Choices for students

Comments on Li Xing's "Students need more choices" (China Daily, October 11)

I enjoyed your column.

There are several teachers in my family, and I have occasionally taught courses. You had an interesting experience teaching when your friend was away, but one might put a somewhat different interpretation to it.

First, at least in the United States, a substitute teacher seems to encourage students to display all their worst behavior. It is a mental vacation from routine classes.

Next, there is at least one university in the US which will not allow students to change majors. (Cal Poly, I think.) The reason is that they do not want weak students entering in some fairly easy major, then switching to a more difficult major later. One that they would not have been allowed into as an outsider. I have no idea whether this applies to the Chinese schools. However, it does not seem to pose students, at any level, ethical problems which they would find extremely challenging. Such issues can be quite unpolitical, for example "Which person would you save from a burning building?" or very political "Should the US have dropped atomic bombs on Japan?"

What you did not mention, but which concerned me all the way through the article, is something I have seen in colleges in the US. That is, students often seem to have no idea how lucky they are to be clothed and fed, and given education, often without any real cost to them, personally.

If life is very comfortable for them, and things are looking up, as they are in China today, they become complacent.

That is, they take on an attitude that what they are getting, they deserve, they have a right to.

If this is already happening in China, it is unfortunate. Because luck changes, and students who know little, and have poor work habits will not be equipped to handle difficult times, when they come.

Thanks for your article, I look forward to more.

Keith

Richardson via e-mail

I read your article on students needmore choices. When I was a high school student, I had a beautiful picture about my future college. However, when I entered the college, I found that there was not so much change. I sincerely hope we have more choices that can make classes more interesting and our college life more colorful.

Sam

via e-mail

There are many students locked into programs they neither enjoy nor are suited for because they made their selections early. Many of them only chose their majors because of their parents telling them these majors would lead to a high paying job close to home when they finished their education. This results in unmotivated students who want little but to rote-memorize what is necessary to pass their exams at the end of each term. I concur that greater student choice throughout their university life, and particularly the opportunity to have an undeclared first-year would be a valuable education reform.

Simon

on China Daily website

I am a student in college, and totally agree with what you said. I majored in English, but I do not think I like it at all.

Wei

on China Daily website

(China Daily 10/17/2007 page11)