They had heard about a lack of student respect for teachers, violence, teacher stress and the threat of lawsuits from parents that plague U.S. school districts. One individual asked about the problem we have with illiteracy. Although China is seeking educational reform, she noted that one of the problems the country faces is a lack of unity toward that effort. Some reforms are being made in classrooms in larger cities such as Shanghai, but in rural areas, which include communities with as many as 100,000 people, change is coming much slower. Language barriers may hamper this problem.
Dialects sometimes differ from urban to rural areas, and even within cities.
Many of the educators, however, continue to place high value on teaching English as a second language, and they actively sought ideas from the KMOS-TV representatives about how they can improve that effort in their schools. Students could write it and read it, but they had difficulty understanding when we spoke to them. The interaction with Chinese students and faculty, as well as other highlights of the KMOS-TV crew's visit to China was well documented by Strobel. She hopes to share her documentary of the trip with KMOS-TV Channel 6 viewers during a special presentation planned for 8 p.m. Sunday, March 28. The documentary, which is not yet titled, will feature video footage taken at variety of Chinese schools.