The first episode of BBC documentary series Are Our Kids Tough Enough ? Chinese School made its debut on Tuesday.(A screenshot from BBC website)
Chinese are reflecting on their schooling after a BBC documentary tracked five Chinese teachers invited to teach 50 British pupils.
The first episode of "Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School," aired early Wednesday morning Beijing time, got top marks from people streaming the program in China and formed a trendy topic on social media.
The five Chinese teachers gave the nine-year British students Math, Science, Mandarin and PE classes using fluent English but in a Chinese way.
Users of Sina Weibo viewed the documentary with a dry sense of humor. Many were amused by British pupils, in tracksuits commonly worn by Chinese high schoolers, doing exercises and attending flag-raising ceremonies under their new teachers' supervision.
Hearing familiar phrases like "Be quiet!" "Use your brain!" and "Read after me!" repeatedly during the program, microbloggers gloated about teenagers in other countries finally having a taste of their tough classroom experience.
The documentary showed pupils chatting, making noise and even putting on makeup as the teachers struggled to get their attention, a situation rarely seen in China, where a glance from teacher will silence most errant youngsters.
Weibo user "Yuanliandidigao" enjoyed seeing rebellious Brits "doing a good job of driving their teachers crazy," something he would like to have done but never dared back in his school days.
Others viewed the documentary in a more thoughtful way and found it interesting how the experiment exposed cultural differences.
Although many admitted that, due to a large population, limited resources and tough employment competition, Chinese students have to compete hard for high marks, they appreciated that their British counterparts can enjoy a freer and easier school environment.
"Lynette_Jesskrys" suggested Chinese teachers should learn to interact with students more equally. "One-way lecturing won't help students' creative thinking. It's no coincidence that very few Chinese have won Nobel prizes," according to the post.
Chu Zhaohui, a researcher with the National Institute of Education Sciences, told Xinhua that unquestioning obedience from students originates in Chinese tradition, but this is not necessarily a good legacy to be passed on today, when young people are more aware of and identify with individual values.
Chu noted moves in China to reform the old education system, which evaluates a student based almost entirely on exam scores. "However, we have to admit that, considering the economic and social factors in this developing country, change will be limited for now."
While Chinese highlight the weakness of their own schooling style, obviously some Brits see merit in it.
An article on the Daily Express website argued that British students lack self-discipline and motivation in comparison with Chinese.
"Yep. A large number of our kids are lazy, do not want to learn, misbehave and show no respect for teachers! And I'm a teacher," agreed one commenter under the article.
Weibo user "Yunjuanyunshu" said China and the UK are very different in terms of tradition and modern reality, so there is little point in the two copying each other, but they can learn lessons from each other.
Some joked that Chinese TV channels should invite British teachers to teach Chinese students in China and see what happens.
