Critical Thinking in General Education in China

Abstract

Abstract

In the last two decades or so, educating students with critical thinking, creativity and innovative skills has become a primary concern for many teachers, policy makers, university administrators, and even parents in China. This paper explores the development of cultivating students with critical thinking and its challenges. Current education reform in China indicates that policymakers and university administrators show serious concern, but under the pressure of exam-oriented education, memorization, and lecture pedagogy, faculty, university administrators and policy makers have not embraced it whole-heartedly. This research also found that general education is valued in Chinese higher education institutions, and will be more effective as politics, economy and society more developed in China.

Introduction

In China, there has been a revival of interest in and new thinking about general education in the past two decades. This revival, in part, shows that the government and universities realize the importance of educating citizens to think creatively, critically, and innovatively to meet global needs and challenges. It also indicates that current curricula focus too much on professional training. The model of specialized training has been increasingly criticized over the past two decades. Most Chinese students view education primarily as a means of securing good jobs, a high salary, and mobility. The pursuit of humanistic values and personal and academic integrity is superseded by utilitarianism and many college graduates lack the capacity for critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving skills. 1 Chinese policymakers and educators are aware of the challenges that universities now face and are of the opinion that a general education will produce college graduates with critical thinking skills.

The goal of building the “world-class” university reveals the Chinese leaders and university’s eagerness to produce high-quality human resources that could meet the need to a global development of knowledge economy. 2 In 1998, the Ministry of Education issued the Outline of Cultural Quality Education for University Students, which focused on the cultivation of humanistic qualities. This outline is rudimentary and poorly articulated with respect to career paths. In the past decade, on a small scale, experimental general education programs began to appear at top universities. Leading research universities—such as Peking University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, and Zhongshan University—are the pioneer institutions that promote a liberal arts college education or general education programs to improve students’ capacity for critical thinking and broad analysis. General education courses offered in these leading universities are varied, but most of them modeled on general education curricula in American research universities. There are still debates about why the Chinese higher educational system does not promote critical thinking skills. The outline of topics is as follows: a definition of critical thinking, policy making for general education, curriculum development for critical thinking, challenges within critical thinking education, mentorship programs and conclusion.

A Definition of Critical Thinking

The concept of critical thinking can be traced back to the teaching of Socrates. 3 Socrates’ teaching technique included probing questions that led students to think and to critique. Since the period of Socrates and Aristotle, philosophers and educators have defined critical thinking differently. 4 Ennis defined critical thinking as “reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do.” 5 Lipman stated that critical thinking is “skillful, responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment because it (1) relies upon criteria, (2) is self-correcting, and (3) is sensitive to context.” 6 Halonen stated that critical thinking is the “propensity and skills to engage in activity with reflective skepticism focused on deciding what to believe or do.” 7 Paul defined critical thinking as “a systematic way to form and shape one’s thinking. It functions purposefully and exactly. It is thought that is disciplined, comprehensive, based on intellectual standards, and, as a result, well-reasoned.” 8 Since the early 1980s, critical thinking has been promoted as one of the main goals of education in the US. 9 While some educators have claimed that critical thinking is a Western product and conception and is unrelated to Asian traditions, 10 Paton 11 stated that Chinese students’ lack of critical thinking is due to insufficient knowledge about the subject. Patton thought that training rather than culture is the key factor that affects Chinese students’ critical thinking.

From his research, Paton 12 concluded that in China over the past 2000 years, the idea and concept of critical thought existed in Chinese culture. For instance, the concept of cultivating students with critical thinking was already discussed in ancient Confucian writings, but because Chinese culture does not encourage students to question authority—i.e. teachers and administrators—Chinese students are not well equipped with reflective and independent thinking skills. Chinese students do what authority or teachers state. The Chinese educational system has not provided an opportunity for students to think and reflect for centuries. 13 Traditionally, Chinese culture teaches its students that they should not reveal their inner thoughts or feelings to others and never challenge authority. For example, in the Chinese hierarchical system, a lower official must be subservient to higher officials, a wife must be subordinate to her husband and a son to his father. Chinese policy makers, university leaders and faculty members are aware of this crucial issue in education. Hence, they repeatedly point out that the Chinese educational system must reform its traditional teaching pedagogy and cultivate students with critical thinking and innovative skills to meet the global challenges. 14

A Review of Chinese Policies regarding General Education

To understand better the perspectives of the policy transformation in the last three decades, it is helpful to review China’s policies of curricular reform in colleges and universities in general and the curriculum in general education in particular. The Chinese Communist Party adopted the Soviet Union’s model after 1949, building up a new higher educational system. Universities with liberal arts, humanities, science, engineering, agriculture, political science, law and medicine were eliminated and reorganized or transformed into specialized colleges. The Chinese Communist higher education policy was to enhance studies for vocations in higher education, merging the comprehensive universities into specialized institutions. The Chinese government repeatedly emphasized that education should serve proletarian politics and the socialist new China. During this period of planned economy and restructuring, special emphasis was put on science, engineering and technology to meet the need of economic development; these special disciplines were prioritized over the humanities and social sciences in Chinese universities. In China’s special circumstances, Hayhoe states that “political authority was explicitly integrated with academic authority . . . The main unit of curricular knowledge was the (course of) specialization.” 15

