Learn English

By Ieuan Dolby

To see a classroom full of 5yr old and younger children, safe and secure in their high chairs, being lectured to like a group of final year physics University students would break the heart of any western parent, teacher or educator.

The Desire..........
Education is taken very seriously in Taiwan, especially but not only for the male who tends to take pride of place as dictated by culture and tradition. The average mother and father see their offspring's future prospects as proportional to the amount of education that they will receive, not so much in quality as quantity and so it is normal for children as young as the age of three to be enrolled in private schools on top of normal daily attendance. Saturdays, Sundays, evenings and holidays become periods devoted to the continuing development of the children who will see their time spent and shared between an assortment of foreign language orientated schools or nurseries, music and dance lessons, etc. From the day that a child is born and often before one is conceived (future, intended or otherwise) parents plan, devise and arrange their children's education. Ideas are formed about what style or type, what schools and extra classes their sons and daughters can attend and how much they can afford to spend on the twenty year plus development project. Schools are sounded out before the child wets his first nappy and a future career/livelihood is mapped well before the first word is said.

A western gentleman, proud to have just become a father, was recently shocked upon being questioned by relatives-in-law as to the educational route and policy that he was going to take with his son. Stunned into shocked response he muttered, "I suppose my son will go to school sometime" and "well yes, erm ... learning something will be good when he's older". Not the sort of replies expected from people who expected educational theories and practices, school names and dates and subjects to be trotted out in knowledgeable rotation.

This constant search for perfection is frequently intermingled and confused with a parents desire to earn more money (even though they have enough), thus the need to have their offspring looked after externally during evenings and weekends. It can also be a desire to win 'face', to look good amongst relations, other parents or in the neighbourhood by having a child that performs better or who can proudly be said to have studied this or that subject.



This trait of 'face' upkeep, the efforts made to earn more money and the desire to have well-educated children all produce one fact, that Taiwan is a nation built around educational establishments. In contrast other nations might be seen to be based around football pitches (as in the UK), restaurants (as in Italy or France) or religious and racial harmony (as in Malaysia). It would not be within the jurisdiction of this article to condemn or condone, apart from suggesting that 'all work and no play' makes Jack a dull boy and by raising the fact that even though children as young as five years old start to learn English, Taiwan's ability on the world stage as regards English communication skills still stands at 138 out of 150 countries (as recently stated by the Taiwan Government and as published in the Taipei Times and China Post Newspapers on 24th September 2004.

All work and no play.............
The western educational system is by no means a model system to follow, most countries systems being openly flawed. It would also be safe to say that the average Western parents' dreams of how their child is educated, emphasis being placed on sport or theory without practical subjects seeing dawn, is often wrong or misguided. But over-all it can be said that the average child receives a fair share of varied education and that for the most part, once homework is suitably dispensed with of an evening, the children have free time to play or relax without the pressure of 'achievement' hanging over them. It can also be said that weekends and holidays are times for families to be together, for work and the constant pressures of earning money to be locked away till the alarm clock rings on Monday morning. In comparison the Taiwanese way is blatantly flawed with most children suffering from a lack of love and attention at home due to the amount of time that they spend away from it.

A child born in Kaohsiung in 2001 was within the first month of its entry into the world sent to live with the mother in-law during the week. A result of a complaint by the poor child's father who could not sleep at night! The same child, nearly four years of age, now spends six days a week with the mother-in-law who herself finds little time for the child as she has to run a busy drinks stall, attends a daily nursery with an English theme and a Saturday extra-class in piano. The parents themselves find the logistics of delivering the child to schools, etc interferes with their respective jobs so ..................life goes on!

The idea behind obtaining extra education for ones offspring is certainly heading in the right direction. To wish the best future for your own is admirable but not all of the time. Again, stating recently cited facts by the Taiwan Government, the average educational ability of Taiwanese Children is below that of their western counterparts; despite the fact that allot more money and time is spent on such.



Teaching time.......
The principles of educational theory tend to rely heavily on a communist style approach, to drum knowledge facts and numbers into the brain to be regurgitated in times of punishment, exam or for parents to impress the superiority of their son/daughter to neighbours or family. This approach has been the foundation of how schools operate, how curriculums and classrooms are designed and how parents want to see their children being taught. This approach may well have been and probably still is to blame for the rigidness with which many Chinese approach life, the narrow mindedness with which they see the outside world.

The future................
It is hard battle that is little won, but the idea of teaching using force and punishment and award is the current method. There is though daylight ahead for the thousands of children whose minds switch off during class through boredom or hatred of the subject and/or drill sergeant at the blackboard. Many schools and private educational establishments are seeing a flicker of change in the form of western teachers who bring with them more relaxed and participative methods of imparting information. Sadly, the speck of light that can be seen at the end of this tunnel is small and not growing larger for every step taken. Cultural differences, ideological blocks and the fact that parents themselves view regimented teaching styles as the only way to teach children, they themselves using this style in daily life, hinder great steps in altering this style of teaching.

Many parents will not send their children to modern and culturally off-track schools where games and play are the mainstream of life indoors. Through achievement and result and through government initiative change is perhaps happening. More private schools are opening their doors were westernised standards set the approach and more parents are beginning to see that these schools have more to offer than an equivalent military style approach. Maybe simply due to the fact that children are coming home, happy and with a light in their eyes causes parents to review the very fabric of the institutionalised and narrow minded educational establishment that so restricts and mind boggles every child who passes through its doors, themselves included when once upon a time they were shouted at and punished by evil ogres.