Day 7 'the Chinese way'

Today was an important start to the school year. I set my alarm early to be
able to get ready for work without feeling rushed.  Cuban coffee and some
variety of dragon fruit, which was delicious by the way, was the perfect start :)

The morning began with all 120 faculty and administrators from the
International Department of Beijing National Day School meeting on
the front steps for a group picture.  The International Program has
expanded greatly since its inception.  They now have nearly 600 students
out of 4000 total enrolled in grades 10-12. There are about 200 students enrolled
in three different international programs.  The international programs specifically
are preparing students to attend universities abroad.  The three international
diploma programs are IB (International Baccalaureate, see www.ibo.org/diploma),
AP (Advance Placement which is operated by the College Board) and A-level
(which is under the UK system, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-level).  I am teaching
AP Psychology, which is essentially the same as my PSYC 101 course at
the college level.  I only have some minor tweaking to do on my lecture notes :)

At the opening of our large group meeting,
we were treated to a concert by a 10th grade
student playing a traditional Chinese stringed
instrument known as a pipa.  It is a four stringed
lute, but is finger picked similar to a banjo. 

The pipa had a really interesting tone to it.  I

really enjoyed listening to her.  I'm afraid the

video clip doesn't do her performance justice.

You Tube the pipa if you want to hear more :)

The morning group meeting consisted of introductions, a history of BNDS, an introduction to Chinese laws, what life is like in China, refreshments (what's a meeting without SNACKS?!) and getting acquainted activities. We had another two hour lunch break (gotta get your Chinese siesta in!) before our afternoon grade level meetings with the Deans of our particular grade level.  I found out that I will be teaching juniors, which is different for me.  In the US, my Intro to Psychology high school students were high ability seniors who were released from their high schools for part of the day to attend college classes on our campus.  It doesn't really matter the grade level, all the students at BNDS are high ability students.  There are tens of thousands of applicants each year, trying to get in to this school.  It is considered one of the very best in all of Beijing- aimed at preparing well rounded students who are 'prepared for a global economy'.

At our grade 11  level meeting we mostly discussed attendance issues (which are a bit of a problem, believe it or not) plagiarism, and discipline (which is seldom a problem).  I found it curious that attendance is such an issue for high achieving kids.  Here in China it is all about your exam scores.  Great emphasis is placed upon your exam scores- that is what is most important- the numbers on your college entrance exams or your end of the year assessment exams. What happens in between? Not nearly so important.  With that said, it is very unusual that students receive less than an A in their courses- it's not a fluke, they are just that good.  They apparently know how to 'work the system' to perform well on the important projects, papers and exams.  Given that there is a VERY LAX attendance policy, it will be interesting how many bodies actually show up to warm a seat!  There is a definite learning curve to Western ideals and expectations in education vs. 'the Chinese way'.

Funny story about 'the Chinese way'... we hear this phrase often, in reference to a variety of topics and issues.  When I was first brought to my apartment, it was night time.  We rode the elevator up to my ninth floor apartment, and when the elevator doors opened, we stepped into a darkened hallway.  We fumbled around for several minutes trying to fit the key in my apartment door.  When he finally got the key in and turned the lock, like magic, bright hallway lights flipped on.  I commented about the fact that it would have been nice to have a light on to see to put the key in the door, to which my Chinese counterpart responded,
"It's the Chinese way."  Which to me means, 'that don't make much sense at all'- which can only be said with your best hill jack accent :)  With that said...  G'nite, y'all!