In 1985, the Chinese government promulgated the “Decision on the Reform of the Education System” which began a large scale of reform across the country. The 1985 Decision recognized that curriculum reform is central to the restructuring of the educational system. It emphasized the overall aims of improving high quality education and producing more qualified, skilled people to build a modernized socialist China. According to Hayhoe, this new decision consists of two major directions in higher educational institutions. 16 First, it reflects the Soviet model: training advanced specialized manpower, and developing science, technology, and culture. This was really a move away from the Soviet model, by allowing universities much more autonomy over their curriculum. Second, it stresses the important role of research and indicates potential possibilities for curricular reform. This decision also gives higher educational institutions some power to reorient the goal of various disciplines, and to reform teaching plans and programs. However, unlike the Chinese scholarly tradition or curricula prior to 1949, the curriculum reform in the 1980s did not encompass greater interdisciplinary studies but, rather, put more emphasis on natural and applied sciences. Nevertheless, electives and political education courses were made more flexible. Students were encouraged to study humanities in a critical and creative way on issues pertaining to a socioeconomic system, and graduates were expected to be creative and critically thinking. 17

The Chinese government and its higher educational system often overemphasize colleges and universities as instruments for economic development and success, along with the policy of massification for a large college age group, which has caused a dramatic decline in interdisciplinary education and teaching. 18 Thus, providing and maintaining comprehensive quality education has become a significant challenge for Chinese policy makers, Chinese colleges and universities, not to mention China’s entire higher educational system. Realizing serious teaching problems of the Chinese higher educational system for interdisciplinary education, the Ministry of Education (MoE) launched the “Reform Plan of Teaching Contents and Curriculum of Higher Education Facing the 21st Century” in 1994. This action formally ratified the establishment of Project 211 and nearly a thousand sub-projects, with tens of thousands of teachers participating (Project 211 is a project initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of China with the aim of raising the standards of research and teaching of a group of select universities. The name for the project comes from an abbreviation of the 21st century and approximately 100 participating universities. Universities of projects 211 are entitled to receive additional funding to improve facilities and curricula within some of their academic departments from the central and provincial governments). This plan covers all areas of teaching—teaching ideology, teaching content, curriculum structure and teaching methodology. 19

In October 1995, the Ministry of Education in China held the first national conference on “Cultural Quality Education” in Chinese colleges and universities at Huazhong Technology and Science University in Wuhan. Cultural quality education required the university not only to impart knowledge but also to enhance competence, innovative and critical thinking, moral reasoning, and “harkens back to traditional concepts about the importance of educated individuals in Chinese society.” 20 This unprecedented conference laid a foundation for the initiation of general education in China. 21 According to the Ministry of Education, the cultural quality education for Chinese university students can be achieved in multiple forms and methods, for example, core and fundamental courses, elective courses, workshops, and extracurricular activity. It also sought to combine professional courses with cultural quality education, with particular emphasis on traditional and classical education to improve all-around quality in science and the humanities. Educators are required to replace text driven, teacher dominated, examination centered education with more emphasis on the development of morally, intellectually, physically, and aesthetically integrated capacities and student centered education, 22 individual faculty members enjoy more freedom to select textbooks and create new courses.

After the three-year-long pilot program, the central Chinese government and the MoE in 1998 promulgated “Opinions on Enhancing Undergraduates’ Cultural Quality Education,” which set up a directory committee for cultural education and ratified 32 “Centers for the Enhancement of Cultural Education of University Students” in 1999 to promote the reform and remodel of the undergraduate system. A year later, the MoE promulgated another policy that emphasized that cultural quality education is the foundation for making China prosperous through science and education. Since then, the concept of general education is rooted in higher educational institutions in Mainland China. In 2004, the Chinese government issued “Views on further strengthening and improving ideological and political education for students in higher education.” This document required universities to prepare administrators to develop students’ values, beliefs, and moral reasoning and action. In 2005, the Ministry of Education promulgated the “reform of an ideological-political curricula in Higher Education,” a policy paper which stated that ideological-political education is essential to understand national development and to guide students in understanding socialism through Chinese culture. However, many provincial-level colleges and universities did not fully comprehend the essence of general education, and simply added a few courses in humanities or interdisciplinary studies, or provided more elective courses in science, technology or arts, or adapted the US model credit system. These teaching innovations and policies did not transform the faculty and student’s move to general education. Students and teachers still focused on the sciences, engineering, or professional education, with general education still a far-off goal. 23 Although the local institutions would like to include general education in their undergraduate curricula, faculty, staff and facilities for general education are not available in all institutions. Once a general education curriculum is established in a local higher educational institution, administrators face the challenge of finding teaching personnel. Appropriate pedagogy is a key factor in any general education program. 24 Also, many students are not seriously interested in general education since it does not directly prepare them for a career in life. Moreover, at some institutions, the administrators do not have sufficient knowledge about general education or lack interest in promoting it. 25

However, the transformation and development of Chinese policies in the past two decades indicate that a general education has a special role in graduating students with critical thinking skills, creativity and social responsibility, and is receiving more attention from the Chinese government, Chinese higher educational institutions, and Chinese society. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Education has not issued any policy document to officially and formally promote general education.

