http://you.video.sina.com.cn/api/sinawebApi/outplayrefer.php/vid=70996368_2036021381_ZkPkG3E6DG7K+l1lHz2stqkP7KQNt6nniWmyu1ClJgZYQ0/XM5GeYtQO5irQCNkEqDhAQ5g2fPgl0RU/s.swf Hidden tigers: why do Chinese children do so well at school? Children of Chinese origin, whether rich or poor, do incredibly well in school – but hardly any studies have been done to find out why Monday 7 February 2011 17.01 GMT It seems a hugely under-researched phenomenon within English education. But Jessie Tang thinks she has the answer. "It's mostly the parents. Chinese parents tend to push their children a lot, and have really high expectations. I think it's maybe because they did not have the opportunities that we have these days. They want us to take advantage of them." Jessie, 18, an A-level student at Watford grammar school for girls, whose father arrived in England from Hong Kong, was being asked about what seems an amazing success story buried and barely commented upon within English schools ' results. The statistics relate to the achievement of pupils of Chinese ethnicity, revealed last autumn in a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on inequality in Britain. This showed not only that British Chinese youngsters are the highest performing ethnic group in England at GCSE, which has been known for years. It also showed that this group seemed to be singularly successful in achieving that goal of educational policy-makers everywhere: a narrow performance gap between those from the poorest homes, and the rest. Further evidence of the success of pupils of Chinese heritage came through the world's most well-known international testing study, Pisa. This found 15-year-olds from Shanghai, China, easily outperforming those of all other nationalities. The domestic statistics show that, at GCSE, children of Chinese ethnicity – classed simply as "Chinese" in the data – who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) perform better than the national average for all pupils, rich and poor. Not only that, but FSM Chinese pupils do better than those of most other ethnic backgrounds, even when compared with children from better-off homes (those not eligible for free school meals). A detailed look at the figures makes this clearer. Some 71% of Chinese FSM pupils achieved five good GCSEs , including English and maths, in 2009. For non-FSM Chinese pupils, the figure was 72%. Every other ethnic group had a gap of at least 10 percentage points between children who do not count as eligible for free meals, and those who do. The gap for white pupils stood at 32 percentage points. In 2010, the picture changed slightly, with the gap between Chinese FSM pupils (68%) and their non-FSM peers (76%) increasing to eight points. But it still compared very favourably with the equivalent gulf among white pupils, which was 33 percentage points. In primary schools, the picture is similar. Remarkably, in 2009, in English key stage 2 tests, Chinese FSM pupils outperformed not just their counterparts from other ethnic groups – easily outstripping white children – but even Chinese pupils not eligible for free meals. Michael Gove, the education secretary, told his party conference last autumn that the performance of FSM pupils as a whole was a "reproach to our conscience". So what do Chinese pupils have going for them that other children do not? Anyone investigating this subject will be struck by the limited research available. Only one academic team seems to have looked into