Homework, Educational Differences, Expectations.

(This is the doorway into one of the many colleges in Cambridge, U.K. "Cambridge" is the name of a city, not a University. In the city of Cambridge there are many different colleges, the first of which was built in the 13th Century - including this one. Through this doorway have passed, over the last 750 years, some of the most famous men in history. It is a doorway to higher education.)

A blog about homework? Yes, because it's also a blog about different educational systems, which is something we've discussed in most classes. And, because my classes are designed to give you an idea of what some of those differences are, this is also a blog about my expectations of how you guys should respond to these differences.

I told some of you this week that your homework would be posted on this site. And so it will be. But, in order to find out what it is, you are going to have to read this entire article. And people from other classes? You're going to have to read this too because this applies to everyone.

From time to time [occasionally] we have talked about how different the Chinese Educational System is to what most foreign teachers are used to. When I first came here so much was different that it took me quite a while before I realised that not only was the system different, but, somehow, the whole campus scene LOOKED different. I simply couldn't put my finger on it [couldn't work it out; couldn't understand why] until, one day, I happened to be struggling to class with an enormous [very big] and heavy Art book, a smaller book on Modern Art, my papers and notes, my class books and some English novels. That's when the penny dropped [to understand or realise ] - and I realised what the difference was: - No Books!!

From High School right through to Proffessorship, the thing which, in the West, defines a student is books. On buses, on ferries, walking down the street or in shops, students are easily spotted [identified or picked out] by the bulging back-packs, heavy satchels [ a rectangular bag, usually made of leather, for carrying books] or huge armfulls of books that they are always attached to. On campus piles of books are dumped next to people in cafeterias, or outside toilet stalls, and everyone that goes past is usually wrapped around textbooks, clipboards and folders.

Students sit under trees, together or alone, reading, slump [tired /exhausted posture] benches reading, walk up and down the corridors or cloisters [covered passages outside buildings with one open side]reading - and even walk to class catching up on their reading.

One of the reasons we don't call University "School" is because it's completely different in just about every way. And in University we don't have "homework". That's because students are expected to learn and find out for themselves.

Each week the lecturer (no "teachers" in University) introduces students to a certain part of their course in a 45 minute lecture. For the rest of the week students are expected to then go out and learn for themselves as much as they can. The good and the bad. The stuff that agrees and the stuff that doesn't.

Half way through the semester they have to write a paper of around 2,500 words about the subject they are studying. They can use some of the information the teacher gave them, but they are supposed to have found out much, much more by themselves. At the end of the semester they have to hand in a 5,000word paper discussing the subject as thoroughly as possible.

Some students don't even go to the lectures, or miss many of them because they are too busy!! But every week they gather in groups of between 8 or 10 with a tutor and discuss what they have been studying. In this way they learn from each other - and argue a lot! They can also make appointments with their lecturer to discuss problems they have come across, things they don't agree with, the direction they are going in their studies etc. Many Chinese students who go to study overseas find this system is very, very confusing.

At the beginning of every term students are handed a list with the title of every weekly lecture (one for each of the four subjects they study every semester). With this they get the names of the text books they must use as you do. They also get a list of the names of some books that have been written about this subject: the list is often two pages long. This list is just a guide but the lecturer will have marked which books they recommend. Each student is expected to read (or at least skim through)the books on the list that the lecturer has recommended (that can vary between 7 - 20 books) as well as as many books from the rest of the list and ones they find for themselves as possible.

Thats why they sometimes don't go to lectures. If their subject is, for example, "Renaissance Art" and they have decided that their Term Paper (the big, 5,000 word essay they will be graded on) is going to be "The Way Renaissance Art Influences Modern Art" they might prefer to skip a lecture on, perhaps, "Italian Politics in the Renaissance" and spend time in an Art Gallery or reading instead. They make notes on everything they have read. A student who loses their notes (it sometimes happens) is in BIG personal trouble!

Students spend a lot of time in the restaurants, in cafeterias, in the pubs, etc. discussing and arguing and debating with each other about their ideas and, once again, learning from each other. Often a passing lecturer or tutor is called into one of these discussions and they become very lively.

As a result The Libraries (There are specialised libraries for most subjects apart from the Main one) are the most important and busy buildings on campus. They open early in the morning and close around 11pm five days a week (and even later on a further two days of the week). They always have coffee shops in them! And even showers! All the librarians are highly trained in their fields and all hold Degrees so they are very important to students and offer incredible help as well as giving extra (free) courses on Research and Development, Study Methods, Computer Skills etc. themselves. They always read and are familiar with the latest books in their field that have just been published.

So, now that you have got almost to the end some of you are wondering where your homework is? O.k. Your homework does not have to be handed in next week. It has to be handed in in four weeks time. Your homework will carry 3o% of your marks for your final exam. During the next four weeks you will be expected to prepare an essay called "East and West. Will They Ever Meet? Discuss. ".

Ok, O.k, I know that, already, some of you are saying "Whattt?" So, in order to answer your questions and tell you how to do this, I am preparing another article called: How to Write an Essay the Proffessional Way. If anyone has questions that I have answered in that article I will know you haven't read it! In which case I will just tell you to go and read it. But, for any other questions, we will spend some time in class discussing it.