Stephen Roper

    THERE’S an international standardized test known as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) that is conducted once every three years for 15-year-old students all over the world. Established in 2000 and administered in approximately 65 countries, the test assesses competency in three fields: maths, science, and literature.

    China made its PISA debut in 2009, and the recently released results are nothing short of stunning. The 5,100 15-year-olds in Shanghai, chosen as a representative cross-section of students in that city, finished first in all three categories, beating the competition with convincing leads.

    These results were not lost on the world. President Barack Obama, speaking to a college audience in North Carolina, went so far as to call the PISA results “…our generation’s Sputnik moment.”

    The results are impressive but not surprising. Chinese education is almost exclusively geared to competitive test taking, i.e. the gaokao, national college entrance examination. Rote learning is still the core method of teaching, and the dominating PISA performance by the Shanghai students is only an indication of how much harder Chinese students are pushed than others.

    I’m not trying to discredit or downplay the significance of this achievement — it is remarkable — but I’m worried this will only reinforce the methodology of education in China that has dominated, in my opinion, for far too long.

    When Premier Wen Jiabao encouraged educators to foster more creativity in the classroom it felt as though China’s education system was set to evolve from a rigid, unflinching preparation for gaokao to something that more actively provided students with opportunities to explore and pursue their passions. Now I worry that these results will only strengthen educators’ resolve, convincing them that rote learning and endless hours of class really are better.

    The PISA results show what anyone teaching in China could already tell you: Chinese students are “book smart.” I walk into my Senior One classes some days and see on the chalkboard maths equations I never saw in college, let alone high school.

    But “book smart,” or an adeptness at standardized tests, is not the only criterion for a good education — strong social skills, independent thinking, and an ability to work with others are also vital qualities to be nurtured in order to prepare for a world where answers can’t be found in books or memorized and recited back.

    Are the PISA results impressive? Again, yes. But I hope Premiere Wen Jiabao’s cry for more creativity in the classroom, his challenge to advance teaching into something less mechanical and more organic, is not lost amidst the PISA success. It’s good, but I think China can still do better.

    (The author is a former U.S. journalist who is teaching English in Shenzhen.)