Montville Schools Impress Chinese Visitors

Chengyue Qiu, a middle school student from Jiangsu, China, walked through three Montville schools on Monday and was impressed with what he saw.

He is the only student on a 13-member delegation visiting American schools to learn about how the educational system works here.

“The first impression I have is that American schools are much more open,” Oiu, who is a middle school student, said through an interpreter. “There seems to be more freedom and more tolerance.”

The Chinese delegation that visited Montville as well as other school systems in Connecticut is composed of a university administrator, 10 principals, an interpreter, and Oiu. They toured Oakdale Elementary School, the Leonard J. Tyl Middle School and Montville High School.

At both the middle and high schools, choruses provided entertainment. At the middle school, the visitors had a snack. The high school provided lunch. There were tours at each school, and each school gave gifts to the visitors.

At the middle school, they visited the school’s television studio and sat in on a science class.

The Chinese, who speak Mandarin, were curious about how the system works. Middle school Principal Mary Jane Dix, answering one question, explained that there are seven classes in a school day. In elementary schools, students have a single teacher. At the middle and high school level students move from classroom to classroom, she added.

There are differences between how American and Chinese schools operate, said Mark Johnson, who is principal of Oakdale Elementary School and has made two visits to China to observe their schools.

For one thing, he said the school day lasts longer in China than here. Also, the class sizes are larger – most often with 50 or more students.

“They don’t have much choice,” Johnson said. “There are too many people. I don’t know if they admire (the American situation) or think of it as silly."

Also in China, there is a close working relationship between teachers and parents. “They are on the same page,” Johnson said.

Hua Guo, who heads the delegation, agreed, speaking through an interpreter, that classes tend to be larger in China. She said that is changing somewhat for two reasons – the Chinese demographic has fewer children than in past generations and booming economy has provided more money to hire more teachers.

She likes what she sees in the United States.

“I am impressed by American students,” Guo said. “They seem to be very happy. In the classroom they are very applied and disciplined.”

 Oui, the student, said classrooms here are clean and large. “It's a very good environment for learning,” he said.

He added, “American students are more willing to express themselves and they are very friendly.”