Of Presidents and Pirating

Sometimes the collective knowledge of my students amazes me. For example, one of them chose to do an assigned speaking presentation on a U.S. President. She got up and said, "My presentation is on the best president America has ever had."  And the rest of the class all answered in unison, "Roosevelt."  I was a little taken aback. I had no idea Roosevelt was our best president, but my Chinese students were taught this somewhere along the way. 

They also all know the day the Nobel Prizes are awarded. It's just a part of their collective memory, in part because China has never won a Nobel Prize. (Btw, they are the ones that told me that, I didn't know China had never won one.) 

Collectivism is the goal in China. My students are always giving answers in unison. I have learned that to ask them to speak up and be individuals is very difficult for them. They are much more comfortable when I let them function as a group.  Of course, this doesn't mean I don't ask them to be individuals at times in the class. But I do recognize it is a stretch for them. 

I sometimes wonder what China would have achieved if they were not made to constantly function as a group. This is changing somewhat in modern China, though, with business especially. But creativity is tough here, because there has historically been no motivation to produce something that you thought of yourself.  And....Chinese pirating explained. :)