Cloudy in Beijing Blogging about my time in China

Dead Poet’s Society

After living through this excessively long winter break, I will start my job as a teacher again. I think back to all things I encountered last semester; the good and the bad, and also the extremely disappointing.

The good: There were so many good things, many of which often revolved around the kindness of my students. One of the best was on Christmas Day. A group of about a dozen students had dinner with me and they all give me gifts, which I hadn't expected. Among a few of the presents, I now I have a stuffed-animal tiger that's also a picture frame, along with an egg-shaped flute I have no idea how to play.

The bad: There was quite of bit that too, all centered on the feeling that I was fighting this impossible battle in trying to teach my students. The infrequent class times, the bored and blank faces of my students, the absent signs of improvement. The way some students don't ever seem to take notes, or bring a pen and paper to class. The way some students don't do homework or don't come to class. Sigh...

The crappy: Cheating. This was the most disappointing. On a few occasions, a few students wanted to cheat on a final test. But the worst part, was that they wanted me to help them cheat. Apparently, a few teachers at the school have even been complicit in this. My expectations of my students dropped to the ground after that; truly Chinese education is rampant with its problems. (I've been meaning to write more this, but I've been strapped for time.)

A small part of me cringes thinking of what might happen this semester. So recently I watched the movie The Dead Poet's Society, hoping to get some inspiration. The story is basically about a teacher, played be Robin Williams, who inspires his students to make their lives extraordinary and "seize the day."

After watching the movie I then thought about my own situation. A few days ago my school told me what I was going to teach. They gave me no textbook like they did last semester, but instead gave me packets of tests. Basically I was instructed to teach my students how to prepare for the CET-4, a standardized English test they have in China that all college students must pass.

Sigh. Teaching to the test. Great.

There's a scene in The Dead Poet's Society, where Robin Williams is talking to the school principal about teaching his students to become "free thinkers." The principal shakes his head and says just prepare them for college and then leaves.

I thought about that as I looked at all the packets of tests I was given. The Dead Poet's Society is just a movie, and maybe even a bit phony and corny at times. But I thought, I want to be a teacher who makes sure my students know how to use the language, and not just know how to pass some test. Though my students can read and write fine, so many of them have trouble speaking and stringing sentences together. Language is meant to be used, that's why we learn it.

But things are different here. My students are required to take English, so it often feels like most of them could care less. One would think laboring all night to try and make class more interesting and effective, would come with some results. But no, not really. That's crappy thing about the job: a teacher can only do so much, the rest is up to the students.

I've been thinking though, if I had a choice over whether to teach my students how to use the English language or making sure that they could pass the CET-4 standardized test, I'd pick the latter. Passing the CET-4 will allow them to graduate college, and if they pass the CET-6, a harder test, well, they can maybe get a good job.

Oh well, either way I'll be helping my students. But it's kind of sad.

Recently I spoke with one my students. Her English is very good, and I sometimes worry she's not learning anything in my class. A few months ago she took the CET-6 test. I encouraged her, and told her she'd do fine. But a few days ago I asked her if she had passed it. And unfortunately, she said no.

It sucks. A student who knows how to use English probably better than any of my other students and she can't pass this test. She can tell you what products in a store are a "rip-off", what certain trends in America have been pretty "hot" as of late, and how a certain character in Pride and Prejudice is a slut, but still according to a test, it doesn't much matter.

Upon learning of her test result, I felt guilty that I hadn't prepared her enough for the CET-6. But I hope this semester I can help her prepare for it even better. Yea, I wish being idealistic actually worked more.