On a related note :
Are children being stifled by ‘model answers’?“I will
not give up the pear".
Shin Min Daily News
A netizen recently posed a question on whether
schools are stifling the creativity of children with expected
answers to open-ended questions.
The man had uploaded an image of a marked worksheet that his son
had attempted in school.
On the worksheet was the story of a boy named Kong Rong.
Kong Rong had picked up a smaller fruit from a basket of pears so
that his elder brother could have the larger one.
The pupils were asked what they thought the moral of this story
was. “If you were Kong Rong, what would you do?”, the students were
asked.
The boy who attempted the question answered: “I will not give up
the pear.”
This was marked by the teacher as a wrong answer.
Wondering if there is really a ‘correct answer’ to the question,
the boy’s father posted the worksheet onto the Internet.
“Did Kong Rong really have to give up the pear?” he asked.
“Are kids wrong if they don’t do the same?” he added.
These are just some of the questions raised in the wave of
discussion sparked by the post.
Despite the apparent outrage, local primary school teachers all
agree that they will similarly cross out the pupil’s answer as the
wrong one.
Speaking to reporters, a primary school Chinese teacher, known only
as Ms Zhuang, 27, said, “If the pupil had also explained and
justified why he would not give up the pear, it could be seen as an
expression of creativity. But if it’s not justified, the answer
will be wrong.”
“We are looking for an answer that fits the moral conduct taught to
pupils in the lesson. In the story, Kong Rong’s action exemplified
the spirit of courtesy and consideration. The answer would only
portray a selfish mindset in the pupil,” she added.
A primary school English teacher, known only as Mr Yang, 37, felt
that whether the answer is accepted will depend on the model
answers provided by the examiner.
The answer given by the boy here is, however, against traditional
Chinese values and morals.
“If my student gave such an answer, I may feedback to his or her
parents about their child’s mindset,” he said.
Shin Min Daily News also spoke to 15 primary school students to
find out what they would do if they were Kong Rong.
Five of the kids did not know who Kong Rong was, while the other
ten all said they would give up the pear.
But at least one student offered a different solution.
“I would cut the pear in half and share it with my brother
instead,” said the pupil.
Source: Shin Min Daily News, 30 April 2012. Click here for the Chinese
report.
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UltimaOnline's version :
KongRong : "Ya know what guys? Screw the silly pears. I'll buy
you guys lunch at Macdonalds!"
KongRong's brothers : "Yeah, that's our bro!"
KongRong's father (nodding to himself) : "I've raised KongRong
well..."
Because Kong Rong didn't give the pear to his brother, Cao Cao
killed his entire family.
