Comparison between British Education System and Chinese Education System-中英教育体制对比研究.doc

Comparison between British Education System and Chinese Education SystemCollage of Foreign LanguagesAbstract：As is known to us all, education is now playing an more and more important role in modern society. To China, a developing country, education is playing more important role in the progress of China. But China has a long way to go. So this paper will give a show of the education system of China and Britain. And well get more from this paper. First, different nations have different kinds of education systems. No matter in British or in China, education system has many differences. Secondly, between developed countries and developing countries, the former one is much better. Such as the education system in China and Britain, the Britain has a much more advantage and much better system. Third, there are a lot of differences between the two countries education, and they also have much in common. From the differences and the similarities, we can get more to improve our own nations education system. In a word, we get the longs and throw the shorts by the compared of these two nations.Key words：China, Britain, Education, Difference, Similarity, 1. IntroductionGenerally speaking, both China and Britain have primary school, middle school, university and the adult school. But as we can see, they still have many differences. Education is the root of a nation, a key for a nation to keep with the world. Therefore, education is always paid great attention by all the countries in the world. And different countries have different kinds of system of education such as British education and Chinese education. Exactly speaking, British education system has two systems of primary and secondary of education in Britain-the state school and “public school”. The former is in the majority; the latter are few in number but of great influence. There is a complete system of state primary and secondary education-primary up to the age of eleven, and secondary from eleven to sixteen or eighteen. All children in the U.K receive a fulltime education from the age of five to sixteen. Any child may attend, without paying fees, a school provided by public authorities. The great majorities attend such schools. They may continue, still without paying fees, until they are eighteen. Education at this stage is compulsory. And there are quite a number of educational institutions for all the school ages that are supported entirely by fees and private funds. These are the independent or public schools. Chinese education system is considered traditional. It is made up of several parts-basic education, primary school education, higher education and adult education. Basic education in China includes pre-school education, primary education and regular secondary education. Preschool or kindergarten can last up to three years, with children entering as early as three years old until six, when they typically enter elementary school. Secondary education is divided into academic secondary education, specialized vocational, vocational, and technical secondary education. Higher education at the undergraduate level includes two-year and three-year junior colleges. Chinese higher education at the undergraduate level is divided into three-year and four-year programs. The adult education category overlaps all three of the above categories. 2. Similarities & Differences2.1. On Primary EducationPrimary education plays a very important part in every countrys education system. For the British education, the system of the state primary education is from the age five to eleven, while the system of private schools at elementary level is perhaps from three to thirteen including preschool education. Actually there are several different systems in operation.In the state primary schools, there are two sectionsan infant section, from five to seven and a junior section, from seven to eleven. Before their elementary schooling some children have an opportunity to attend one of the new kindergartens from age of three to five, officially called “Nursery Schools”. But most small children stay at home with their mothers. After two years in the infants school the child enters a “junior school”.Before a child begins his education in a preschool at the age of seven or eight, his parents may send him to a small school, which is run by an individual person or a company. They charge fees. Children there wear uniform, which probably make them feel different and indeed superior to the crowds of noisy, variouslydressed children in the big infants school nearby, though the class work is similar.China has adopted a nine-year compulsory schooling system, which means all children are required to attend school for at least nine years. Students have to complete both the primary school program and the junior middle-school program. Higher education is only for those students who have passed examinations of all levels. Student must pass the entrance examination for senior middle schools or middle-level technical schools. After two, three or four years, they have to go through national college entrance examination for admission to universities. Children aged from three to six will attend kindergartens near their neighborhoods, where they learn the basics of the native language and subjects. They play games, dance, sing and act. Children are taught from the early year the values of Truth, Kindness and Beauty. Chinese take children education very seriously since they know that a persons personality is mould in the early childhood. In China, the Primary School Education requires six years now. Pupils are required to take a variety of subjects such as the Chinese language, math and moral education. They also take part in sports and extra-curriculum activities. Foreign languages such as English are optional courses in the senior year of the primary education. 2.2. On Secondary Education (equal middle school in China) The secondary is about 7 years in Britain from 11 to 19, and there are two complete education systems at this stage, the state school and the independent schools. In the state schools, variety of patterns of secondary school is bewildering as a result of recent reforms. There is no official control of curriculum in the elementary system, but in secondary schools we will find that their curricula are determined in practice by standard 6 or 7 subjectsEnglish, French or German, mathematics, two sciences and history, but different types of schools have different emphases.At this stage of education, there are various schools. They are grammar schools, comprehensive secondary schools, secondary modern schools and “public schools”. The first three schools belong to the state system, while public schools belong to the category of independent schools. Very few grammar schools are secondary schools belong to the old system. All there schools are products of various periods in history.Grammar schools are the oldest schools in the U.K. Comprehensive secondary schools were established before 1960, in which pupils were not separated by the criterion of academic ability. Secondary modern schools offer general education, including some practical instruction, up to the age 15. Public schools, unlike preschools, are not private in the fullest sense. Every public school has a board of governors separately constituted. They control the finances and appoint the headmaster, who is in his turn appoints the teachers who have a great deal of freedom as to the books they choose and the experiments they do. Besides, Britain is the only country in Europe in which physical punishment