The Characteristics and Advantages of Australian Education and Reflections on China's Education

史佩靈 桂元梅

摘要：With the development of economic globalization， China is also facing enormous opportunities and challenges. This paper aims to analyze the successful experience of Australian education and compare it with Chinese education to propose some policy recommendations for China's education development.

關鍵詞：China;Australia;education experience

i.Distinct Characteristics and Advantages in Australian Education System

First， Australia's primary and secondary education is personalized education. Primary and secondary schooling in Australia is individualized and characteristic. The school will make his or her study plan according to the characteristics of each student. A proficient student， the school will arrange for him to take college courses， so that he can get college credit. For students with relatively difficult learning difficulties， the school also makes plans for teachers to make up for their lack of learning. In a word， school education is uniform， so that students can optimize their abilities.

In addition， students are encouraged to pursue vocational education in Australia. Students are not obliged to apply to college immediately after they get their Australian high school diploma. They can also choose to attend vocational schooling first. The industry-led Australian vocational education and training system have become a benchmark and model for the world to follow. The Australian Vocational Education and training system focus on responding to the needs of industrial development， providing high-quality training to ensure that what is used is learned. These advantages have been highly recognized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development， UNESCO and the International Labour Organization.

Third， a big feature of the Australian education system is that it encourages and attaches great importance to specialized education， and encourages students to carry out professional education in the system design. Compared with British and American professional education schools， there are many specialized education schools in Australia with a long history. Therefore， for students who fail to reach undergraduate level， they can also choose a relatively eclectic approach-to attend vocational training schools.

It is understood that Australia's vocational colleges and universities have close ties to provide opportunities for students. More and more vocational education graduates are recognized by their academic qualifications through the agreement between the university and the university， and they are exempted from the credit or special subjects in the relevant university degree course. The aim of Australian education is to develop people with independent skills in the 21st century， including the ability to communicate with others， the ability to solve problems independently， the ability of teamwork， critical thinking and so on， so that students can face the society independently in the future.

Ii.Educational Defects and Countermeasures in China Compared with Australia

Compared with Australia， for a long time， there is a lack of understanding of the nature of education and the misunderstanding of the concept of talent， quality in China. Additionally， the distribution of educational resources is not balanced as well.（Urban education resources are significantly better than rural areas， and the educational resources in the eastern and coastal areas are significantly better than those in the western and remote areas.）Besides， the system needed for Chinese education is not perfect enough. In response to these shortcomings， accordingly， some suggestions are given as following.

Firstly， to improve the quality of education. We can optimize the structure of teachers， strengthen academic communication， and combine foreign excellent educational ideas with the reality of our country to create an educational framework with Chinese characteristics.

Secondly， to promote educational equity， we must address the issue of education for children in rural and poor families. The government must ensure that children from poor families can receive compulsory education and provide them with opportunities for further study; basic education resources should be tilted to rural areas， tilt to remote areas， poverty-stricken areas， and ethnic areas; further improve the funding system and find ways to solve practical difficulties faced by poor families in school.

Last but not least， it is urgent improve China's education system and reform classroom teaching patterns to enhance the practicality of education and students' self-creation ability as much as possible.

Although there are some problems in Education in China， we cannot deny that it provides many talents for the development of our country. We should learn from the excellent teaching methods of foreign countries and think about how to apply them to Chinese education. As more and more people pay attention to and reflect on China's education， the future of Chinese education must be bright.