Quora网友: 中国高中和美国高中有什么区别？

What’s the difference between Chinese high school and American high school?

中国高中和美国高中有哪些区别？

【美版知乎quora问答】

Younmin Bae
I believe I am in a unique position to answer this question since I’ve attended both Chinese and American high schools (I am Korean by the way).
There are many differences between the two, but here are some that I think are most visible.

我是韩国人，我上过中国高中和美国高中

中国高中和美国高中的区别不少，以下是我认为区别最明显的地方。

Curriculum (uniform vs individualized) – students in China all take the same courses (Same math courses, same history courses, etc.) whereas students in America are given a choice of classes they can take (Students can choose to take AP Calculus, music theory, or art). They are given a general criteria they must meet to graduate (4 math credits, 4 history credits, etc.), but other than that it is highly Individualized.

课程（统一vs个性化）——中国高中生修同样的课程（数学、历史等），而美国高中生可以选修课程（学生能选择上AP微积分、音乐理论或者艺术）。要毕业必须满足一个共同标准（4个数学学分、4个历史学分等）。除此之外，选修的课程高度个性化。

Classroom size – Classroom size is much bigger in China than in America. A typical classroom size in my Chinese high school was about 70, while in my American high school it never reached above 35. This is probably due to the difference in population.

班级规模——中国高中一个班级的人数比美国高中一个班级的人数多。我所上的中国高中典型的班级人数是70人，而美国高中则不超过35人。这可能是因为人口差异。

How time is spent – Chinese students spend most of their time studying. In my Chinese high school a school day was divided into three “chunks”: 8 am – 12 pm, 1 pm – 5 pm, 6 pm – 10 pm (the hour between the chunks are spent eating and resting). The first two chunks are class time, but the last chunk (6pm – 10pm) was reserved for zixi, or self-study. You still went to class, but the teacher only supervised and not teach. This is the time for you to do homework, study for test, etc. In my American high school, school ended at 3:20 pm. The rest of the day was reserved for extracurricular activities such as sports, show choir, etc. There were many days I stayed till 10 pm for robotics and band.

时间安排——中国学生大多数时间花在学习上。我上的中国高中一天分上午、下午和晚上：8点~12点，13点~17点，18点~22点（间隔时间是休息吃饭的时间）。上午和下午是学习时间。晚上是自习时间，学生得去教室，老师会来辅道，你可以做作业、考试复习等。我上的美国高中，下午3:20就放学了，剩下的时间可以参加课外活动，如体育、艺术表演等。

Sthitapragnya Deshpande, worked at China
As a teacher who has taught in USA and China, I can answer this based on my observations –
1) Chinese schools are far more strenuous than American schools. the workload in the former is far more rigorous, work hours are longer, and there is always a sense of competition to do well. In that, I find Chinese schools very similar to schools in India.

我在美国和中国任过教。以下是是我的观察

1）在中国学校执教比在美国的工作量更大、时间更长。我发现中国学校和印度学校有着几分类似。

2) Discipline – Chinese schools are far more formal. It is expected that the teacher will talk and students will listen. Children are not expected to think for themselves much as the teacher tells them facts. In American schools, there is more enquiry, kids are expected to question teachers and even disagree. How much of this actually translates into kids in American schools actually thinking (let alone thinking different) is an entirely different story!
The advantage is that kids go to school to study and behave far better than their counterparts in America.

2）纪律——中国学校更严肃。一般是老师讲课，学生听课。孩子不用自己思考，老师在填鸭式教育。美国学校主张学生多问，主张学生质疑老师。美国孩子的想法不同（更别说思维不同了）。好处就是，中国孩子的学业表现比美国同龄人好很多。

3) Violence and guns – Guns in schools in China are naturally literally unheard of. In USA, many schools have guns. Ditto for drugs and violence and teenage pregnancies all of which affect students studies and lives adversely. Chinese schools literally have none of these as kids are too busy trying to study and prepare for the gaokao so that they will secure a “good job”, thence “a good spouse” and thus a “good life”!

3）暴力和枪支——枪支在中国学校闻所未闻。而美国，很多学校有枪。毒品、枪支、暴力、未成年怀孕等，对学生的学习和生活产生了不利影响。中国学校不受这些问题的困扰，孩子们忙于学业，准备高考，这样他们就能找到“好工作”，找到“好伴侣”，过上“好生活”。

4) Infrastructure – Both Chinese and American schools have equivalent excellent infrastructure. I wish I could upload a photo of the primary school next to my house but for some reason Quora in China does not seem to allow this. It is an excellent 5 story building with a large playing ground in front, a rack and 6 basketball courts, and 8 table tennis tables. And this is just a primary school.

（4）基础设施——两者都有发达的基础设施。要是能上传一张我家附近的小学照片就好了，不知怎地似乎不能上传。这所小学有一栋5层楼高的教学楼，教学楼前面有一个大操场、6个篮球场，8台乒乓球桌。而这只是一所小学。

5) Funding – Chinese schools are luckier here – the Chinese government has been consistently increasing funding to schools. Hence there are exceptionally few private schools (mostly foreigners send their kids to private schools as the medium of instruction in Chinese schools is mandarin). IN USA, funding of government schools has consistently been cut

（5）资金——中国学校很幸运，政府一直增加教育经费。很少有私立学校（大部分外国人把孩子送到私立学校，中国学校是中文教学）。美国的公立学校的资金一直被削减。

6) Access – School education is exceptionally low cost for Chinese students. hence it is rare to find a Chinese boy / girl who has not been to 12 years of schooling. It is far more common to find this in USA sadly
7) Participation of parents – This seems roughly the same in USA and China. Additionally, in China, it is a treat to watch the way crowds are excellently managed when kids leave for the day.

（6）入学率——中国学生上学要交的学费很低。很少有中国孩子上不起学的，一般能完成12年的学业。当然美国学生就更不用说了

（7）父母参与——中美差不多。

8) Sports – American schools seem to pay more attention to sports vis a vis academics, especially as the kids age compared to Chinese schools. Chinese schools on the other hand are more focused – kids who excel at sports get exceptionally high class sports training (often by ex national and Olympian level Chinese and foreigner coaches) but for the others, it is accepted that the route to a better life passes through academics

（8）体育——相对学业，美国学校似乎注重体育教育，尤其与中国学校同龄人相比时。另一方面，中国学校更关注培养体育特长生（通常是由国家和奥运会级别的中国和外国教练来培养）。而对另一些孩子而言，学习才是出路

9) Parents expectations – This indirectly dictates the reasons behind the above factors. Chinese parents have high expectations from their kid / s (34% of Chinese families have 1 kid, the rest have 2 kids) and expect them to excel in school and academics. American parents generally seem to have a more comparatively laissez faire attitude

（9）父母期望——这间接说明了上述因素的背后原因，中国父母对孩子期望很高（34%中国父母只有一个孩子），希望他们在学业上表现出色。美国双亲通常更放任孩子自由成长。