Curriculum Development for Critical Thinking

Many institutions have been founded recently for general education. For example, in 2005, Fudan University established Fudan College, an institution to implement general education and to manage the teaching of freshmen and sophomores. Since 2006, Tsinghua University has redefined its undergraduate education by means of a general education program. Other universities at the national and provincial levels have also developed courses in the general education as electives, which have been commonly called public courses for humanistic education or cultural quality education. Some specialized institutes of technology and engineering and Normal Universities—for example, Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing Normal University, and East China Normal University—have also implemented general education courses. The general education curriculum includes courses in political, moral, and physical education, as well as foreign languages, social sciences, literature, history, philosophy, arts, and military training. The general education curriculum has become a landmark in Chinese higher education to educate students with an ability for critical thinking, creativity and civic responsibility. The undergraduate program in Chinese higher education institutions are usually composed by three components: Ministry of Education compulsory courses; cultural quality education courses; and courses required for the major discipline. The Ministry of Education compulsory courses are mandated by the Ministry of Education (e. g. political theory, military training, English language, and sports) and implemented by all colleges and universities. Cultural quality education courses are determined in individual colleges and universities, some universities also name their cultural quality education courses as general education curriculum. For example, Renmin University in China requires student to take 12-16 credits from general education courses which cover humanities and arts, natural sciences, and social sciences. Fudan College divided its general education into 6 modules and students are required to take up to 6 courses from any module. 26

Module 1. Classics on Chinese Literature and History; Cultural Heritage. This module includes both ancient and contemporary Chinese writings. Courses in this module include Books of Odes and Chinese Traditional Culture, Book of Change, Chinese Esthetics, Understanding Chuangtze, Tang Poetry and Traditional Chinese Culture, Guide to Song Poetry, Guide to Records of the Grand Historian, Guide to Explaining Text and Chinese Characteristics, Lu Xun and Modern Chinese Literature.

Module 2. Philosophy and Critical Thinking. This module focuses on the classics of Chinese and Western philosophy. It aims to help students to be familiar with the thoughts of great philosophers.

Module 3. Dialogues of Civilizations and World Outlook. Courses in this module include Western and other world civilizations. It helps students to compare civilizations for a better understanding of development of human civilizations, their clashes and merging and their contemporary significances. Major courses cover History of Cultural Exchange between China and the West, Study on Ancient Greek Civilization, Environmental Change and Chinese Civilization, Indian Civilization, Guide to Homer’s Epics, History of Renaissance, and Evolution of Chinese Modern Disciplines.

Module 4. Progress of Science and Technology and Scientific Spirit. Courses in this module emphasize the intellectual basis and history of science and technology. The module also emphasizes the intellectual history of mathematics, natural sciences and technology to foster a spirit of exploration and innovation. Main courses in this area are Material Sciences and Society, Celestial Bodies and the Universe, Science and Technology and Their Intellectual Development, Natural Sciences, Physics and Culture, The Mechanical World, Aviation and Aerospace.

Module 5. Ecological Environment and Life Caring. This module emphasizes the relationship between environment and human life, life sciences and ethics. It talks about environmental sciences, life sciences, medical sciences and ethics. Major courses are environment and humanity, sustainable development, human evolution, history of life sciences, medical ethics, human ecology, inheritance and innovation of TCM methodology.

Module 6. Arts and Esthetics. Courses in this module include music, Chinese operas, painting, sculpture, pottery, film, calligraphy, drama and recitation. Major courses are analysis on museum culture, appreciation and techniques of vocal art, the art of Peking opera, visual art and design, archeological appreciation and experience, introduction to music, appreciation and collection of Chinese ancient pottery.

Peterson 27 states that the implementation of general education can be viewed as an important addition to the capacity of Chinese universities to be world-class and to prepare their students to meet the demands of the increasingly competitive global environment. In 2006, premier Wen in China called a meeting of six educators and university leaders to discuss Qian Xuesen’s question of “why China has not cultivated creative talents.” 28 In May 2007, premier Wen delivered a speech at Tongji University in Shanghai in which he particularly stressed that a good university is not determined by its huge buildings, nor by famous people, but by affording independent thinking and free expression. Vital exchange and discussion between faculty and students form a unique academic environment which enables the university to develop creative talents and critical thinking. However, the lack of critical thinking among Chinese students in general is not a new phenomenon. The long tradition of memorization and recitation in the Chinese academic system is due mainly to Chinese cultural tradition of respect for authority and advocacy of conformity. Students are expected to listen to teachers in class without raising any questions or engaging in interaction. Furthermore, many teachers themselves lack an understanding of critical thinking. 29

