Access to information an obstacle for China's students, say Fulbright scholars

Students in China are well-motivated but often have to overcome educational obstacles not faced by their counterparts in the United States, say a group of American academics teaching on the mainland.

The group was in Guangzhou recently for the United States Fulbright Lecturer Spring Orientation and Mid-Year Conference organised by the Hong Kong America Centre.

Gerald Rosenberg, a law professor from the University of Chicago who is now based at Xiamen University, said he was initially surprised by the widespread problem of plagiarism and cheating on campus.

But he developed a sympathetic view of the reasons behind it. 'I have come to understand that the issue is the education system here that says getting the right answer is more important than the thinking that goes into it,' he said.

Professor Rosenberg also said there was little emphasis on critical thinking in the Chinese education system. 'Critical argument is what intellectual life is about, which is not well-developed at all in China,' he said.

Access to full information was necessary, Professor Rosenberg said, for scholars in China to make serious contributions to the global intellectual scene.

Peter Trubowitz, from Texas, who is teaching at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, said: 'Chinese institutions vary in being either research or teaching-oriented. But at the post-graduate level, a research culture does not seem to be as well-developed here as in the US. There is a sense among faculty and students that there should be more of that culture. But the fundamental problem is the lack of access to information.'