As former president George W. Bush put it: “Rarely is the question asked: is our children learning?”
This statement, although grammatically incorrect, highlights the lack of attention to our education system. More importantly than whether our children are learning, however, is the question of how our children are learning. And from that – is our current method of education effective?
Based on my own experiences in the Taiwanese education system as well as stories I’ve heard from friends, I had come to view the Taiwanese system as rigid, tedious, and strict. The only way to a successful future through countless practices to ace one college entrance exam. The only way to improve on that test would be to study for hours every day, including weekends and summers.
Friends of mine would suddenly disappear from social media around their second year of high school and reappear only after their last exams in their third year. I would see students in my cousin’s schools studying hard in classrooms on a supposedly casual summer day, and drive by cram school after cram school for all sorts of subjects that may come up on the entrance exam.
As a result, I had believed that the only way to do well in the Taiwanese school system was through constant diligence and motivation.
This all changed when I visited Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School, an all-boys high school considered to be the best high school in the country. Based on the stories I’ve heard from other Taiwanese students from other Taiwanese high schools, I had expected this school to be the strictest of them all, where school grounds would be silent and classrooms would be full of students taking notes diligently.
Boy, was I surprised.
When the school bell rang, a majority of the students were still playing basketball outside, ignoring the fact that they’ll all be unfortunately late for their classes.
During class time, I found students scrolling through their phones or doing their own work in the newly renovated (and very fancy) library, while the librarians didn’t seem to mind that these students were here during class time.
Upon further investigation, I also discovered students napping in common areas, students entering the school with their lunches 20 minutes into class, students buying snacks at the school convenience store, and even students getting a haircut from the barber shop on campus. Yes, this school has a barber shop that is open during school hours. Long story short – this school was nothing like the austere block of silence I had imagined.
An excuse given by a former student as wells as a teacher there was that these students have their own methods of studying, and the school tries not to interfere with that. Some students may find certain classes worth skipping to study on their own instead, and the school respects that. Others may find the library a much more suitable place to do work than inside a classroom.
Even though they’re skipping class, most students are still getting work done, just at their own pace and in their own ways. Whatever method they’re using, it seems to be working, as this high school consistently sends students who earn top scores in the country out to the best universities.
Jianguo High School’s campus seemed less to me like a high school campus than a work campus, where everyone seemed to be doing different things in different locations. This brings an interesting suggestion – perhaps it’s true everyone operates in their own way, and perhaps the best form of education is simply being able to provide different environments for different types of students.