Traditional Chinese writings, such as Confucian teaching, make mention of critical thinking by emphasizing reflective and deep thinking through questioning between students and teachers. Confucius, in the Analects for example, regarded thinking as an important and inseparable part of learning: “Learning without thinking is a vain effort; thinking without learning is a dangerous effort” (Analects, II). Confucius also requested his disciples to be more open-minded and held that teachers do not always have to be more knowledgeable than their students. While independent thinking has a long history in Chinese thought, contemporary Chinese students are not strongly connected with critical thinking. The term “critical thinking” is not commonly singled out in any government document or policy. Although the Ministry of Education issued an official document, “the Outline for Reform and Development of Education in China” in 1993 to promote a transition from examination-oriented education to quality-oriented education, the measures to promote individual thinking and a well-rounded education are not well developed. Such individual thinking and active participation are not given sufficient value. 30 Universities and the Chinese government are still concerned about the employment rate and courses leading to MBA, accounting or applied sciences, such as computer science, attract more students. Despite its importance, often enough the education of students with critical thinking is not of great concern to the university administration.

General education in Chinese universities focuses basically on four aims. First, it stresses students’ intellectual competence; second, it places value on moral and ethical education; third, it integrates scientific and humanistic knowledge; fourth, general education does not simply intend to advance science and technology, but also to enhance the humanities and arts. The general education curriculum mainly includes major categories such as political and moral education, physical education, mathematics, foreign language, social sciences, natural sciences, computer science, technology, economics, management, psychology, literature, history, philosophy, arts, and military training. Many universities now offer more than 300 common courses in general education programs, and students are required to take at least 16-20 credits for graduation As noted earlier, among these courses, students must take the compulsory courses required by the Ministry of Education: a common English series, an ideological-political education series, and a military sports series. Students majoring in science and technology must earn certain credits in the humanities and arts, while students majoring in the humanities must take certain courses in science and technology. 31 Some universities also have adopted service learning, internships and capstone experiences as part of general education requirements to provide more opportunities for students to reflect and to cultivate their critical thinking, leadership, and problem solving skills. Since the establishment of Cultural Quality Education Centers in the 1990s, general education, despite some efforts by a university and some indirect support from the Ministry of Education, has remained a marginalized program in an era dominated by scientific and technological disciplines.

Curriculum development is essential for the success of a general education as well as for the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills. 32

Chinese universities have repeatedly emphasized educating students with critical thinking, yet, in many cases, general education courses are still presented using a transmission- and test-oriented pedagogy. According to Altbach, 33 there should be a movement away from test-orientation toward student-orientation in imbue students with critical thinking skills and creativity. Generally speaking, there are two main impediments to the development of students’ critical thinking. First, many students have been trained as memorizers from elementary and secondary education. They are accustomed to transmission pedagogy and a college admissions system that depends entirely on a student’s college entrance test score. They have spent almost the entire three years of high school memorizing material for the entrance examination. As a result, in their freshman year of college they do not possess the cognitive development for critical thinking. Second, teachers who teach general education courses are not fully engaged in critical thinking since they also were not trained as critical thinkers. Hence, the teachers’ professional development is crucial for a successful educational program in critical thinking. Many faculty members still follow the traditional lecture pedagogy with no opportunity for questions or reflection on the part of students. In addition, because of China’s political environment students do not receive encouragement to question authority. Although many faculty members and administrators in Chinese universities believe that general education should be fully implemented, it has not yet been implemented efficiently in Chinese higher educational institutions. 34

The current Chinese policy makers, administrators and faculty members want to educate students with the capacity for critical thinking through a general education. However, administrators, faculty members, and policy makers in general focus narrowly on common courses while general education calls for a broad scope of courses. As Peterson points out, “it provides core knowledge that fosters understanding of one’s own culture as well as that of others; strengthens skills of critical inquiry, thinking, and articulation; cultivates social responsibility and civic values; and ultimately creates a basis for lifelong learning, engaged citizenship, and professional competency.” 35 Generally, the core curriculum of general education in many Chinese universities requires the study of classical Chinese history, philosophy, literature, and science. Classes are usually large and teacher-centered and students are used to accepting knowledge and answers from the teachers. Students are rather passive compared to their peers in Western countries. 36 Many professors and students do not consider general education courses as fundamental academic training but only as an opportunity to learn a bit about everything. 37 A general education is not simply about adding more courses or engaging in curriculum reform; it’s really about the quality and content of the courses and how faculty members teach with the idea of imparting a liberal arts education. 38 Gan 39 has pointed out that many Chinese universities are increasing the number of elective courses in their general education programs, with many of them offering more than 200 common courses for cultural quality education or general education. While the content of general education is still debatable, fortunately, there is a trend that Chinese universities, to some extent, are becoming increasingly student-centered, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary. In general, however, to include reflective thinking, inquiring, independent thinking, and interaction between the teachers and students in programs of general education still remains a challenge to Chinese universities.

