative than Chinese students。

As to methods of teaching，China and England differ with each other sharply。Though schools in China will separate students into different classes of different abilities，which English will do in the same way，but they will not employ this kind of separation in every class that students take，such as math and PE。Because they want to provide students a comfortable and less competitive environment，even though this kind of environment cannot drive students to study hard。Chinese teachers prefer to deliver knowledge by writing on board，and the transmission is done in books，note takings and texts。

三、Conclusion

In general，China and England are quite different in education。Frankly speaking，the differences about education between the two areas are the result of their national conditions and cultural backgrounds。We cannot judge which one is better or worse，because both of them have their own significance and value of existence。However，they can learn from each other，select their essence and discard their dross，to make common progress。