is exercised at the present time in spite of the fact most of the teachers are against it and in favor of abolishing it.In China, high school education include two parts:3-year junior high school program and senior high school. From junior high school, students begin to learn a variety of science subjects such as chemistry, physics and biology and other subjects such as history, geography, and foreign languages. Physical education is enthusiastically encouraged. Senior high school education is a continuation of junior high school. Students take up specific subjects in either science or humanity subjects. Many contests are organized annually in all levels to encourage their study. The Olympic Series are the most noticeable ones. The purpose is for them in preparation for the national university entrance examination. Examinations are designed separately for science and arts students.2.3. On Higher EducationBritish higher education has had a long history. The world famous universities, Oxford and Cambridge, are the oldest ones dating from 1167 and 1284 of cabinet ministers who went to universities, nearly all went to one or the other two, and to Oxford in particular. These are over forty universities in Britain. They can be divided into five types: old universities, the four Scottish universities, and Open Universities and the one independent university. Apart from the universities these are polytechnics and colleges of higher education for those who fail to get universities or who choose more practical courses.Higher education in China is to train specialists for all the sectors of the countrys development. Universities, colleges and institutes offer four-year or five-year undergraduate programs as well as special two-or three-year programs. Students who have completed a first degree may apply to enter graduate schools. University admission is operated on a centralized enrolment system, in which admissions committees at the provincial level are under the Ministry of Education. Admission is granted on the basis of academic, physical and moral qualifications. Special allowances are made for minority nationality and overseas Chinese candidates. Chinese higher education at the undergraduate level is divided into three-year and four-year programs. The former is offered not only at short-cycle colleges, but frequently also at four-year colleges and universities. The latter is offered at four-year colleges and universities but do not always lead to the bachelors degree. Myriad higher education opportunities also fall under the general category of adult education.2.4. On Adult EducationOne of the most far reaching changes to schools in England in the last few years has been the enormous growth in the number of adults other than teachers working in classrooms. These other adults in the classroom carry out a wide range of tasks. Some have specialist qualifications whereas others do not. In the great majority of cases they will be working under your direction. For some overseas trained teachers, this is the first time another adult has been present in the classroom for which you have responsibility. This area of the site provides guidance on the effective management of other adults in the classroom. A school inspection is a process of evidence gathering in order to provide an assessment of how well a school is performing. This is achieved using analysis of data, observation of lessons, interviews with teachers, analysis of pupils work and meetings with parents, pupils and governors. The school inspection area of this site is designed to give you an overview of the process. The section on educational initiatives will give you a basic understanding of the many educational initiatives that have been introduced and what impact they might have on your teaching. In China, the adult education category overlaps all three of the above categories. Adult primary education includes Workers Primary Schools, Peasants Primary Schools, and literacy classes. Adult secondary education includes radio/TV specialized secondary schools, specialized secondary school for cadres, specialized secondary schools for staff and workers, specialized secondary schools for peasants, in-service teacher training schools and correspondence specialized secondary schools. Adult higher education includes radio/TV universities, cadre institutes, workers colleges, peasant colleges, correspondence colleges, and educational colleges. Most of the above offer both two-year and three-year short-cycle curricula; only a few also offer regular undergraduate curricula.3. The Reasons of the Similarities and DifferencesTo the reason, I think it not only one. First of all, its the different history of education. The history leads directly to the birth if the modern system of education in England is to be sought mainly in the second half of the 19th century. There were certain individuals at the beginning of the 19th century who was in favor of widespread education. But in China, there were not any people who devoted to developing education. Besides, Chinese hardly had chance to develop the education during that period in which China was involved in wars.Next the economic development is also the one of the reasons. As we all known that Britain, as the first industrial nation, was in a unique position to benefit from free trade as new and more efficient manufacturing methods at home made British goods the cheapest overseas. These brought Britain much economic advantage and made it an exceedingly rich and powerful nation. So it can provide enough money for education. But China, as a developing country, is not as rich as Britain. So its educations development is more or less influenced by the economy. There are also some similarities and differences on the purpose and the evaluating mechanism of each country. To some degree, there are some similarities on the purpose. Especially in the modern society, which advocates people first, improving quality of people seems very important. Certainly, Britain and China are no exception. Only when the education is developed, the human equality of the whole country will be improved, the country will be hopeful to get better development. But because of the different evaluated mechanism, there is a very great difference in each various countries educational development. Britain scarcely has an examination, what is needed is only the application before the student enters into school. As long as you have sufficient reason, you can get a high learning opportunity in higher education. Britain education pays more attention to the students completed development and it especially emphasizes on developing the students specialty. In China, under the current educational mechanism, students also have an opportunity to choose sports or the music as their own specialty, but most high schools still regards the students mark as the main standard before the students entering into university. So Chinese education system is more conservational than British education system.4. Conclusion From the comparison, I think we can draw a conclusion that each system has its own features, and everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Frankly speaking, Britain has the most advanced educational system in the world. For example, their famous universities, Oxford and Cambridge, they all have long history of hundreds of years, and the culture in those universities can almost represent the culture of the world. Lots of famous scholars are proud of having given lectures in these schools, and millions of students have dreamed of British in the world. And, whats more, the elementary and secondary education of