The Teacher’s Role in Educating Students to Promote Critical Thinking

Student-teacher interaction has not been commonly practiced in the Chinese higher education system since 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party adopted the Soviet Union’s education model that was basically transmission pedagogy. Teachers often dominate the entire class by lecturing, especially at the undergraduate level. 40 A strong relationship with students is vital for teaching critical thinking and classroom success. At the end of each semester, unfortunately, many teachers do not even recognize the names of their students. Moreover, many teachers do not have office hours to discuss course work or other academic issues with their students.

Many universities emphasize reform and innovation in undergraduate teaching as a core part of the university’s research and service. A teacher can be an important influence due to social connections as well as imparting knowledge in the classroom. Rosovsky 41 points out that no curriculum/teaching reform or teaching of critical thinking can succeed without a teacher’s input and active participation. Teachers in student-centered classes become facilitators who are able to engage students to do reflective thinking on the course material or social issues. Educational institutions worldwide have introduced various teaching quality methods and teaching enhancement mechanisms for creativity and critical thinking. 42 In 2002, the Ministry of Education advocated a new brief to foster creativity and critical thinking through the teacher’s interaction with students. It stated:

Classroom teaching should emphasize the student’s own thinking process . . . This requires the teacher to be good at creating an open classroom environment, fostering a positive and comfortable atmosphere and encouraging students’ expressions of new, different and unconventional ideas. . . . Teachers must work hard to promote students’ curiosity, desire for learning, and imagination. . . . Learning arises out of questioning. 43

Klecka et al. 44 stated that there are four major relationships in a teacher’s professional development: mentorship, scholarship, partnership and leadership. They teach reflectively, and facilitate students’ critical thinking; students learn reflectively from readings and self-reflection as well as from their teachers. Teachers are the center of schools, determining the quality of education and development of students. Many Chinese universities began to train faculty members in regard to teaching critical thinking skills, but there is no official policy at the administrative level or any document to promote teacher training for general education on the national level. It largely depends on each individual institution’s initiative. It is true that so-called general education courses have been offered but those courses in a way, are not like Western model courses. Many who teach them continue with the lecturing method without time to interact with students or to guide them to reflective and critical thinking. Many of these courses in the past few years, in fact, aimed at skills needed in the job market rather than being directed toward critical thinking and innovation. Traditional employment concerns still dominate the direction of education.

It is always a challenge when it comes to course selection. Two of the reasons for this are: (a) the quality and content of general education may not be very attractive and (b) the faculty who teach critical thinking through general education courses are not top teachers. Examinations are based mainly on a teacher’s lecture and the textbook. Students are not encouraged to have their own ideas and do creative thinking and no time exists for reflection. Many students stop thinking independently or are afraid to criticize for fear of alienating authority figures. However, there is a trend among some young faculty members to change traditional pedagogy by encouraging and motivating students to interact with each other reflectively to develop critical thinking skills. 45 These teachers also include active learning in the classes. Active learning is to have students engage in an activity while thinking about what they are doing. 46 One of the purposes of active learning is to provide students an opportunity to move beyond traditional memorization to a higher level of cognition, to solve problems and to make decisions through teamwork. But students are not always open to innovative pedagogy because they are accustomed to the traditional method and many prefer it.

The Challenges of Cultivating Students with Critical Thinking Skills

The immediate challenges to educating students with a critical thinking through general education are many in China: building up world-class universities that are recognized in rankings, emphasizing career training rather than values, and rewarding academic research and publications over teaching. The question that needs to be answered is: What is the purpose of education and what is the role of teachers? Should an education prepare students merely for employment in the job market or prepare them to become lifelong learners with critical thinking skills? If the ultimate goal of a university education is to enlighten all students to comprehend and appreciate universal human values, transcending utilitarianism, a general education program for educating students with critical thinking is an urgent need in Chinese universities.

Chinese High School System

In 2005 the Ministry of Education issued curriculum standards for primary, high school and college students. On the agenda of major reform are: (1) changing the teaching and learning focus from “basic knowledge and skill” to the “capacity of students to engage in critical thinking, problem solving and creativity;” (2) changing the teacher-centered teaching method to a more student-centered approach; (3) cultivating a sense of social responsibility, sharing, cooperation and communication; (4) establishing an assessment system that promotes the development of the individual student as well as the total person; and (5) developing a systematic and sustained form of teachers’ professional development. 47 Despite the enthusiasm shown by the teachers, administrators and even policy makers in promoting critical thinking, faculty members struggle with changing their pedagogy and encouraging critical thinking and independent learning. School administration and policy makers typically fail to provide sufficient resources for faculty professional development and for their training in critical thinking. More importantly, to emphasize pedagogy for critical thinking, the evaluation system at the university level must consider teaching performance for faculty promotion and awards rather than emphasizing research and publications.