British Chinese pupils' experience in detail in recent years. The team, who interviewed 80 Chinese pupils, 30 Chinese parents and 30 teachers in 2005, identified several factors behind the success, although they stress that not all British Chinese pupils achieve. One explanation, though, shines through their findings. Becky Francis, a visiting professor at King's College London, director of education at the Royal Society of Arts and one of the researchers, says: "Our main argument is that families of Chinese heritage see taking education seriously as a fundamental pillar of their Chinese identity, and a way of differentiating themselves not just within their own group, but from other ethnic groups as well." Recent coverage of Amy Chua's book on "tiger parenting", Battle Hymn of The Tiger Mother, has also focused attention on parenting styles promoting achievement in children of Chinese ethnicity. The argument that Chinese families put especial value on education is sensitive territory, of course, as most parents would profess a commitment to helping their child do well. Academics also stress that the numbers of pupils classed as "Chinese" are small – only 2,236 took GCSEs last year, from a total cohort of nearly 600,000 – and results should be interpreted cautiously. However, there is tentative evidence, both from interviews with parents and from analyses of background values existing in Chinese culture, that family commitment to education is particularly strong. Some 13 of the 30 British Chinese parents interviewed said their children were also being educated at Chinese "supplementary schools". These offer tuition in Chinese language and culture at the weekends. Several of the parents also said they paid for tutoring outside school hours. Researchers found that among British Chinese families this was not related to social class: a number of working-class parents paid for this, too. Asked to respond to the question "Is education important?", all 80 pupils agreed. High parental expectations also seem to have been a factor in many – though not all – children's experiences. One pupil is quoted saying: "My parents expect me to get the best grades. And if I don't, then they'll continuously nag at me to do better ... Like if I get a B, they'll be like, 'Why didn't you get an A?'" A paper presented at last year's British Educational Research Association conference, covering performance across all ethnic groups, found no link between the occupation of Chinese pupils' parents and their GCSE scores, unlike for children from all other ethnicities. Ramesh Kapadia, a visiting professor at London University's Institute of Education, who presented the paper, says: "I think within Chinese society, there is an emphasis on practice. Children are told: 'If you want to learn something, practise, practise and practise it again and you will get better'. It may be that this helps to motivate pupils when the rewards can seem a long way away." There is a mixed picture overall, though, as to how far this school success is being translated into employment prospects. The Equality and Human Rights Commission report found that British Chinese men and women were twice as likely to be in professional jobs as their white British counterparts. But average earnings remained around 11% lower throughout the population than for those classed as "white Christian". Whether the Chinese experience can be replicated among other pupils is debatable. Some might see evidence that Chinese