Sheephappens

This is me…

Andy Clark

(a very nice guy)

As a new father… I’ve been thinking.

I’ve been in China for 10 Years…

…teaching on degree programs…

…delivering Teacher Training programs…

…and building a corporate training company.

From the MNC’s in China that we’ve trained…

…we hear the same problems, again & again…

“Our staff are simply not speaking up in meetings”

“Our team lacks creativity”

Our staff are: “too easily distracted”

Our team “lack social skills”

(especially our engineers)

“E-mails need more specifics”

“Presentations fail to generate interest…”

“…often being monotone and lacking

body language”

… Our staff have difficulty in understanding the management perspective… or “putting themselves in others shoes”

“Presentations lack body language”

“…even handshakes fail to generate a feeling of confidence”

So what are the Roots?

While every year our phones, computers, cars, music, clothes, weapons, holidays and housing upgrades…

Our education system is still fundamentally the same as it was 100 years ago…

Why?

Sheephappens

Like sheep, in education we’ve simply followed the

previous generations that came before…

But the world has changed…

China now has twice as many graduates as the US

China is now the world’s number one English speaking country

National Education Budget = RMB 56.2 Billion (2.5% GDP)

Education Index (UNDP) = 81stStudent Numbers:

Primary & Secondary = 217.1 million

University & Vocational = 39.9 million

Teachers = 16.2 million

Education in China

but population density in many areas…

…means average class sizes of between 60 and 80 students

How do you control a class this size?

“60% of Chinese children suffer corporal punishment”

(State Media Report) 2004-12-07

So combine that with this…“Study Pressure and Interpersonal Relationships

are causing children most concern” - Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences

And this…

83.6% of parents expect their child to rank within the top 15 (of 50) in their class

- China Youth and Children’s Research centre

And even this!

“It is not only intense study pressure that hurts creativity, but a system of

learning that is built largely upon one-way lecturing and rote learning.”

- China Education Blog

And it’s no wonder the kids feel the pressure… which sadly contributes to this…

And this…

1. Change the seating plan & halve class size

2. Change the exam breakdown

3. Next curriculum & teachers resources

A few solutions

So what can we do?

1. Change the Seating Plan& Halve the Class Size

These seats and desks are fixed

While these can be moved…

So lets change this…

…to this…

Or even this…

Which would allow:

• Greater Interaction• Teamwork & Team Competitions• Discussion & Idea Generation• Group Problem Solving• Teachers to move around the room to help students

Teachers say…

“We could never move the tables! It would be chaos and students would not listen to us, they would just talk to each other!”

…Which is true…

…so at the same time we also need to…

2. Change the Exam Breakdown

Changing the Exam Breakdown…

from this… to this…

• 100% Final Exam • 40% Final Exam• 20% Mid-term exam• 15% Teamwork project• 15% Presentation• 10% Homework grades

3. Add Next Generation Curriculum & Teachers Resources

Who should be designing our curriculum?

This guy???

Or maybe these guys… ?

To add game dynamics to education, so learning becomes as addictive to kids as this…

and with building valuable teaching resources…

And recording the best teachers…

To share best practices with those all over the country

The China Education Initiativewww.chinaeducationinitiative.org

China Education Blogwww.chinaeducationblog.comJoin your PTA (or start one!)

& Ask your teachers questions!

So What Now?

So hopefully we can make sure that:

Sheepdoesn’t happenfor the next generation…

ClarkMorgan Corporate TrainingFree Call (in China): 800 820 5501Outside China: +86 21 5403 5500

www.clarkmorgan.com

E-mail: andy.clark@clarkmorgan.com Blog: www.networkhr.com/blogs