Internationally, Chinese students are known to be superior at mathematics and other scientific subjects, for example, biology, chemistry, and physics. Chinese students were first in the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA in 2011, and students in Shanghai outscored their counterparts in dozens of other countries in reading, math and science in an approved examination. 48 But no critical thinking and creativity were involved. The entire educational system lacks the promotion of critical thinking or creativity, despite the fact that so many believe these are important. Yang 49 states that the students today in China generally lack critical thinking. The old tradition of the transmission educational method from primary school through the university still exists. Overemphasizing standardized assessments is one of the greatest impediments to teaching critical thinking. For example, every student in high school is overwhelmed by a great amount of homework, tests and the need to study to prepare for the college entrance examination. Unless a score on this examination is sufficiently high, acceptance into a good university is not possible.

Consequently, high school students have only one goal: to obtain a high score on the college entrance examination. And high school teachers have only one goal: to improve the students’ scores. Students spend almost the entire three years of high school memorizing material for the college entrance examination. Many educators realized this problem and advocated that the current educational system should be examined and changed. 50 In Confucian culture and tradition, academic success comes from academic performance and it is a common goal for both teachers and students to achieve high marks. Moreover, teachers receive material rewards if the school has an outstanding number of graduates accepted into leading universities. Consequently, there is little or no consideration given to critical thinking in education. If teachers are not committed and serious, there is little hope for success in developing critical thinking. 51

Contemporary Chinese high schools focus only on academic performance and students are divided into the areas of Li Ke and Wen Ke (science and humanities). This is not a good policy because students cannot obtain a broad foundation for their future studies. Overemphasizing sciences or humanities, therefore, hinders creativity, critical and innovative thinking. High schools in China, in general, lack a way to train students in problem solving and reflective learning. 52 Although reforms at the senior high school have included interdisciplinary courses, there is little interest in putting critical thinking into the curriculum, though required by the Ministry of Education. In high schools that have the highest number of graduates admitted into top universities, administrators are promoted and these schools attract a larger number of talented students. As a result, most Chinese high school students become excellent memorizers but know nothing about team work, class presentations, problem solving, creativity and critical thinking.

An emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), IT (Information Technology) and Business

In recent years, China’s policy makers and educators have criticized the educational system for being too test-oriented. China began to reduce rote learning, and gave students and universities more choice in the curricula, which are still centered on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Chinese students also, increasingly, want to study in such fields as IT (information technology), business, management and finance. 53 According to Altbach, 54 there are several reasons why students prefer STEM and IT courses. First, many students in senior high school are guided by their teachers who claim that STEM, IT, computer sciences and business can help them to find a better job with a better salary, causing students to be more employment and market-oriented. Second, graduates with STEM, IT and business degrees enter STEM, IT and business careers and experience a higher employment rate. 55 The number of degrees awarded in natural sciences and engineering has risen sharply in China since 2002, with approximately one-third of bachelor’s degrees in engineering and natural sciences. Third, and perhaps the most important reason, the Chinese government has invested billions of dollars in the past few years to develop STEM programs in order to build world-class universities and such financial incentives can greatly enhance STEM to the neglect of the humanities and the general education programs. 56

Faculty Promotion Criteria

More faculty members, administrators and policy makers believe in the importance of educating students with critical thinking skills to meet the demands of a globalized society, but the university’s evaluation system of faculty promotion does not provide any mechanism to help these teachers. Altbach 57 stated that academic appointments and promotions were and still are, for the most part, made on the basis of research accomplishments, not teaching proficiency. Those who have published more papers and articles are quickly promoted to professorships or university administrative positions, which bring increased income and prestige. Consequently, teachers spend more time on research and are less concerned about the quality of teaching and accountability. Likewise, they lack serious interest in expected student achievements and in critical thinking. The academic professions are becoming more utilitarian oriented. The current evaluation system in Chinese universities is not in step with present needs to educate students to in critical thinking, creativity and innovative skills through a general education. Although high-quality teaching is emphasized at every level of the administration at many Chinese universities, quality of teaching is not given equal consideration with research in the evaluation of faculty performance for promotion and awards. Because of the evaluation system, many teachers are frustrated and have gradually lost their dedication to educate students with creativity and critical thinking.

