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‘Chinese parents can’t face risk of children’s failure’
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Kindergarten principal Fu Fang remembers back in the 1980s and 1990s when parents just wanted a safe day care center where their children could play and be happy. She finds it sad that parents today demand preschools teach academics to give children a competitive advantage.
But that is the way it has become in a highly competitive society and education system where children are evaluated by test scores at every stage of their schooling.
Fu has seen a lot of changes in preschool education, which is not compulsory.
Since 2007, she has been principal of the public Weihai Kindergarten, which provides a Montessori education to 339 students, including 35 students from two expatriate international classes.
Fu previously taught kindergarten for 10 years. She is now a certified Montessori teacher.
The three-year kindergarten is open to children aged three to six and school lasts eight hours a day. Some parents pick their children up early and take them to classes in academics, drawing, piano and other activities.
“A big problem for Chinese parents is that they cannot face the risk of children’s failures, which is why they are pushing so hard and are so anxious to drive their children to excellence,” 41-year-old Fan told Shanghai Daily in an interview.
In China the best public kindergartens, primary and other schools are quite competitive. Parents plan early on to get their children into the best kindergartens, opening the way to the best primary schools, and so on. Much depends on scores, and even “interviews” for toddlers to see if they can sit still.
Weihai has been a Montessori kindergarten for 12 years, after beginning as a pilot Montessori program.
“In the past, parents only wanted their children to be safe and healthy in kindergarten, that’s all. Now, they want more learning and everything that can prepare children to be competitive and become a successful person in the future,” Fu said.
But as long as there are social requirements, schools and teachers will do their best to adapt to changing needs and look for the best education approaches “to cultivate the future of our country,” she said.
Montessori education is the virtual antithesis of traditional, rigid education in which children learn by rote and are passive recipients of information passed down by teachers.
Montessori education is based on respect for children’s ability to direct their own learning, the teacher’s role as helper rather than commander, and mixed-aged classes in which older children help younger children.
It respects children’s independence, freedom within limits and social development.
At first Fu wasn’t convinced of the benefits of Italian physician and educator Marie Montessori’s approach, developed in the early 1900s. But Fu changed her mind.
“We found that in comparison to other students, Montessori-educated students concentrate better and have a better memory. They are also more capable of doing delicate work with their hands,” she said.
For example, children are asked to wipe a mirror from left to right. Their eyes follow the actions of their hands, which prepares them for writing and reading in the future.
Older children are asked to clean delicate objects such as china and glassware, and observe the difference before and after cleaning. This improves their observation skills and gives them scientific knowledge about cleaning.
“Many parents worried that children would break the glass, but I told them it doesn’t matter because children would learn glass is fragile and they will be more careful,” Fu said.
Montessori education was very popular in the West as early as the 1960s but only entered China in the 1990s.
A rare school
Weihai Kindergarten and Nanyang Experimental Kindergarten, both in Jing’an District, are among the few public Montessori preschools in the city. The cost of training certified teachers and buying materials is high. Many private kindergartens have Montessori-like classes.
Over the years, Fu has seen many changes in Shanghai’s preschool education, from infrastructure to teaching methods.
“I’m delighted that the city government has significantly increased investment in education over the past two decades to improve infrastructure and other facilities,” she said.
She praised the change in allocation of educational funds, now based on numbers of students, not on whether schools have a special designation.
She is disappointed, however, to see parents trying to cram as much education as possible into preschool.
“Many parents think acquiring knowledge at a younger age is helpful. They hope kindergartens can also teach children reading, math and English in advance, so they have an advantage over their peers in primary school under the current test-oriented system,” Fu said.
For many parents, Montessori education is good but not enough, so they pack small children off to academic classes after kindergarten.
Fu said Chinese parents frequently neglect sports, games and real-life skills, which promote imagination and creativity.
Parents should stop thinking about what they want their children to be and consider what their children actually need for their age.
“Children between three and six years old need more playing instead of listening in a classroom. They also need to cultivate good habits, have their own interests and social skills that can help them in future studies,” Fu said.
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