daftandbarmy
Army.ca Dinosaur
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I'd argue that the reason why Chinese kids (and Asian kids in general) can be academically smarter is due to the way they are educated.
However, that type of education is generally really good at short-term retainment of material, like preparing for university entrance exams. Not so much anything else. A good comparison would be taking Asian kids born/raised in other countries (with different education systems) and seeing how they compare with other kids. I suspect it's more "nurture" vs "nature".
Also, no one hears about the dumb ones. It is statistically impossible for every kid to be smart.
But I digress.
Speaking to those who know more about this subject than I, the Chinese are desperately seeking ways to adopt a more westernized approach to educating their children.
Their current command and control, micromanaging, 'seen and not heard' approach is more suited to that used by the West in the latter part of the 19th C in order to prepare youngsters for a life in the factories.
Clearly, this does not prepare students well for a life in the 21st C information age, and it will take them decades to change that culture... if ever.