Altbach 58 and Rosovsky 59 note that one of the key elements of liberal arts education is the teacher’s commitment. The teacher’s role is not merely to pass on piecemeal knowledge but to be concerned about students’ growth and development. When teachers are fully and wholeheartedly engaged in the education of students, they are able to cultivate talent that will contribute to the good of society and the nation. They should be involved in the lives of the students, take a personal interest in the intellectual, affective, moral and spiritual development of every student, helping each one to develop a sense of self-worth and to become a responsible individual within the community. But this is impossible for a teacher who has 100 students. Curriculum reform and development should be decided in a context of promoting critical thinking. Decisions made about the curriculum should be in keeping with: (a) the university’s mission, (b) its animating vision, (c) accepted standards regarding scholarship and (d) the objective of graduating students with critical thinking. It can be said that new developments and reforms in the Chinese higher-education system have greatly increased access to higher education since the 1990s. The government and universities have made great efforts to promote general education, reform policy, and a revision of pedagogy and curricula, but faculty involvement will continue to be challenging. 60

Due to market economy and the ambition to build world-class universities, many leading Chinese colleges and universities have become more utilitarian-oriented and have overemphasized research projects, university rankings, infrastructure construction, and advanced laboratories. 61 The eminent and famous scientist Qian Xuesen, father of the Chinese missile program, pointed out in 2009 that “China is still not fully developed, and one reason is that no university in China has been operated in a way to educate creative and innovative talents with critical thinking skills for science, technology and humanity. The universities have no unique qualities that enable students to cultivate talent. This is a big problem.” 62 Since that time, many Chinese universities have given attention to the development of students with critical thinking skills.

Tension for Critical Thinking: Ideological-Political Education Course Requirement

At universities throughout Mainland China, ideological-political courses (a typical term for teaching Communist theory, Marxism, Mao’s thought and Deng Xiaoping’s theory, etc.) are required to safeguard university students’ political loyalty to the Communist Party. These courses are compulsory from primary school to university. In 2005, the Ministry of Education and the Department of Propaganda of the Communist Party of China (in charge of ideology-related work and enforcing media censorship and control) jointly promulgated the “Reform of an ideological-political course in Higher Education,” a policy paper which stated that ideological-political education is essential to understand national development and to guide students in understanding socialism through Chinese culture. The content of ideological-political education is still about Marxist-Leninist Theory, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the Three Representatives. The new curriculum requires students in every college and university to take between 12 and 16 units, which is about 8%-10% of the total hours in an undergraduate program. A new curriculum with student-centered learning using case studies has replaced the old method of teaching, but the main purpose of this political curriculum is to educate students to remain faithful to the theories of the Communist Party. Currently, the ideological-political curriculum remains a big challenge for general education development in Chinese universities. As Peterson 63 succinctly states:

A substantial number of required courses in political ideology and military science persist at China’s universities. If such deeply integrated ideological views continue to pervade the curriculum and are presented for automatic acceptance, it will be virtually impossible for the spirit of liberal education to gain traction and flourish. What finally emerges from this reform effort will merit careful attention to determine where it fits in the spectrum of the global migration of liberal education.

The Mentorship Program for Critical Thinking

Rosovsky states that “curriculum is a skeleton. The flesh, blood, and heart have to come from the rather unpredictable interaction between teachers and students.” 64 Interaction between students and teachers as mentors is an important element to achieve the goal of educating students with critical thinking and creativity. 65 This interaction can occur outside the classroom or during the teacher’s office hours and within the residential mentorship program. The residential college system started in England, at Oxford and Cambridge, and later Harvard, Yale and several other US universities took up the idea, creating their own residential colleges in the early 20th century. The traditional residential college is designed to be a microcosm of the university. Several hundred students of all ages live in a community with faculty and university staff who provide appropriate programming to promote intellectual, spiritual, moral and social growth, including lectures, seminars and community service.

The mentorship program in the residential hall is another way to help student’s critical thinking development. Chinese universities are aware of the unique role of residential halls to cultivate students with critical thinking. For example, in 2005 Fudan University began its Mentor Advising program in its residential halls. The program consists of college counselors and mentors who are full-time, part-time or guest mentors. Students may turn to the full-time mentors for academic advice and personal development. Guest mentors hold lectures and workshops while professors and scholars from different departments and other schools visit the residential hall as part-time mentors. At Fudan University residential college counselors are selected from (a) candidates in the University Talent Program, (b) graduate student assistants, and (c) young faculty members with diverse backgrounds and knowledge. With guidance from others, students are able to engage in research, writing and other academic undertakings or social life activities. 66

A study showed that the mentor program is very helpful in increasing the students’ ability to do critical thinking because it provides a platform for students to express their ideas, thoughts, and dreams freely; mentors or counselors can guide them to think and reflect more profoundly. 67 Through the mentorship program, the interactions are strengthened and are supported by mentors, counselors, faculty members and school administrators. For example, full-time and part-time mentors at Fudan College communicate with students whenever needed in a mentor’s office or in the residential college. Interaction between teachers and students through the mentor program helps students to improve their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Mentors at Fudan College included some renowned professors and experts in their respective disciplines. Some professionals from industry were also invited as part-time mentors. The value of the mentorship program is determined by students’ evaluations of courses and their evaluations of the mentors’ performance. The program appears to help the academic, social, personal and spiritual growth of the students. In addition, student representatives are invited to attend administration meetings regularly so that the voice of the student body can be heard. In addition to being academic and personal advisors, mentors and counselors may be friends and even parent figures. However, many mentors and counselors are not professionally trained. Historically, mentorship programs in the Chinese higher educational system have been only for graduate students. The undergraduate students are assigned to class advisors. Consequently, Chinese universities need to develop a professional mentorship training program for cultivating students with critical thinking skill and moral reasoning. 68

