Taiwan

When I was offered to see the world’s top math schools in action – I jumped at the chance. I did, however, have to travel a little ways to do so. In the United States, only 6% of 8th-grade students reached the advanced benchmark for international mathematics standards compared to 45% for Taiwan. Taiwanese high school students earn the top spot globally, and their government offered to fly a few of us from Michigan over to share ideas. The venture was called the 2009 American Educators Project and was fully funded by the Taiwanese.
My trip was incredibly successful! I visited twelve schools, recruited a dynamic teacher to teach Mandarin Chinese (the world’s most spoken language) here at Croswell-Lexington High & Middle Schools, and formed a “Sister-School” relationship with a “blue-chip” high school in Taiwan. Most importantly I gained first-hand insight into how the Taiwanese Education Machine consistently turns out top scores … it’s not easy.
Here are a few differences that may contribute to their success:1. The school day is longer with fewer elective classes – they focus on the core four (plus English).2. When individual students struggle most go to “Cram School”, private tutoring programs at the students’ expense that run from 6:00-9:00 PM.3. Teachers are paid a lot more than their American counterparts, get bonuses for performance, and elementary teachers do not pay income tax – this makes teaching a very sought-after profession.4. Students idolize people like Bill Gates and not sports and rock stars.5. After eighth grade, students are tested and tracked into college readiness high schools or vocational high schools and taught accordingly.6. All school children wear uniforms to school and take a thirty minute mid-day nap at their desks (even seniors).7. Sports are for fun, and usually non-competitive.8. All students take a thirty minute mid-day nap at their desk and are assigned rotating areas to clean each day – they have no custodians and students must take ownership in their schools.9. Parent involvement in schools is treasured.10. Taiwan’s educators focus their efforts ensuring students do well on the Government Tests.I am not sure if the reason for their success lies in this list, but I certainly found the trip extremely interesting. Some of these strategies could work in America and some are better left in Taiwan.
It was very apparent that most American Schools and certainly Croswell-Lexington High School has the upper-hand in one major area …creativity. I told the Taiwanese educators that test scores are important, but we try to balance this focus by also teaching to the “whole child” in America. A wide variety of subjects like social sciences, music, arts, athletics, and technology are also an integral part of our curriculum. For example, our students are more likely to create original works of art while the Taiwanese students do incredible copies of existing masterpieces.I would like to thank the Ministry of Education in Taiwan for providing me with this opportunity and being such gracious hosts. I also want to thank Michelle’s Embroidery and Pioneer Sugar for helping me provide some local gifts for my fellow principals in Taiwan – they were very appreciative and Pioneer Sugar (although heavy in my suitcase) is now on desktops and trophy cabinets all over Taiwan. The trip was very beneficial for both sides and new friendships were formed. I will use the experiences gained here to better prepare our students for life in the Global Village after graduation.
Mr. Theo Kerhoulas (校長西鐸．克豪勒)Principal, Croswell-Lexington High School