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Stuck between a book and a hard place
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WHAT is more important when it comes to painting, making a nearly identical copy of a masterpiece or creating an original work?
For many Chinese parents, the question is meaningless because their answer is always the first option.
“Don’t preach to me about the importance of a good imagination. I am too clear on that,” says Liu Siyuan, a Shanghai mother of a 14-year-old son. “I and all Chinese parents face a harsh reality — scores. I am a practical mother, and I want to send my son to the top high schools, which would guarantee a good university and most likely help land a good job. And only scores help, not imagination.”
Her attitudes represent those of many other Chinese parents.
“My son has extra classes like mathematics, English, physics and Chinese writing, leaving no time for imagination,” Liu adds quickly.
Although many insist scores go first, almost all agree that imagination and creativity are crucial in nurturing the next generation.
Helen Xu, a mother of a fourth-grader, turns the question around. “Could you accept it if your child, after taking a painting class for one year, is still unable to draw a good piece or pass the grading test for painting?”
Surely, few would be pleased with such a result.
Perhaps parents with children in kindergarten or in the first years of primary school can afford the “luxury” of letting their children use their imagination.
Bruce Zhou, a father of a 6-year-old boy, has recently registered his son in a “robot class” that helps teach children the basics of making a robot.
“My son is a fan of robots, and this class greatly interests him, so why not?” Zhou says.
But he’s not sure whether he will keep his son in the class once the primary school begins.
“I know that the workload in some primary schools is heavy, maybe I have to sacrifice this class, after all, school comes first,” he says.
Today, it is quite common for city high school students to finish their homework at 10-11pm and wake up at 6am.
Zhou Wenfu, who established the city’s first children’s imagination art center in the 1980s, believes the current system fails children, which ultimately will fail society.
“All the examinations and tests have smothered the imagination of children in China,” Zhou laments. “How could creativity come out from these textbooks and papers? Many Westerners think of Chinese children as obedient and restricted by rules. I wanted to give them the chance to use their imagination.”
Xu Jiahe brings her 5-year-old son to Zhou’s classes.
“My son is a naughty boy. There are many painting classes in town that he doesn’t like. But here, he could sit for an hour and draw what he likes,” Xu says. “I don’t expect him to be able to paint a landscape or portrait. He is happy in his world of colors and lines and that’s what matters.”
However, Zhou says he is often challenged by parents who think poorly of his teaching methods.
“I have to say that the taste in art of some Chinese parents is still stuck in the past,” he says. “They don’t really have much knowledge of what contemporary art is and they just want their children to copy the existing world while ignoring their real interests. For them, passing the painting test weighs, because it’s something to prove how good their child is. How ridiculous!
“Painting is not all about technique, it is about depicting something in one’s heart,” he adds. “Even the parents who support my methods have to quit the class when their children are competing for high school entrance.”
Guo Liang, a father of an 8-year-old boy, has already mapped out a road for his son — international kindergarten followed by international high school and then overseas university.
“I really hate China’s education system, and I don’t want to see my son being buried by tests and homework,” he says. “I am happy that I can afford to get him involved in sports and other activities. Although the tuition fee is a daunting amount, in my eyes, it’s worthwhile.”
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