Conclusion

This paper has discussed educating Chinese students with critical thinking through general education in Chinese universities. Adler 69 stated that educators must develop in students the values, skills, and attributes that enable graduates to be active and responsible citizens in a democratic society, and that particular emphasis should be placed on instilling knowledge, critical thinking and civil responsibility. Of great importance, therefore, a serious need exists for some form of incentive to motivate teachers to educate students with skills of critical thinking and creativity. It may be a long-term plan to educate students with critical thinking together with a just system of evaluation for promotion and awards. Any reform to graduate students that involves critical thinking and innovative skills will succeed only if teachers are actively involved. Swartz 70 states that teaching the mental skills of clarification, creative and critical thinking without helping students to learn how to use them in decision making and problem solving accomplishes only part of the goal. The current practice of educating students with critical thinking through general education to stimulate economic development will require students to get practice in decision making. Merely providing selective courses or comprehensive programs is not sufficient. There must be concrete changes in the curriculum and pedagogy.

Faculty members, administrators and policy makers in China are aware that the goals for critical thinking through general education are not very clear in Chinese universities. Chinese universities have invested vast resources and capital in general education to achieve academic excellence. In particular, China has taken these steps to foster creative minds and follow the US general education model. Many faculty and administrators still need to understand that the US general education structures can be a good model for the Chinese educational setting. But Chinese universities also need to search out the most effective way to educate creative and critical minds. Another issue of importance is the college admissions procedure, which depends completely on test scores on the national college entrance examination. Many scholars, researchers and even some policy makers strongly suggest changing the current college policy because it is not helpful in admitting students with critical thinking. 71 While higher educational institutions stress the importance of the social, civic, physical, moral, and spiritual development of students, in primary and secondary schools there is a need to emphasize the cognitive development of students if they are to succeed in a pluralistic society and global economy. For the improvement of students in China today and into the future, a concerted effort is necessary on the part of policy makers, administrators and faculty to reform the curriculum in primary and secondary schools to include critical thinking, creativity and innovative skills.

The Chinese higher education system has recognized the importance of shifting from specialized education to educating graduates to be creative and competitive in a globalized world. However, pressure from exam-oriented education and a lecture-style teaching method impedes faculty and university administrators from wholeheartedly embracing liberal arts education. Relatively narrow professional studies still dominate the curricula of most Chinese colleges and universities. In addition, course requirements are extremely tight and, therefore, leave no room for reflection or thinking. Despite the educational aim of nurturing students for critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills through a liberal arts education, the evaluation system for faculty promotion, ranking, and awards focuses more on publication than on teaching. This is a real obstacle to achieve the cited goals. Lecturing and memorization have dominated past approaches. Examination papers are based mostly on lecture content and textbooks. Students are not encouraged to think creatively or to reflect and interact with teachers. Many students eventually either lose the ability to think independently or are afraid to offer criticism due to the cultural and political context.

To achieve the goal of cultivating students with critical thinking through general education in Chinese universities, there are several steps to be considered. First, at the national level, the central government and the Ministry of Education must establish a national policy that mandates a general education curriculum for undergraduate students that particularly emphasizes interdisciplinary studies. Second, at the institutional level, in addition to curricular reform, universities must weight teaching and research equally when evaluating teachers’ performance in promotions and giving grants. Individual institutions also need to offer some incentives to encourage faculty members’ commitment to liberal arts education and to a creative teaching methodology which departs from the traditional transmission pedagogy. Third, in regard to personnel, universities need to provide training workshops and seminars for faculty members to better understand the value and meaning of liberal arts education, and to provide strategies to teach liberal arts courses effectively and efficiently. Teachers have the key role in successfully implementing liberal arts education because they directly interact with students in and out of classrooms. It is evident that China must adopt new pedagogy and curricular reform to attain the goal of critical thinking, creativity and innovative skills through the renaissance of general education.

In 2010, the Chinese government issued a document “Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-Term Education Reform and Development (2010-2020)” as a concrete way to enhance creativity and critical thinking through higher education, in particular and notably through general education. Although general education is becoming more important in contemporary Chinese higher education, the biggest issue is still how it can fit into the Chinese social, political and cultural environment with its focus on the essential elements, such as broadness of study, different skills like communication skills, critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. The revival of some interest in general education in the mid-1990s in China has demonstrated that the government and the universities have begun to realize that the current educational emphasis on specialization, narrow technical expertise, memorization, and lecture pedagogy will fail to produce college graduates with critical thinking and cognitive complexity needed for national advancement in a global context. Despite the emergence of general education in China as a new phenomenon, this has not had a critical impact on the approach to higher education. Nor has a general education become a revolutionary force in Chinese higher education and bring about significant change and transformation in the teaching and learning experiences of the faculty and the students. Thus, the development of general education in the Chinese education system and the goal for critical thinking are in their infancy.