families emphasise hard work, and the results that follow, as simple proof that all can succeed, given the right attitude. However, Francis says such a view should be treated cautiously, the team's 2005 paper arguing that "Chinese constructions of ethnic identity and education are very specific". Much research has shown links, generally, between poverty and underachievement. Jessie, whose father works in a takeaway restaurant and whose mother, originally from Malaysia, works at Heathrow airport, has 12 GCSEs including six A*s and an offer to read music at Royal Holloway, London. She attended a Chinese supplementary school from the age of five. She says many Chinese families are keen on their children pursuing careers in medicine, so she is "rebelling a bit", but wanted to pursue a subject she enjoys. The Department for Education was unable to point to any particular study it has commissioned to look at British Chinese pupils' success. Given the scale of that success, it seems surprising that the phenomenon has not been investigated further. 隐藏的老虎，为何华裔学生在学校里表现得这样优秀? 在英国的教育界，有一种普遍存在的现象还少有人研究。但是Jessie Tang认为她知道答案。 “主要还在于父母。中国的父母更喜欢督促自己的孩子，并对其抱有很大的期望。我认为可能是因为他们小时候并不像我们一样拥有这么多的机会。他们希望我们比他们更优秀。” Jessie，今年18岁，是英国Watford文法女校的A级学生，她父亲从香港移民至英国。被问到是什么使她在英语学校取得这样骄人的成绩时，她作出了如上回答。 平等与人权委员会在去年秋天发表的一份有关大不列颠的不平等现象的报告中列出的统计结果表明，学生的成绩与其中国后裔的身份有关。 该报告显示，在普通中等教育考试（GCSE）中，英国的华裔学生不仅在英格兰的所有族群中表现得最为优异——多年前已经广为人知——而且它也表明这一族群还极其惊人地达到了一个所有教育政策制定者都想实现的目标，即缩小最穷困家庭的孩子与其他家庭出身的孩子之间在学业上的鸿沟。 另一个表明华人学生学业成功的证据是最知名的国际学习考察组织PISA的统计结果。它们发现来自中国上海的学生在成绩上表现得比其他国家的要优异得多。 国内的统计结果表明，在中学毕业考（GCSE）中，那些族群一栏只填“华裔”的享受学校免费午餐的学生，他们的表现要高于全体学生的平均值。 不仅仅如此，FSM（享受免费午餐）华裔学生与其他族裔的FSM学生比起来也表现得更好，甚至也优于那些富裕家庭出身的孩子（不享有学校的免费午餐)。 如果对这些数据进行更仔细地研究，结论将会更为清晰。09年，71%的FSM华裔学生能得到5个优，包括英语和数学。而非FSM华裔学生则达到了72% 与其迥异的是，其他族裔学生在FSM和非FSM之间则至少有10%的差距。而白人学生在这个方面是32%。 到了2010年，数据变动了一点点，FSM华裔学生（68%）对非FSM华裔学生（76%）比上一年高了8个百分点，但是与白人小孩的33%比起来，仍然显得非常平均。 在小学获得的结果也与以述数据接近。另人印象深刻的是，在09年的英语第二关键段考试中，华裔的FSM学生的表现不仅比其他族裔的FSM学生要好，轻松超过白人小孩，他们甚至还超过了那些不享有免费午餐的华裔学生。 教育部长Michael Gove在去年秋天一个党代会上说，FSM学生作为一个整体在学业上的表现是“对我们良心的拷问”。但是为什么那些华裔学生可以做到而其他孩子不行呢？ 任何调查这个问题的人都会被有限的研究结果所阻挠。近年来，似乎只有一个学术组在具体研究英国华裔学生的经历。 他们在2005年访问了80个学生，30个学生家长和30名老师，尽管研究者强调，不是所有的华裔英国学生的学业都很棒，但他们还是总结了其成功的几个因素，有一个解释则格外引人注目。 Becky Francis是伦敦国王学院的客座教授，也是皇家艺术协会的主任兼研究员。她说：“我们的主要争议在于华裔家庭严肃看待教育问题并将其作为一个使其在族群内脱颖而出并区别于其他族群的核心竞争力。 最近关于Amy Chua的新书《虎妈战歌》的报导，也将注意力集中在华裔父母提高其子女成绩的方式方法上。 人们争论华裔家庭将教育赋予如此重要的价值是一个敏感话题，当然，大部分的家长都会致力于帮助他们的孩子表现得更好。学者们也强调华裔学生的数量很小，在去年参加GCSE考试的近60万学生中，他们只有2236人，因此，要谨慎地解读上述的数据。 然而，通过采访家长和分析中华文化中存在的普遍值观我们发现，华人家庭对于教育格外重视。 受采访的30个英国华裔父母中的13个称，他们的孩子还要在中国的“辅导学校”接受教育。这些学校在周末教授中文和中国文化。 几个家长也说请过课外的辅导老师。研究人员发现在英国的华裔家庭中，这样的行为与其所处的社会阶层无关：许多工薪族父母也会为此而让荷包放血。 在被问到“教育很重要吗？”这样的问题时，（受采访的）所有80学生都回答是。看起来父母的高期望似乎也促成了许多——尽管不是所有——孩子的经历。 一名学生说：“我的父母希望我可以拿到最好的等级，如果我没做到，他们就会不停地在我耳边唠叨让我表现得更好……就像，如果我拿到一个B，他们就会说：‘为什么你不拿上A回来？’” 去年英国教育研究协会会议的一份文件分析了全国所有族裔学生的表现，发现华裔家长的工作与他们孩子的GCSE分数没有关系，而这与其他所有族裔的结果不同。 伦敦大家教育学院的客座教授Ramesh Kapadia也发表了一篇文章，称“我认为中国社会特别强调训练。人们教导孩子：‘如果你想学点什么，那就去做练习、练习、再练习一次，这样，你就会提高'，当成功看起来遥不可及的时候，这样的文化可能帮助激发了这些学生的斗志”。 还有一个总表，显示了学习成绩在多大程度上会转化为工作上的前景。平等与人权委员会的报告显示，华裔英国男性和女性从事专业工作的人数，两倍于同他们情况相当的白人。但是他们的平均收入则比与其相当的“白人基督徒”低大概11%。 然而，Francis称，应该谨慎对待这样的观点。05年作调查（指上文提到的那个采访了几十个学生、家长和老师的团队——译者）团队也质疑“华人民族文化和教育的特殊性”这一观点。许多研究也表明（在华裔中）贫穷与缺乏教育之间存在联系。 Jessie的父亲在一家外卖餐厅工作，她的妈妈来自马来西亚，就职于伦敦希思罗机场。Jessy有12个GSCS，包括6个A，并得到了一份去皇家霍洛维学院读音乐的通知书，该学院位于伦敦。Jessy自五岁开始便参加中文课外辅导班。她说，许多华裔家庭非常希望他们的孩子可以从事医药类的工作，所以她“有点另类”，但是她更希望选一个自己喜欢的专业。 当教育部调查华裔学生的成功之秘时，它甚至不能指出任何特定的研究。有鉴于举得此等成绩的广度度，我们竟然没有进一步调查这一现象，这实是让人尴尬了。
标签: 教育孩子
