Name: Yvonne Lin
Level: 4A Differences in Education Pattern When it comes to Nobel Laureates, there is a prevailing question in mainland China why there is not a mainland-born Chinese who is rewarded the Nobel Prize in scientific areas such as Physics and Chemistry. In 2010, statistics conducted by BBC News has shown that over the intervening 109 years (1901-2010), Western countries claimed the most winners. Many Chinese blame this for the education pattern as they embrace that it is education that changes a country and the world. Due to the differences in political system and history, generally speaking, there are significant differences but few commonalities in education pattern between China and Western countries. Despite that Chinese educationists are making revolutionary progress in education pattern, they emphasizes too much on solely obtaining knowledge in various realms while Western countries aim at cultivating students’ habit of analysis, fostering creativity and developing critical thinking. Because of the requirement of tests, Chinese students have to recite all the theories they have learned, and usually, there is only one answer to a question. In addition, they have rare access to the laboratory to experience the magic of science especially in some impoverished areas where top-notch facilities don’t exist. In contrast, students in Western countries are more fortunate since they can immerse themselves in experiments which most Chinese students are eager to do. Besides, not only do the teachers in Western countries teach knowledge, they are also trying to fulfill students’ potential no matter whether it is relevant to academic areas. Furthermore, when we compare students in these countries, it is obvious that Chinese students are less likely to be exposed to the sunshine. Why? Because Chinese parents and teachers attach great importance to score, the youths lack opportunities to get involved in abundant extracurricular activities, which is contrary to the situation in Western countries where students are fully encouraged to participate in