Are Our Kids Tough Enough: a documentary or a reality show?

Elizabeth Truss, a member of the United Kingdom Parliament, talks with a student at a middle school in Shanghai in February. Truss led a British education delegation on visits to three schools to gain insights into the city's successful math education program. [Photo by Xu Wanglin to China Daily]

Who defines the ‘Chinese teaching method’?

The "Chinese teaching method" in the documentary featured a 12-hour teaching system and more than 50 students in one classroom. Many complained that this was not an accurate reflection of teaching in China. Even the Chinese teachers in the documentary were not satisfied.

Li Aiyun told Chinese journalists that she and Zou Hailian, the mathematics teacher in the documentary, tried to negotiate with BBC crews and tell them about the real situation in Chinese schools they worked for.

"In Nanjing Foreign Language School, students leave the school at about 4 p.m. But the British side insisted that in the traditional Chinese teaching system, there should be an evening study course," she said.

Many Chinese netizens also criticized that the teaching method in the documentary seems out of date. @PixieAtDawn, a Chinese Weibo.com user, said that Chinese schools, especially schools in big coastal cities, are very different from ten years ago.

"In the key schools in my city, the atmosphere is really relaxed. Our teachers encourage us to have our own ideas and often play jokes with us. They never say 'parents are always correct' and allow us to use our own mugs in the classroom. Maybe the teachers in the documentary are old-fashioned? Or maybe they just teach in a BBC style Chinese method," @PixieAtDawn said.

A comment by @Shanshidasanrenxing, a Chinese Weibo.com user, also achieved wide agreement. He said that if the "Chinese teaching method" in the documentary was defined by the BBC, it could be a sign of British decline.

"If they (the British people) do not try to find out the truth, but jeer at the Chinese method in their imagination, Britain will get on the same way like what the government in the Late Qing Dynasty (1840-1911) did, living in their own world drunk," he said.

Meanwhile, not a few Chinese netizens, especially those of the Post-70s and Post-80s generation, considered that the teaching method in the documentary was familiar to them, and neglected the student's personality.

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher in National Institute of Education Science, said in an interview with Yangtse Evening Post that there are defects in the current Chinese education system.

"The schools pay too much attention to teaching, instead of students' acceptance of knowledge," he said.